Current projects
We also continue to attract inward investment
from companies which have selected Peterborough as the location for new or relocated
business activities.
Retail Development
Work to transform the heart of Peterborough with a massive £450 million investment
is set to start in 2009 following the submission of a planning application for the
North Westgate development
in the city centre. The scheme will include a brand new Marks & Spencer department
store, a multi-screen cinema, 60 new shops, several restaurants and 100 new homes.
Meanwhile, the Hammerson/Morley joint venture responsible for North Westgate is
also planning a major upgrade of its adjacent Queensgate shopping centre.
Away from the city centre, a multi-million pound refurbishment of the out-of-town
Bretton Centre has recently been completed, work is well under way on a £10 million
refurbishment of the Orton Centre and public consultation has begun on a planned
redevelopment of Werrington Centre.
Massive new Matalan and B&Q stores have recently opened in the ‘retail warehouse’
development alongside Bourges Boulevard and plans have been submitted for a £50 million extension of
the Brotherhood Retail Park on Lincoln Road.
City council figures
show that more retail developments then ever before are taking place across the
city, with over 9,000 square metres of new space in shops, cafes, pubs and restaurants
opened in Peterborough during 2006/7.
They are all adding to Peterborough’s established reputation as a major regional
shopping centre .
Plans for development of the city centre are creating
new retail opportunities.
House Building
House building in Peterborough hit an 18-year high in 2006/7 with 1,265 properties
being constructed – 47 per cent higher than the 2005/06 total of 862.
More than 2,000 homes have been constructed over the past few years in Hampton, the township on the southern perimeter of Peterborough
which will eventually provide 7,300 homes for 18,000 people. Procurement has recently
begun for a multi-million pound joint service centre for Hampton which will include
a library, café, meeting rooms, a church, sports and health care facilities. A swimming
pool could also be included.
Work has begun on building 550 homes at Potter’s Way in Fengate. In the first stage
of the scheme, developer Bellwinch Homes is putting up 261 apartments.
Meanwhile, around 1,500 new homes are set to be built at Stanground and 1,200 at
Paston. A development of 900 new homes at Woodston is well on the way to completion
as are smaller developments at the East of England Showground and Oundle Road.
Carbon Challenge
National regeneration agency the Homes and Communities Agency recently announced
that a site in Peterborough is to become the country’s second zero carbon community
in its Carbon Challenge. House builders have been invited to express interest in
developing 450 environmentally sustainable homes at South Bank Phase 1 (Glebe Road). This is the first step
in the competition process that will end in spring 2008 with the appointment of
a preferred developer for the site.
The
Carbon Challenge is an opportunity for developers to gain experience of
building to the highest level of the government's Code for Sustainable Homes. It
calls on developers to demonstrate that zero carbon homes, combined with cutting-edge
building design and technology, are economically viable on a commercial scale.
Education
There has been massive recent investment in secondary, further and higher
education facilities in the city.
Funding of £10 million for a new Anglia Ruskin University campus close to the city centre has been agreed by the East
of England Development Agency and the Higher Education Funding Council for England
and there are plans for a £75 million redevelopment of Peterborough Regional College.
The government has committed £100 million to fund the building of new schools in
Peterborough, including the new £46 million Thomas Deacon Academy designed by Foster & Partners
which opened in September 2007. A private finance initiative (PFI) worth £68 million
has been used to build another new school – The Voyager – north-west of the city which also opened in
September 2007.
New £10.5 million sports facilities at Jack Hunt School were officially opened in
September 2007 and there is extension and refurbishment work being undertaken at
Ken Stimpson Community School and The King’s School. Wind turbines, solar panels
and geothermal heating are to be used as part of a £12.9 million scheme to transform
St John Fisher School.