BBC transcripts
08:27 Thursday 23rd July 2015
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire
DOTTY MCLEOD: Start-ups are booming in Peterborough, with nearly 2000 new businesses registered in the city in the last year. .. Tom Hennessy is the Senior Economic Development Manager at Opportunity Peterborough. .. So what kind of businesses are we talking about?
Continue reading “New business in Peterborough”
09:10 Tuesday 7th July 2015
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire
PAUL STAINTON: Shops in England and Wales could open for longer on Sundays, under plans to be set out by George Osborne tomorrow. In the Budget the Chancellor will propose giving local councils and elected mayors the power to decide how long shops in their areas should remain open. So he’s putting the power in the hands of local councils and elected mayors. Is that a good idea? Do you think longer shopping hours on Sunday will work? Or should we keep Sunday special? And does anybody keep it special anymore? We’ve got 24 hour internet, haven’t we? We’re all shopping all the time, aren’t we? Will Fyfe has been on the streets of Peterborough, asking opinions.
PERSON 1: Actually I think there’s two sides to the coin. The shops should be allowed to do what they want. Equally .. I mean nobody has to go out shopping on a Sunday if they don’t choose to. But equally I think there is something special about Sunday. And yes, I mean we’ve got the rest of the week to shop, so I .. you have to think of the shop workers really, and their families, and their right to a day off. Really if they open both days on the weekend then they’re going to probably be working both days of the weekend a lot. So it doesn’t seem fair in that way. It benefits the employers and not the employees. It benefits the companies and not the public, the society.
WILL FYFE: Well you could argue they could have another day off in the week. Any day in the middle of the week.
Continue reading “Sunday hours voxpop”
07:26 Friday 3rd July 2015
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire
DOTTY MCLEOD: For some councils in Cambridgeshire. sharing could be a £1.1 million saving. The neighbouring councils in South Cambridgeshire, Huntingdonshire and Cambridge City are planning to join together some of their services in an effort to save money. Joining me now are not one, but all three of the council Leaders in question, so let’s see how well they do at sharing the airwaves. First of all we’ve got Jason Ablewhite, Executive Leader of Huntingdonshire District Council. Morning Jason.
JASON ABLEWHITE: Good morning. How are you?
DOTTY MCLEOD: Very good thank you. Ray Manning, Leader of South Cambridgeshire District Council. Hello Ray.
RAY MANNING: Hello there.
DOTTY MCLEOD: And Lewis Herbert, who is the Leader of Cambridge City Council. Hello Lewis.
LEWIS HERBERT: Greetings.
DOTTY MCLEOD: So we will start with Jason this morning. Tell us which services you’re looking at sharing.
Continue reading “Cambridgeshire councils aim to share more services”
07:08 Thursday 2nd July 2015
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire
DOTTY MCLEOD: Our top story for Cambridgeshire this morning, “It’s too slow and it’s too messy.” That’s the verdict of some people in Peterborough on the work going on at the old District Hospital site off Thorpe Road. It’s been just under a year since it was announced the old PDH site would be turned into 350 new homes and a brand new primary school. Twelve months on, and many people not too happy with the progress. Our reporter Sophia Alipour has been speaking to some of them outside the old hospital remains.
(TAPE)(OB)
PUBLIC ONE: It looks disgusting.
PUBLIC TWO: Yes it’s horrible from the outside.
SOPHIA ALIPOUR: What would you like to see built here instead?
PUBLIC ONE: Something nice to look at. Not something ugly. Maybe a homeless shelter, ‘cos I think homeless people live there.
PUBLIC TWO: Something like flats or houses, which is what it was meant to be.
SOPHIA ALIPOUR: Could I ask you to describe what the front of the old hospital currently looks like?
PUBLIC THREE: Half falling down and derelict.
PUBLIC FOUR: I’m surprised they haven’t done much more than they have.
PUBLIC FIVE: We work opposite the building. There was a little bit of noise a couple of weeks ago, but that’s been it. A slow process.
PUBLIC SIX: A mess. A complete mess. I wish they would get on with it.
(STUDIO)(LIVE)
DOTTY MCLEOD: Well Peterborough’s MP Stewart Jackson has told BBC Radio Cambridgeshire he’s happy with progress at the site, despite work apparently slowing down around the General Election. But Peterborough City councillor Ed Murphy has expressed his concerns, and he joins me now. So what do you think to the progress there Ed?
ED MURPHY: I’m not too concerned about the progress, which has been very shortcoming. The Hospital has now been there for fifty years. I’m looking at it at the moment. It’s still up, and it’s going to take some time to take it down, because it’s going to be quite a feat to take it down. What I’m concerned about is the current plans. The school hasn’t got adequate play facilities for the children, and they need to extend the site. And I think the developers are probably going to come in and try and go up more stories than they really should. So I’m hoping that the City Council do their utmost to ensure that development benefits local people, not just the bottom line profits of the developers.
DOTTY MCLEOD: So I was looking at this site on Google Maps last night, because when you drive past on Thorpe Road you might glance to your left, but you don’t always get a proper look, do you? And what surprised me was actually the size of this site, because 23 acres, it sounds quite big, but when you factor in a primary school, presumably some houses having gardens, car parking as well, maybe it’s not actually that big for 350 homes.
Continue reading “Peterborough District Hospital – proposed development ‘a complete mess’”
07:27 Thursday 18th June 2015
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire
DOTTY MCLEOD: We all know, don’t we? We constantly hear it. Local councils struggling, they’ve got shrinking budgets. Times are tight. Well could there be an alternative, a super-council? This is one suggestion from the new Leader of Peterborough City Council. A meeting was held last night between Lincolnshire and Peterborough City Council about the possibility of co-operating to make one council to rule them all .. I may be slightly paraphrasing there. John Holdich the Leader of Peterborough City Council joins me now. So John, what’s the idea here?
Continue reading “Peterborough Lincolnshire merger plan”
17:46 Monday 15th June 2015
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire
CHRIS MANN: An update now on the Peterborough squatters, who last week moved to a third location in Priestgate. They claim to be holding an austerity protest, and today entered the Town Hall in the city, looking for an apology from the (Deputy) Leader of the Conservatives, who’s branded them ‘criminals’ during a recent interview on BBC Radio Cambridgeshire. Their (Deputy) party Leader of course is councillor Wayne Fitzgerald. His argument, if you break in to a building, you’re breaking the law. And Wayne joins me now. Hello Wayne.
WAYNE FITZGERALD: Hi Chris How are you?
CHRIS MANN: Yes good. Yes thank you. Tell us what’s happened today.
WAYNE FITZGERALD: Oh well just to clarify, what I said is I have no proof that any individual in the group that was occupying Aqua House actually physically broke in. What I mean to say is anybody who breaks into a building to gain entrance, it’s a criminal act in the law. That’s that. And I stand by that, and I think most people would recognise the fact is if you enter a building unlawfully you should be punished for it. And that is my view.
CHRIS MANN: So what happened earlier?
Continue reading “Peterborough squatters demand an apology for councillor remarks”
11:56 Friday 12th June 2015
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire:
PAUL STAINTON: This was the message from the people that call themselves the Peterborough Squatters Autonomy group, who are currently they say fighting for the homeless, those on zero-hours contracts, and those with mental health problems. They’re taking action. This was their message to MPs and councillors, and people in charge.
(TAPE)
ACTIVIST 1: I’d ask them where they slept last night, and if their bed was warm.
ACTIVIST 2: I’d literally say to them that if you’re not going to do anything we’ll keep doing it, and eventually it’s just going to get to the point where people like yourselves are going to be made accountable for your actions. And whether it’s today, tomorrow or in ten years time, you will be held accountable. Because what you’re doing is genocide against the indigenous people of the UK. And once people start walking up to that, you will be arrested, and proper justice will be done.
PAUL STAINTON: That’s the last word today.
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Listen to full coverage here. Starts at 20 minutes 50 seconds in.
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08:07 Tuesday 9th June 2015
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire
DOTTY MCLEOD: A digital revolution is happening in Peterborough that could see it become a world leading tech city. That’s the view of one company in the city, who say improvements to broadband infrastructure are helping digital companies thrive. A campaign is underway to lure some of the world’s largest technology firms, and as Waseem Mirza now reports, if Peterborough Tech City is fully realised, it could mean a massive boost to the whole region’s economy.
Continue reading “CityLan Expo 2015 – putting Peterborough on the digital map”