Category: Peterborough

A Good Year for Ladybirds

07:55 Thursday 29th March 2012
Peterborough Breakfast Show
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

PAUL STAINTON: As the sun has come out, another little creature seems to have appeared in rather high numbers. Some of us here at BBC Radio Cambridgeshire have noticed that ladybirds are everywhere at the moment. How come? Sarah Henshall is a conservation officer for Buglife, the invertebrate conservation trust, which is based right here in Cambridgeshire. Morning.
SARAH HENSHALL: Good morning.
PAUL STAINTON: I haven’t seen millions of ladybirds. Have we got loads and loads and loads? Continue reading “A Good Year for Ladybirds”

Fish Rescue at Maxey Cut

08:36 Wednesday 28th March 2012
Peterborough Breakfast Show
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

PAUL STAINTON: Hundreds of fish in Peterborough have been saved thanks to swift action from the Environment Agency. The group say the drought, which has been the worst in 100 years, is reducing river levels by 75%. Now our reporter Kerry Devine put the waders on and went to meet David Hawley from the Environment Agency on the Maxey Cut, just outside Peakirk. Continue reading “Fish Rescue at Maxey Cut”

Public Funding of Political Parties

07:15 Tuesday 27th March 2012
Peterborough Breakfast Show
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

PAUL STAINTON: Do you fancy paying towards the running of our political parties? Do you? Well the issue has been revived after the so-called “dinners for donors” scandal which is currently engulfing the Conservatives. Its chief fundraiser of course Peter Cruddas has been forced to quit, and David Cameron has had to unveil all the people he had lunch with and dinner with. And as a consequence, fresh talks are being held this week between Britain’s three main parties. Now the Tories are suggesting an annual cap on donations of fifty grand. Well Michael Fallon is the party’s Deputy Chairman. (TAPE)
MICHAEL FALLON: If you want your politics to be free of state funding, politics costs money. You need to fight elections. You need to raise money. You need to be free. We’ve made an offer to the Labour Party, who take £4 million from one union. We’ve made an offer to the Labour Party. Let’s cap this. (LIVE)
PAUL STAINTON: Well Labour want a lower cap of £10,000, but believe the large union donations should continue, as they’re funded by millions of individual trade unionists. Tony Blair’s former chief fundraiser, Lord Levy, says now is the time to consider a system of state funding, paid for by, you’ve guessed it, me and you. (TAPE)
LORD LEVY: It’s an additional burden on the public purse, but for the amount it would take to fund political parties, and an election, one is talking about something like 50p per electoral member. I think in the Kelly Report they compared that to the cost of a postage stamp. (LIVE)
PAUL STAINTON: Well the Liberal Democrats are the only party keen on state funding, but their critics say it’s because they can’t rely on cash support from big business or trade unions. Even their own MPs admit it’s going to be hard to ask voters during difficult economic times to increase public spending on politicians, when the same politicians are cutting public spending elsewhere. Do you fancy paying for political parties? Do you? Have you got a few quid spare?

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Business Decimated by Queensgate Building Works

07:10 Monday 26th March 2012
Peterborough Breakfast Show
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

PAUL STAINTON: Work to revamp Cowgate which is supposed to start at the end of March now won’t begin until August. The £800,000 makeover includes the extension for Primark in Queensgate. But businesses in the area are not happy. Simon Baker is from the Sports Lounge in King Street. Morning.
SIMON BAKER: Good morning Paul.
PAUL STAINTON: So the revamp was supposed to start at the end of this week, wasn’t it?
SIMON BAKER: Yes. All the guys from Primark were supposed to be out by the end of February. And I only got informed by the local press on Friday that it had all been put back again. It’s becoming an absolute nightmare for us. Our trade has just plummeted really, because of all the work on Primark. And if you ever walk past King Street, it just looks like a building site. And it has been for the past two or three months now. And it’s really really starting to affect us badly. I didn’t mind putting up with it because I knew it was short term. I’ve got fantastic relationships with all the planning guys. With the Council, it just seems to be I don’t know what’s going on.

08:15
PAUL STAINTON: We did ask the Council to come on this morning and tell us what was going on. They couldn’t. They did send us a statement. They said: “The work on Cowgate is dependent on the progress of Primark. At this stage we’re in discussions with the developers working on the new Primark store, and an exact timeline will be clearer towards the end of the week.” But it’s not clear for local businesses who are suffering at the moment.

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Democracy in Peterborough

07:07 Friday 23rd March 2012
Peterborough Breakfast Show
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

PAUL STAINTON: Could the way that Peterborough City Council is governed be about to change? From 4th May, councils across the country will have the option of scrapping the current cabinet system, which we have in Peterborough, and replacing it with a new system which would see a committee run various departments. Now some say this is a fairer and more transparent way to run local authorities. Critics say though it makes the whole system way too slow, and you get nothing done. Nick Sandford is Leader of the Liberal Democrats in Peterborough, and is in favour of the change, Nick? Continue reading “Democracy in Peterborough”

Before Queensgate

07:12 Friday 9th March 2012
Peterborough Breakfast Show
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

PAUL STAINTON: Trevor Pearce is ..Chairman of the Peterborough Local History Society. Do you remember the .. centre of Peterborough pre-1982?
TREVOR PEACRE: I do indeed Paul. Yes.
PAUL STAINTON: Was it a vibrant centre at the time?
TREVOR PEARCE: Yes it was. You’ve got to remember, in the middle of what is now Queensgate, was Perkins Engine factory.
PAUL STAINTON: Yes.
TREVOR PEARCE: That’s where it all started. There was also a huge printing works. There was a big department store called Trollope’s, and numerous little shops. And I think something like fifteen pubs.
PAUL STAINTON: Was there really?
TREVOR PEARCE: Yes.
PAUL STAINTON: Really! It’s before my time. I came in ’89. It was all built then. It was all sorted, and running very very nicely. It’s undoubtedly been a success.
TREVOR PEARCE: Indeed.
PAUL STAINTON: We were one of the first places to get a shopping centre. And that was a great thing. But has it had a detrimental impact do you think on those independent shops that we had before?
TREVOR PEARCE: Yes. Maybe. I think there was a huge price to pay. It was a labyrinth of tiny little streets. Very narrow little streets. And I think there was a price to pay for that centre. But at the other side of the coin is I think we came off pretty good, because it’s a good centre. You compare it with the Broadmarsh or the Viccy Centre in Nottingham ..
PAUL STAINTON: Hmm.
TREVOR PEARCE: We’ve come off quite well.
PAUL STAINTON: Well the Broadmarsh is half empty all the time. That’s the thing. (THEY LAUGH)

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Weeping and Wailing as Green Bank Long Shot Kicks the Bucket

07:21 Friday 9th March 2012
Peterborough Breakfast Show
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

PAUL STAINTON: The Government announced yesterday where the UK’s Green Investment Bank will be based. You may remember we’ve been bidding for it, we’ve been expecting it, hoping for it, looking for it. Well we didn’t get it. We were snubbed. It’s gone to Edinburgh. Edinburgh of all places. What was Vince Cable playing at? (TAPE)
VINCE CABLE: Edinburgh has a very good financial centre. A lot’s happening in the green industry front. London is a centre for specialist banking. We want to tap into both of them. And we’ve had a competition which showed that those two were the two cities that came out on top. But this is a big step forward. By the end of this year the Green Investment Bank will be getting out good projects. So we’re well on the way to making Britain a world leader in green investment.” (LIVE)
PAUL STAINTON: Well, disappointing for Peterborough. Opportunity Peterborough disappointed too. They put the bid together for the city. Neil Darwin, Director of Economic Development is here with a little frown on your face this morning. Continue reading “Weeping and Wailing as Green Bank Long Shot Kicks the Bucket”

Government Changes Rules For Becoming a Brit

17:40 Monday 5th March 2012
Drive BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

CHRIS MANN: Peterborough MP Stewart Jackson has backed new Home Office rules which mean unskilled immigrants from outside the EU will no longer have an automatic right to settle in the UK. Until now, someone who had lived in the UK for five years was virtually guaranteed to be allowed to settle here permanently. Those who have settled in the past tend to be lower earners, more than those who have not. Now, in order to settle, workers must be paid at least £35,000. Stewart Jackson joined me earlier to give his reaction. Continue reading “Government Changes Rules For Becoming a Brit”