A successful bid to the Government’s Towns Fund has been announced, which will give Peterborough’s future growth a £22.9 million boost.

On Tuesday 27 October, The Peterborough Towns Board found out that it was set to receive the cash to support a range of projects in areas such as urban regeneration, planning, land use, connectivity, skills and enterprise infrastructure to support the planned future growth of Peterborough. Peterborough is one of the first seven (out of 101) towns and cities to receive the funding.

These projects have been specifically designed to increase the wellbeing of city residents, boost visitor numbers and adhere to the city’s pledge to be carbon neutral by 2030.

Peterborough City Council is now awaiting the detail to find out which of the following key areas have been approved as part of the funding.

1. Riverside Development and Connections – Creating a masterplan for the Embankment, the new University campus and Middleholme that protects the quality of open green space, and designing and building an additional bridge across the river for pedestrians and cyclists connecting the north and south of the city.
2. New and improved visitor and cultural attractions – Creating new library and cultural facilities for the city, and improved visitor attractions, including a national Bronze Age themed extension to the Town Museum and a lakeside activity centre at Ferry Meadows.
3. Opening up the Station Quarter – Creating a welcoming route from the city’s train station into the city centre to make this journey easy for visitors to navigate by foot or bike and creating space for the development of new homes and offices.
4. Enterprise and Skills infrastructure – The creation of a new enterprise training and business incubation hub to support new city businesses and start-ups, and a training centre for green technology skills, aimed towards the construction and automotive sectors.
5. Future green city – Creating safer, easily accessible routes for pedestrians and cyclists to the train station and city centre from key sites around the city, and better public realm spaces to support the wellbeing of residents and helping the city to move towards the goal of becoming carbon neutral.

The money will be released after the development of business cases over the coming month.

Matthew Bradbury, independent chair of the Peterborough Towns Board, said: “This positive indication from the Government that it is willing to invest in our city has shown the time really is now for Peterborough. Our economy has begun to bounce back, from the lockdown. Investment in Peterborough continues to be strong with a lot of new development planned, or already underway. The Towns Fund offers an opportunity to develop the infrastructure the city will need to support its growth, promote the wellbeing of residents, encourage further business investment and move the city closer to its goal of becoming carbon neutral.”

Councillor John Holdich, leader of Peterborough City Council, said: “We want to build a Peterborough for the future, one that our children and grandchildren can be proud to live in. Our city has a rich heritage and a diverse, yet unified population. With Government funding support we can make our community even stronger and create a city of growth, prosperity and opportunity.”