Category: Conversations

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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Belu and WaterAid on World Water Day

17:50 Thursday 22nd March 2012
Drive BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

CHRIS MANN: Would you buy a particular brand of water if you knew your purchase was going to help a good cause? Today is World Water Day, and the start of a new intiative to turn some of the profits of the massive bottled water industry to helping the world’s poorest communities. To find out more, I spoke earlier with Lydia Zigomo, who heads up the charity WaterAid’s East Africa programme work, and Karen Lynch CEO of Belu Water, the fast-growing ethical water brand. Continue reading “Belu and WaterAid on World Water Day”

Julian Huppert MP of the Month

17:18 Tuesday 20th March 2012
Drive BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

CHRIS MANN: Cambridge MP Julian Huppert, fresh from being voted MP of the Month, will join a panel debate for sixth form students tonight, to give his views on the War on Drugs. It’s the annual Cambridge University VIth Form Law Conference, aimed at attracting people from wide range of backgrounds. Panel members will debate:  The War on Drugs has failed. This House believes it’s time for a new approach.  Julian Huppert is a Member of the Home Affairs Select Committee of course which is conducting a major inquiry into drugs policy. He recently returned from a trip to Colombia, where he saw first hand the work taking place to tackle the drug cartels, and he joined me earlier. Continue reading “Julian Huppert MP of the Month”

The Accelerating Decline in Road Maintenance

07:17 Thursday 15th March 2012
Cambridge Breakfast Show
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

JEREMY SALLIS: Let’s talk about potholes. Despite the mild winter, it’s going to take eleven years to clear the backlog of potholes on the UK roads, according to a new report out today. The annual report from the Asphalt Industry Alliance says £90 million was spent on repairing the 1.7 million potholes last year. The report also says the number of complaints received by local authorities from the general public about the condition of roads increased by 10%. Well let’s speak to the Director of the Asphalt Industry Alliance, David Weeks. A very good morning to you David.
DAVID WEEKS: Good morning.
JEREMY SALLIS: We’re catching our tail here. It doesn’t look like we’re ever going to catch up. Continue reading “The Accelerating Decline in Road Maintenance”

Alaric Aldred on Saving Water

17:50 Wednesday 14th March 2012
Drive BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

CHRIS MANN: Some of us are facing the first hosepipe ban imposed by Anglian Water in twenty years. What are we in the county doing to save water? Our reporter Johnny D. has been out to Melborn to see Alaric Aldred, who seems, well, quite well prepared. Continue reading “Alaric Aldred on Saving Water”

Afghanistan – The Mechanics of Withdrawal

17:10 Tuesday 13th March 2012
Drive BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

CHRIS MANN: The Prime Minister is flying to Washington for talks with President Obama. During the three day trip the two men are expected to discuss measures leading up to the withdrawal of British and US troops in Afghanistan by the end of 2014. .. It’s thought the precise timetable for Afghan troops to take over combat operations could be brought forward. New opinion polls here suggest the tide of public opinion wants it to be speeded up. But how likely and how possible is that? I talked a little earlier to a leading military analyst, Major Charles Heyman. (TAPE)
CHARLES HEYMAN: Well everything is possible. And they could make a quick withdrawal from Afghanistan, if our politicians wanted them to do that. But it’s fraught with danger, both political problems there and military problems as well.
CHRIS MANN: What kind of dangers? Continue reading “Afghanistan – The Mechanics of Withdrawal”

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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