What will rail station quarter regeneration do for Peterborough?
A £65m project to regenerate an area around a railway station has been welcomed by local people. The station quarter can expect a new entrance, pedestrianised square and multi-storey car park. Business people have been giving their reaction to the news.
The project will be opposite the Bourges Boulevard entrance to the Queensgate shopping centre.Sangeeta Bhattarai of the Toast'd Sandwich on Cowgate welcomed the decision.She said "we are happy" and now had big plans to turn her business into "more of a restaurant".Her husband Basan described the investment as "brilliant". "I'm going to have more footfall. I'm excited, looking forward to it, hopefully they'll start really soon."
Neil Treliving, owner of the Blind Tiger bar on Cowgate, said the area had a lot of issues as it was the "gateway to the city and it has been forgotten about"."We're hoping the regeneration changes that. We've still got bins on the road and they're using this as a car park even though this is a restricted area," he said."We're three years in the making trying to get this sorted."We're hoping the station quarter sorts this out but I'm not optimistic if they can't give us the cafe culture environment that they promised us years ago."It should be pedestrianised. I know that's going to mean problems with deliveries but they've done it on Cathedral Square where you have your deliveries before 10. We'll cope with it."He added the area also had an issue with homelessness which needed to be supported. "We hope the regeneration works; it's a lot of money," he added.
Annaliosa Phillips of the Well Skin Clinic said the news was "very positive"."The commuter traffic is very important for us as a business," she said. "The walkway from the station at the moment isn't particularly attractive. I think anything that brings new people into the city is really positive."The plans include a new junction from the station to Thorpe Road at the western end of the Crescent Bridge, with a new pedestrian-cycle route across the Queensgate Roundabout to Cowgate.Ms Phillips said transport links into the city were being improved but it was a question of "whether or not when people come into the city they find what they're expecting"."There's a problem with aggressive beggars, there's a problem with people consuming alcohol in the city centre and I feel the local government really needs to address those issues so that this investment really benefits local businesses," she said.Ms Phillips said as a destination business she did not rely on footfall to generate trade, but understood others did."Originally this street was lovely. We've been there for quite a long time... they used to do the planters and it would feel like it was well-maintained," she said."But the whole city centre in general needs more maintenance."Things like the litter, making sure the place is attractive and welcoming."
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