Peterborough politics: What to look out for in 2025

The city of Peterborough is set for a busy 2025 with a number of key issues poised to dominate local debates and decision-making.

Peterborough City Council has proposed a number of controversial cuts in an attempt to plug a £23m budget deficit, which will be decided on in February.

Meanwhile, a meeting will take place in January to review a decision by the planning committee to reject outline plans to build 650 homes on part of the East of England Showground site.

Later in the year, an election will be held to find out who will be the next Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority mayor.

See below for a list of all the key political issues to look out for in 2025:

City council budget

One of the biggest issues facing Peterborough in 2025 is the city council budget deficit.

Peterborough City Council has proposed a series of drastic cuts as it faces a £23 million black hole in its budget.

Mothballing the city’s Lido to save £400,000 a year is among the controversial cuts proposed.

The council says that mothballing the Lido would be an interim measure while it looked at ways to ensure the pool was opened all year round instead of just the summer months – but residents and politicians from across the political spectrum have spoken out against the plans.

The city council has also proposed to close seven out of the 10 libraries in Peterborough, which it claims will save £314,000 a year, as well as hiking council tax by 4.99% without seeking government and public approval.

A consultation on the proposals is underway and will run until midnight on January 14 before members of the council’s joint scrutiny committee will consider the budget on January 29.

The budget is set to be put in front of councillors for a vote to approve or not on February 19.

Showground homes appeal

Another key moment to look out for is a meeting that could decide the future of the East of England Showground.

On October 15, a planning committee decided to reject plans to build 650 homes on part of the Showground site.

A review of this decision was prompted by four councillors who ‘called in’ the refusal decision so it could be reconsidered.

Peterborough City Council’s Appeals and Planning Review committee will meet on January 13 to review the decision – and residents have been urged to attend.

A separate outline planning application to build 850 homes, a leisure village, school, hotel and care village on land adjoining the first site was approved by the same planning committee.

The applications were submitted by AEPG and prompted protests about the loss of open land, the end of public events including speedway racing.

Mayoral election

The Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority (CPCA) mayoral election will take place on May 1.

The role is currently held by Dr Nik Johnson who plans to stand for re-election in May as the Labour and Co-operative candidate.

He was elected as the second mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough in May 2021 when he defeated Conservative incumbent James Palmer, who was the mayor from 2017.

Former Peterborough MP Paul Bristow has been selected as the Conservative candidate for the mayoral election this year, while other parties are yet to put a candidate forward.

The mayor leads the CPCA and holds powers devolved from central government over areas such as transport, skills and planning across the whole combined authority region.

They oversee an annual budget devolved from government and also have devolved powers to spend large amounts of money on local housing, infrastructure and jobs.

Regional Pool

In the same week that Peterborough City Council released its budget proposals, it also submitted plans to demolish the current Regional Pool building off Bishop’s Road, which will begin in January.

The pool has been closed since late 2023, with hoardings having been placed around the building for over a year.

Demolition was agreed after a council report stated that the repairs would cost more than £26 million.

The city council has insisted that a new regional pool remains a priority, but the plans are being held back due to the council’s financial state.

Many are desperately waiting on news of a new pool, including the City of Peterborough Swimming Club which has been without a fixed home since the pool’s closure.

Dragonfly Hotel

A total of 146 male asylum seekers were moved into the Dragonfly Hotel which overlooks the Rowing Lake at Thorpe Meadows on November 14.

Both local MPs, Andrew Pakes and Sam Carling, are jointly pressing the Home Office to end the use of the 70-bedroom hotel as a refuge for asylum seekers.

The Home Office claims the use of the Dragonfly Hotel is a temporary measure, but no specific time frame has been confirmed.

Mr Pakes said he will “keep the pressure up” on the government until there is a change of approach.

The move also triggered concern at Peterborough City Council where officials say resources are already stretched and that the city is housing more than its share of asylum seekers compared to other areas of the country.

It remains to be seen how long the asylum seekers will be held at the hotel for.

Werrington Fields

A six-year dispute over the use of Werrington Fields in Peterborough could come to an end early this year.

Peterborough City Council will hold a full council meeting to discuss the site and hopefully find a solution to the row between the Ken Stimpson Academy and nearby residents.

While the school says it needs all the land for educational use and that it must be fenced off to ensure proper safeguarding of students, nearby residents argue that the fields have been open to public use for the best part of four decades and their use is important to the wellbeing of many nearby householders.

Campaigners had hoped the meeting would take place in January, but a date has not yet been confirmed.

Hilton Hotel

Peterborough City Council provided a £15 million loan in 2017 to a developer to kickstart the construction of the nine-storey Hilton Garden Inn hotel on the banks of the River Nene.

The hotel’s developer, Fletton Quays Hotel, collapsed in October 2023 and uncertainty surrounds how much money Peterborough City Council will recover from its investment, which has grown to £17 million with interest.

The council took the developer into administration after a prolonged period in which no construction work was carried out.

Peterborough City Council opted to open talks with a third party, the identity of which has not been revealed, which is keen to buy the building and complete it as a hotel.

Bus franchising

The CPCA asked residents for their views on the future of the region’s buses with the launch of its bus franchising consultation on August 14.

The consultation, which closed in November, will inform a decision by the Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough on how to reform buses across the area.

Currently, the bus network in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough is run by private companies.

The CPCA is looking into bus franchising, which would give it the ability to set bus routes in the area, procure services and monitor the network.