Category: Peterborough

David Seaton on Peterborough Budget Proposals

08:07 Monday 28th January 2013
Bigger Breakfast Show
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

[P]AUL STAINTON: Proposals to close playcentres in the north of the county have been criticised by parents and local councillors in Peterborough. The plans are part of the City Council’s budget proposal, which includes £17 million worth of savings. They also want to axe the equivalent of 63 full-time jobs, cut bus service subsidies, stop its funding of the Halfords Tour cycle series, close the Enterprise Centre on Bridge Street, and put an end to the much talked about Neighbourhood Committees. .. Let’s speak to David Seaton. He’s the Cabinet Member for Resources at Peterborough City Council, He helped put these budget proposals together. Morning David.
DAVID SEATON: Morning Paul.
PAUL STAINTON: First of all, let’s deal with the £17 million black hole, if you like. How did that come about? Continue reading “David Seaton on Peterborough Budget Proposals”

Immigration And The Housing Shortage

17:41 Friday 18th January 2013
Drive BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

[C]HRIS MANN: According to the Peterborough Conservative MP Stewart Jackson, the Government isn’t doing enough to prepare for the arrival of migrants from Bulgaria and Romania next year. It’s after MigrationWatch released figures suggesting up to 50,000 people could come here next year, when they get the right of free movement across the EU. The Communities Secretary Eric Pickles admitted that more migrants would have an impact on social and affordable homes. So we thought we’d try and shed some light on this, and find out what effect migration has already had on housing in Cambridgeshire. (TAPE)
ERIC PICKLES: The truth is I don’t think anybody entirely knows the number that are going to come from Bulgaria and from Romania. Given that we’ve got a housing shortage, any influx is going to cause problems, not just in terms of the housing market, but also on social housing markets. Continue reading “Immigration And The Housing Shortage”

Adi Mowles Remembers John Devaney

08:35 Wednesday 16th January 2013
Bigger Breakfast Show
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

[P]AUL STAINTON: We’ve got Adi Mowles on the line, who’s the Chairman of the Posh Independent Supporters’ Association. John Devaney, what sort of a man was he?
ADI MOWLES: Well fundamentally he changed the Club. We’d been through some awful awful times previously to his arrival. If you imagine, we spent a million quid on a waste of space a few months ago, Tyrone Barnet. Well it was equally earth shattering when we spent £100,000 on a player. Dave Robbo (Robinson) came in. He turned out to be a complete legend for the Club. And Mr Devaney made that happen. Personally I’ve got some great memories of him. We were running The Peterborough Effect at the time, the fanzine, and fanzines, as they were meant to be, were quite controversial. So very often he’s come storming out of the ground at two o’clock on a match day, tell us that we couldn’t sell TPEs either in the Club shop or on the London Road property. So we would walk across to Britaly Travel, stand out there and sell them. And then Bernie, his lovely wife. would come out, buy 30 off us, take them into the Club shop and sell them, and said the silly old fool should know what the fans want. .. And they were just really funny together. Very nice bloke. .. He was a massive influence on the football club. ..
PAUL STAINTON: He was the man who appointed Chris Turner, wasn’t he?
ADI MOWLES: Oh absolutely. And they got on great. I think Turner thought the world of him. And let’s not forget, our most succesful ever place in the Football League was under Mr Devaney, and obviously under Son of God.
PAUL STAINTON: (LAUGHS)
ADI MOWLES: We were 8th or 9th in what is now the Championship. So yes, he’s got a great place in the history of Peterborough United Football Club. He might have a great place in the future of the football club, because his development company still own all the shops at the front of London Road. So watch this space.

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Marco Cereste Solar Newborough Look East Interview

18:30 Wednesday 9th January 2013
BBC Look East

PRESENTER: Coming up in the next 30 minutes, divisions tonight over solar power. Critics say it’s a criminal waste of good farmland. This Council boss says it’s a money-spinner for taxpayers. (TAPE)
MARCO CERESTE: In these really difficult times, initiatives that councils can come up with which will create income means that the taxpayer doesn’t have to put his or her hand in her pocket. .. (LIVE)
PRESENTER: Hello. The development of renewable energy in the region hit a big snag today, when council bosses clashed with farmers over plans for a large scale solar power plant in the countryside.
AMELIA REYNOLDS: The controversy blew up in Peterborough, where the Council has earmarked open land on the outskirts of the city to build three solar farms. It claims the development will provide cheap energy for years to come, but opponents have described the move as a criminal waste of rich farmland. Continue reading “Marco Cereste Solar Newborough Look East Interview”

And In The Blue Corner

17:27 Thursday 10th January 2013
Drive BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

[C]HRIS MANN: While I’m talking to you, let me ask you about another issue. Labour have published a list of 106 hit seats they say they’ll be trying to win. Yours is on it. Are you worried?
STEWART JACKSON: Do I sound worried Chris? (BEAT) Really, I understand the game. This is politics. They want to talk up their chances. But until they can put together a credible programme for government, including tax and spend, and until they’ve apologised for the debt millstone they bequeathed to the Coalition Government, they’re not going to be taken really seriously by the electorate. I’ve got a strong record, and will have, of ten years working as the local MP in Peterborough, not beholden to anyone, speaking my mind, as a proud Conservative but thinking for myself. And on that basis I think it will be close, but I’m not unduly worries. But good luck to the Labour Party.
CHRIS MANN: You say “as a proud Conservative.” But increasingly you’re a Conservative rebel. Is the stance you’re taking on certain things like Europe, is that key to you keeping the seat?
STEWART JACKSON: Well I think I’m in touch with the views of people in my constituency, on things like immigration, on crime, on Europe, on welfare. And sometimes you do have to speak the truth to power, and make yourself unpopular if you think you’re doing it for a principled .. and for the right reasons. And for those reasons in particular, I feel that people respect you for speaking your mind and being who you are, rather than just being another Identikit cut-out and keep politician, which I think people are fed up with.

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Peterborough Renewables – Leaked Email Points To Planning Panic Over Tariff Deadline

07:07 Wednesday 9th January 2013
Bigger Breakfast Show
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

[P]AUL STAINTON: There’s confusion this morning surrounding the consultation on plans to build solar panels on 900 acres of farmland near Peterborough, with claims that key documents are remaining undisclosed, and consultation dates are being changed. Around a dozen tenant farmers look to be affected, with some fearing they’ll lose their homes, but the City Council say they’re needed to make Peterborough energy self-sufficient. The public consultation into the plans closes on 1st February, but BBC Radio Cambridgeshire has seen a leaked email asking authorities and environmental bodies to give their views ahead of that deadline. It’s led local councillors and campaigners to believe the decision process is being rushed through, and isn’t fair and balanced. Continue reading “Peterborough Renewables – Leaked Email Points To Planning Panic Over Tariff Deadline”

Tory Peterborough Targets Meals On Wheels

Labour Prospective Parliamentary Candidate Lisa Forbes today 17th December 2012 condemned a proposal in the Peterborough City Council’s review of social care provision to increase charges for Meals on Wheels from £3.20 to £5.20. Continue reading “Tory Peterborough Targets Meals On Wheels”

Eurozone Posits Bank Regulation

07:26 Thursday 13th December 2012
Bigger Breakfast Show
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

PAUL STAINTON: European leaders have agreed a new deal to bring the continent’s biggest banks under the control of a new Europe-wide banking regulator. Our business guru is Tony Bonsignore. Morning.
TONY BONSIGNORE: Morning.
PAUL STAINTON: Mmm. Mmm. Not everybody is going to be happy with this, are they?
TONY BONSIGNORE: No. Some people in the City of London are going to be rather worried about it, one would imagine, given that Europe’s banks seem to be coming together and Europe are agreeing shared responsibility for banks, and especially for bailing out banks when things go wrong. The problem is if you’re on the outside of that, the problem is you might lose business. You might suddenly look less attractive to people who might be thinking of placing their business with you. So maybe people in the City of London are a little bit worried. And also some Germans as well, who tend to end up bankrolling these things in Europe. They’re the ones who are most concerned within the single currency about what this means.
PAUL STAINTON: And isn’t it the first step along the road to federalisation?
TONY BONSIGNORE: Yes I think it is. I think this is .. the European Union are saying this is “an historic moment”. They’re saying it’s .. I’ve heard the Cypriot Finance Minister say it was a “Christmas present to the whole of Europe”. Now I’m not quite sure that’s an accurate way of describing it, but it certainly is a big moment, and the feeling is I think that we’re moving towards political union. This is an important first step. I think there’s so much to do, so much to be agreed, and so much to argue about.

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