Category: Peterborough

Global Air Dynamics

Following some debate about whether this story should be open to comments, @PeterboroughTel have kindly switched on comments.

Because it has already scrolled away from the front page there, here is a viewing window. To visit the story directly, right click and open frame in new window.

The story is interesting as it relates to openness and transparency in the allocation of funds from a Government award.
The recipient of the money happens to be a long time business associate and co-director with the Leader of Peterborough City Council, but it is not immediately evident how the dormant company shown here displays the expertise and experience to justify the award.

Wasteful industry – domestic appliance manufacture in the 21st century

17:23 Monday 1st September 2014
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

CHRIS MANN: Electrical repairs have seen a surge in business, ahead of new EU rules which came into force today meaning you can no longer buy vacuum cleaners more powerful than sixteen hundred watts. Johnny D has been talking to repairmen in Peterborough. He discovered more people are getting their old ones mended, rather than throwing them away. But he was also told many electrical items are almost impossible to repair these days, leaving us with little choice but to splash out on new ones, even when relatively minor things go wrong.
(TAPE)
JOHN DEVINE: Mike Harris, you own Rudkins, a domestic appliance repair shop in Peterborough. You’ve got some concerns over the way manufacturers are making their appliances these days. What’s your beef? What’s your gripe?
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Darrell Goodliffe – a Vision for Peterborough

[I] was born in Peterborough and have lived here for a significant amount of my adult life. It pains me to see the City governed in the way it is; to see the City being run into the ground and to see the people of Peterborough with an uncaring, autocratic leadership.

Councillor Marco Cereste will tell you that the City is growing. He is right, however at the same time the city’s social infrastructure, its social capital is being diminished and the growth we are experiencing is far from nailed down in a sustainable way. The priorities of the current administration are totally wrong, and rather than grow Peterborough in a way that preserves and enhances its natural character it is all being done in a slapdash and thoughtless way.
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Peterborough prepares to incinerate its waste

07:07 Thursday 7th August 2014
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

[P]AUL STAINTON: Our top story this morning, could your household waste soon be used to power your home? Well almost, if you live in Peterborough. The energy from waste plant being built in Fengate is almost ready to start accepting waste and we were given a tour of the facility yesterday. The plant, which is the first of its kind in the UK, will turn our standard household gubbins into energy. Only Peterborough’s waste will be accepted though, and Viridor, the company leading the project, hope that this will provide power for up to 12,000 homes in the area.

07:10
PAUL STAINTON: Not everyone is convinced about the green credibilities of this plant. Richard Olive is from Peterborough Friends of the earth. Richard, good morning.
RICHARD OLIVE: Good morning Paul.
PAUL STAINTON: What’s not to love? All that waste that’s not going to landfill. It’s going into this incinerator. It’s burnt and then all this electricity is recovered. Surely that’s the very essence of ecology, isn’t it?
RICHARD OLIVE: It sounds good, doesn’t it? Actually getting energy from waste. And Friends of the earth aren’t opposed to energy from waste technology. But we aren’t in favour of this one.
PAUL STAINTON: Why?
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LibDem Sandford backs Cereste’s solar ambitions

07:12 Wednesday 6th August 2014
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

PAUL STAINTON: A working group of Peterborough councillors has met once again to discuss the financial risks of a proposed solar farm in the city. The cross-party group had previously pooh poohed the scheme, saying the risks were too high, and too much public money had been invested already. But fellow councillors deemed their report as light on detail, hence why they’ve been asked to meet again. Meanwhile Cambridgeshire County Council has submitted its own plans for a 50,000 solar panel farm near Soham. Well let’s speak to Nick Sandford. He’s the Leader of Peterborough LibDems, and on the working group looking into whether the expense of a huge solar farm at America Farm near Peterborough might be worth it. Nick, good morning.
NICK SANDFORD: Morning Paul.
PAUL STAINTON: Why are you having to meet again?
NICK SANDFORD: Well I wasn’t actually at the original meeting that took place, but I was actually at the Scrutiny Meeting when they presented their report, and they were recommending that the project be discontinued..
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Sitting on a fortune- local authority farm estates rise in value

07:11 Monday 4th August 2014
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

[P]AUL STAINTON: Let’s move to farmland and the cost of it in Cambridgeshire. Apparently it costs more than ever before. The price of an acre of English farmland has risen past £10,000 for the first time ever, according to research from a national property consultancy. So is this good news for farmers, or does it limit those who want to expand? And what does it mean for those who want to enter the farm industry? Is the rising cost of land pricing out the next generation of farmers? Well Jason Beedell is Head of Research at Smiths Gore, who are rural property advisers. They have offices in Peterborough and Newmarket and elsewhere. Jason, good morning. What’s happening then to the price of farmland in Cambridgeshire? Why is it rising so steeply?
JASON BEEDELL: It’s been rising steeply all across the country, and for quite a while now.
PAUL STAINTON: So it’s not just here?
JASON BEEDELL: No no. No. For the last ten years it’s been going up, so it’s really gone up 100% over the last ten years. And that’s purely because of the demand. It’s been a relatively profitable period for farming, and so those farmers who’ve got farms and land already want to expand their businesses, so they’ve been buying.
PAUL STAINTON: We keep being told it’s difficult for farmers out there.
JASON BEEDELL: It is for some, and for some sectors it’s terribly difficult. So if you’re a dairy farmer for example, and I know there are not too many Cambridgeshire dairy farmers, but if you’re a dairy farmer, only the top 25/30% are making a profit. But for arable farmers so much more important here, it has been a good decade.
PAUL STAINTON: Right. So it’s just farmers that are wanting to expand. Is that what’s causing the spike?
JASON BEEDELL: Well most land is bought by existing farmers, and like you say it’s very difficult, very expensive for new people to buy land. But it’s also bought by investors, people who want to put their money somewhere safe. And farm land is really seen as a safe investment. And it’s also bought by just normal people like you and me, who’ve got a little bit of money, and want their patch of England. So there are three types of buyers really.
PAUL STAINTON: It could be a good investment.
JASON BEEDELL: It’s a very good investment. hardly any investments have done better during the recession, over the past ten years.
PAUL STAINTON: Well I can’t think of anywhere where you’ve got 100% return on your money.
JASON BEEDELL: In ten years?
PAUL STAINTON: Yes.
JASON BEEDELL: No no. And there are some really good inheritance tax benefits as well, if you’re an individual. So there are lots of good things about it. And people seem to love farming, not just the people who do it at the moment, but a lot of people want to get into it.
PAUL STAINTON: And Bob Lawrence is with us as well, from the Cambridgeshire National Farmers Union. Bob, morning.
BOB LAWRENCE: Good morning to you.
PAUL STAINTON: So you’ve never had it so good.
Continue reading “Sitting on a fortune- local authority farm estates rise in value”

Council dithering behind Peterborough’s traveller issue

08:08 Friday 1st August 2014
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

[P]AUL STAINTON: So is Peterborough getting neglected by Cambridgeshire’s police force? Well the city’s MP certainly thinks so. Stewart Jackson told this programme earlier that the Police and Crime Commissioner Sir Graham Bright needs a kick up the backside, and a tougher stance when it comes to dealing with illegal camped travellers. Here are just some of Stewart’s comments.
(TAPE)
STEWART JACKSON: I’m sorry. Graham Bright is paid over £90,000 a year. He needs a good kick up the backside. He very rarely comes to Peterborough. In fact he insults Peterborough by appointing what he calls an outreach worker, as if Peterborough’s a sort of special social case. He needs to come to Peterborough a bit more and talk to people that are affected by this issue.
(LIVE)
PAUL STAINTON: Well the row started when Stewart Jackson criticised Peterborough City Council for not setting up a site for travellers to use. Now a Cross-Party group has been looking into the possible locations where sites could be erected. But after two years, no locations have been made public as yet, although an announcement could be made in the next few weeks. Stewart Jackson says his constituents don’t want more traveller sites. They just want the travellers evicted and punished. Well the man in charge of policing Peterborough Tony Ixer told me earlier that the police can’t evict travellers until they have somewhere to take them.
(TAPE)
TONY IXER: We actually do have a very robust strategy across Cambridgeshire, but it is a fact that it doesn’t cover Peterborough. And the real reason it doesn’t cover Peterborough and hasn’t done for many years is because there are no designated stopping places.
(LIVE)
PAUL STAINTON: So in short, nothing can be done in Peterborough until Peterborough City Council sort themselves out. Needless to say, Sir Graham Bright and Peterborough City Council refused to speak to this programme this morning, but we can speak to Independent councillor John Fox. He chaired the Working Group looking at sites for emergency stopping places in the city. The Group’s recommendations will be considered at the next Peterborough City Council Cabinet meeting. John, good morning.
JOHN FOX: Good morning Paul.
PAUL STAINTON: So it’s your fault that we’re getting these illegal encampments. You’ve been too slow, dragging your feet.
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Get Exporting with GCGP

07:20 Tuesday 29th July 2014
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

[P]AUL STAINTON: A campaign to encourage businesses to get exporting will launch in Peterborough today. The Minister of State for Trade and Investment Lord Livingston will find out how local businesses are faring when it comes to selling their products to other countries. He’ll taste the coffee at Masterroast’s HQ, before visiting the headquarters of Redring Xpelair, where they’ll launch new state-of-the-art production facilities that will cost £10 million. Neil Darwin is the Director for Enterprise and Skills at the Greater Cambridge Greater Peterborough Enterprise Partnership.
NEIL DARWIN: Good morning.
PAUL STAINTON: So get exporting initiative. What does it actually mean? Just words?
NEIL DARWIN: Very simply it’s about encouraging more businesses to get their goods and services overseas. Exporting from this country has a really bad reputation, something that’s seen as being really difficult to do. And what we’re trying to do is de-myth it, and make sure that business understands there is support and advice available to make it a lot lot easier than perhaps they think it is.
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