| 07 April 2009 |
| CATHEDRAL SQUARE RUBBLE IS TURNED INTO COMMUNITY GARDENS |
Soil, paving slabs and rubble from the Cathedral Square improvement works in Peterborough are being recycled for use in community facilities and gardens.
Organisations carrying out the work have signed up to the Zero Waste Places initiative, which means reducing waste as much as possible and recycling it back into the project or giving it away. In total the initiative is saving more than 3,000 tonnes of material from landfill.
Already soil and bricks from the planters have gone to the Green Backyard project for its flowerbeds; Peterborough Rugby Club will be taking paving slabs and bikeracks for its new car park; and hard core will go to another group to create a community garden.
Sophie Antonelli, project officer for the Green Backyard in London Road, said: “We will be using the soil and bricks to create a children’s garden at the Green Backyard. We were also able to salvage a bench, which has already been well used by our volunteers during their tea breaks.
“Osborne’s, the contractor appointed to carry out the redevelopment work, has been very supportive of the Zero Waste Places project and of local community groups. They even lent us a JCB and a driver to help out with some of the digging on our site.”
Peterborough was chosen as one of six Zero Waste Places across the UK at the end of last year, boosting the city’s aspirations to become the UK’s Environment Capital. These Environment Capital ambitions aim to deliver truly sustainable growth for the city, ensuring a cleaner, greener and healthier future for the people of Peterborough.
Trevor Gibson, Environment Capital director at Opportunity Peterborough, which is delivering the Cathedral Square improvements together with Peterborough City Council, said: “The Cathedral Square works raise the bar for the sort of construction activity we want to see as the city grows and develops. It’s fantastic that such a high proportion of what would normally be regarded as waste material is helping other organisations achieve their own environmental goals.”
The Zero Waste Place project is run by Peterborough Environment City Trust and promotes innovative new ideas to reduce the amount of waste being sent to landfill. It is focusing on Cathedral Square and the three streets leading from it (Bridge Street, Cowgate and Long Causeway), including the Queensgate Shopping Centre, Town Hall, and more than 200 retailers and offices.
Hugh Cripps, chief executive of Peterborough Environment City Trust, said: “We have been delighted at how thoroughly and how creatively the principles behind the Zero Waste Places initiative have been adopted into the city centre redevelopment.
“The contractor, Osborne’s has really taken it to heart demanding that their suppliers deliver materials without packaging and even negotiating with the structural engineers to ensure designs produce as little waste as possible.”
Ends
Notes to editors
The Cathedral Square improvement works to revitalise the heart of the city centre started in February 2009. The project includes demolishing the Corn Exchange and creating a new square, dubbed St John’s Square, as well as removing the planters, underground toilets and road surface in Cathedral Square and replacing them with fountains and seating areas.
Construction work in the Cathedral Square area should be complete by Christmas while work to create the new square will continue until Easter 2010.
Delivered by Opportunity Peterborough and Peterborough City Council, the £6million project is funded by the East of England Development Agency and Government’s Department for Communities and Local Government.
Shops surrounding the development will stay open throughout the construction, which - when complete – aims to attract new businesses to open and drive economic activity to the area.
During the year, about 100 people will be employed on the construction works, including at least 50 from within a 10-mile radius of the city centre, creating a number of new jobs.
For more information or to arrange pictures/filming contact
Rebecca Stephens at Opportunity Peterborough
Tel: 078 796 33 796
Email: Rebecca.stephens@opportunitypeterborough.co.uk
Additional information is available at www.opportunitypeterborough.co.uk.
Pictures and logos are available.
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