Peterborough council considering appointing a 'city centre champion'

A city centre champion is among the new roles Peterborough City Council (PCC) is considering creating at the authority.

Others include a trees champion, a dementia champion and an active travel champion.

Like the council’s armed forces champion – a role currently held by Cllr John Fox (Peterborough First, Werrington) – the councillors appointed to these positions will advocate for their cause and create connections with community groups also involved with it.

Those appointed will also be consulted on council decisions related to their area of interest, although they will not make any formal decisions or be paid extra.

Plans to create the new roles have been progressing through the council for over a year and are expected to be discussed at its next annual general meeting before possible adoption.

The scope of the new roles is yet to be fully established, but the armed forces champion – appointed by the leader of the council – currently serves as a point of contact for ex-services personnel in Peterborough and connects them to relevant support.

The champion also chairs a partnership board made up of organisations that support forces personnel and veterans.

Cllr Fox, who was appointed to the role in November, served as a radio operator in the Royal Navy for over a decade.

Discussing the creation of new roles at a constitution and ethics meeting this week, councillors said that the list of champion roles at the council is now probably long enough.

Cllr Peter Hiller (Peterborough First, Glinton and Castor) asked “where does it end?” in relation to the number of roles it would be possible to create, while Cllr Mohammed Jamil (Labour, Central) agreed that it could get “messy” if there were too many.

Already, the suggestion of creating a new cycling champion has been dismissed as it’s already covered by active travel.