Category: Peterborough

On the merits of Peterborough’s new University Technical College

07:09 Wednesday 23rd September 2015
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

DOTTY MCLEOD: It might not have been the smoothest start for a new school in Peterborough, but next September the University Technical College will open its doors in the city, and hopefully there will be a few students there. The £10 million UTC was meant to open this September, but in March BBC Radio Cambridgeshire found that after only 40 students applied, the cutting of the ribbon was being postponed by twelve months. The Trust board said at the time it was to give more certainty to prospective students. Well today to great fanfare the keys to the new building will be handed over to the Greater Peterborough UTC. Dr Alan McMurdo is the Principal Designate of the new school. Morning Alan.
ALAN MCMURDO: Good morning Dotty.
DOTTY MCLEOD: So explain just briefly what the idea of a UTC is.
ALAN MCMURDO: Well our aim is to provide world-class vocational education to young people in the city and the wider area. Plug in that skills gap that we hear so much about in construction and in engineering. So the aim is to .. we’re opening a school for 14 to 19 year olds. They can come and experience a unique curriculum and a unique offer in the area.
DOTTY MCLEOD: And you’ve now got the keys to the building, or you will do later on. Actually it’s a year earlier than you need them I suppose.
ALAN MCMURDO: Well that’s right, but it does give us an opportunity to open the building and get some people in. We’ve got an open evening tonight for example between 6 and 8. On Saturday 17th October we’ve got a morning, 10 until 2. We’ve got activities going on. So we’re able to get in there and use the building, even though it’s not fully kitted out with all the state of the art stuff that we will be putting in next Spring.
DOTTY MCLEOD: And remind us why the opening was delayed by a year.
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MP attacks decision to shelve landlord licensing scheme

10:38 Friday 18th September 2015
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

PAUL STAINTON: Now more on housing, and in particular in Peterborough. The Conservative MP for the city has launched a scathing attack on the city’s Conservative-led council, after it performed a dramatic U-turn this week. The Council had announced plans to introduce a licence that would see landlords charged a fee in areas like Gladstone, Millfield, New England and Eastfield. The idea of the licence was to crack down on anti-social behaviour and unscrupulous landlords. Many thought that was a good idea. Critics though said it’s a bit racist, saying the Council was targeting an area which predominantly is home to Asian landlords. Well at a meeting earlier this week, the Council decided to delay the introduction of the scheme, which has annoyed our next guest. Stewart Jackson MP for Peterborough is with me now. Stewart, good morning.
STEWART JACKSON: Good morning Paul.
PAUL STAINTON: So there were criticisms that it was targeting perhaps Asian landlords in those areas. And the Council are saying look, we’ve had a look at this. The scheme is two years old. We’re going to have a consultation and perhaps bring out something bigger and better later down the line.
STEWART JACKSON: Well this is about fairness, and the fact is that it’s quite despicable, particular for Labour councillors, to play the race card. The fact is that unscrupulous landlords happen to be to some extent Asian or Pakistani heritage. It’s not aimed at Pakistani heritage people who are also landlords. And there is a distinction there. The fact is it’s a fairness issue. Why should landlords who have a vested financial interest have their own committee, their own working group, be able to turn up to influence and harangue councillors, have their own pet councillors frankly who put their view across, when vulnerable families, decent people in rented accommodation, people who’ve lived in central Peterborough for years, they don’t have a say directly to the decision makers? And I think this decision by Peterborough City Council, it’s either two things. It’s either borderline civic corruption, in other words undue coercion and pressure.
PAUL STAINTON: Because there’s a lot of councillors who own houses in the city.
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MP defends affordable homes waiver for prime development site

09:34 Wednesday 9th September 2015
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

PAUL STAINTON: There was uproar in Peterborough yesterday after permission was given for a developer to backtrack on plans for the old Peterborough District Hospital site. You know, the thing that’s been derelict for, well, since the old Queen died. Lands Improvement Holdings had been set to pay £1.2 million to Peterborough City Council and build more than 50 affordable homes on the site. But the company claim they now can’t afford it, and at a meeting last night pleaded with councillors to reduce the amount of money to less than £1 million, AND to scrap any plans to build any affordable housing. Yes, the state this county is in, people need all these homes. They’re not going to build any affordable housing. Is that right? How do we solve this county’s housing crisis if we don’t build affordable homes? MP for Peterborough Stewart Jackson, let’s get his view on it. Stewart, good morning.
STEWART JACKSON: Good morning Paul.
PAUL STAINTON: Is this right?
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Council careless with personal information

07:40 Tuesday 11th August 2015
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

DOTTY MCLEOD: A Freeedom of Information request by the privacy group Big Brother Watch has revealed there were more than 4,000 data breaches by councils between 2011 and 2014. Around 400 of those breaches involved data being lost or stolen. Peterborough City Council recorded the fourth highest number of data breaches for a local authority with 160 incidents. Cambridgeshire County Council recorded 34. Dan Nesbitt is Research Director at Big Brother Watch. So Dan, what have you been counting up? What counts as a data breach?
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Young lifeblood wanted in Peterborough

09:28 Monday 10th August 2015
BBC Radio Cambridge

PAUL STAINTON: Let’s bring in Steve Bowyer from Opportunity Peterborough, influential of course in attracting many many of the top restaurants to Peterborough in particular. Steve, it’s a fair point though isn’t it, that these thousands of people that were roaming the streets of Peterborough back in the ’80s, ’70s, ’90s, spending all that money, are we missing out?
STEVE BOWYER: Morning Paul. I don’t think so. I think there’s a really good point there about how city centres have evolved, and that mix and diversity of offer. And I think it is about providing that choice. I think there’s a lot of people been talking about how things are cyclical, and you know we may see nightclubs coming back again. But I think actually things move on, so now we have good music venues, we have good restaurants. Hopefully in Peterborough we’re going to see cinemas soon. The point your last speaker made about university and students is absolutely vital for the city, because that is a young lifeblood.
PAUL STAINTON: How close are we to getting that?
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Public health budget cuts – failing council seeks protection

10:34 Tuesday 4th August 2015
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

CHARLIE THOMPSON: Producer Ben is in the studios holding a piece of paper. That can mean only one thing.
BENOIT STEVENSON: It certainly can. We have a statement to read out. And this is in regard to the public health story we’ve been discussing. So this is proposals from the Conservative Government. They would like to slash the public health budgets for local authorities across the board, across the UK, by 6.2%. It’s just a proposal at the moment. They’re asking councils to contribute their thoughts to this proposal. In total, we’ve worked out that that will mean £2.2 million less is going to be spent in Cambridgeshire. That’s across Cambridgeshire County Council (and) Peterborough City Council. So we’ve made contact with Peterborough City Council who as well from I think the Department of Health or Public Health England had given a report saying that it was struggling in certain indicators. Fifteen out of thirty two indicators they were below the English average. And a statement from Peterborough City Council today, .. Continue reading “Public health budget cuts – failing council seeks protection”

Councils deny plans to merge

07:21 Monday 27th July 2015
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

CHRIS MANN: A joint team of planners shared between Fenland District Council and Peterborough City Council could save nearly £800,000 over the next three years. The shared service will be in place by January next year, after a consultation with affected staff. Simon Machin joins me. He’s Corporate Director of Growth and Regeneration at Peterborough City Council. Morning Simon.
SIMON MACHIN: Morning Chris. ..
CHRIS MANN: Now you’ve got together with Fenland. Tell us all about it.
SIMON MACHIN: That’s right. We’ve been working with Fenland District Council for probably about four years now. We help them put in place their new Local Plan. And increasingly the two councils have realised that there’s greater efficiencies to be made by working together. Both councils have got a very ambitious growth agenda, and a planning service is critical to delivering that.
CHRIS MANN: So you’ve just woken up to the fact that if you work together you could save some money.
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Peterborough South Bank – funding for development

07:08 Thursday 23rd July 2015
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

DOTTY MCLEOD: The Peterborough Investment Partnership has announced plans to spend £120 million doing up the South Bank in the city. The area will be known as Fletton Quays. .. Joining me now is Pram Nayak who is Joint Managing Partner. .. £120 million is the amount of money that’s being touted. Remind us where that money is coming from.
PRAM NAYAK: £120 million represents a lot of things actually. It represents the investment money that’s going into there. It’s all the planning costs and all the sort of consultancy costs etcetera. It’s the construction costs. It’s jobs. It’s creation. It’s the revenue. It’s a large number but it represents the total investment potential of that site over the next three, four years..
DOTTY MCLEOD: But where will that investment be coming from?
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