Peterborough regeneration Dec00

Peterborough has pockets of severe deprivation in the oldest part of the city as well as district wide disadvantage. Traditional industries such as heavy engineering, quarrying and brickworks have declined over the last 30 years. The inner urban core that housed successive generations of immigrant workers in these industries has seen a rapid inflow of refugees and asylum seekers from East and Central Europe. There is no capacity or investment that can improve the area.

The Peterborough Regeneration Partnership has submitted an excellent programme to DTI in their bid for securing the funding under the URBAN II Community Initiative Programme (CIP). Such a programme is well supported by numerous local and foreign investors who would be ready to invest if Peterborough is granted Urban II designation.

I have urged Mr. Byers MP, Secretary of State, DTI, to support the Peterborough bid as it adopts a fully integrated approach to revitalise areas that could be socially and economically devastated. It promotes enterprise by empowering local and foreign investors to create and sustain a vibrant socio-economic basis for the area’s development.