Student accommodation, as well as new homes and leisure facilities, is among the options under consideration to replace Peterborough’s Pleasure Fair Meadows Car Park. The car park on Oundle Road in Woodston was bought by Peterborough City Council (PCC) in 2015, but has since been sold to Medesham Homes, a joint venture between the council and Cross Keys Homes, with re-development on the horizon.
Medesham Homes was established to “deliver quality affordable homes throughout Peterborough”, it says on its website, but PCC executive Adrian Chapman says that this doesn’t necessarily mean that the car park will become housing – although that is one option. A new swimming pool doesn’t seem likely any more, PCC’s deputy leader, Cllr Steve Allen (Conservatives, Eye, Thorney and Newborough), said at a meeting between councillors and executives including Mr Chapman, despite the site having been considered for this back in 2020.
But new leisure facilities shouldn’t be ruled out, Mr Chapman said, adding that PCC should draw up a long-list of options before whittling them down to determine the site’s future.
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Fair Meadows ‘on the table’ in student accommodation provision talks
Cllr Marco Cereste, (Conservatives, Hampton Vale), who also attended the meeting, suggested that student accommodation might be appropriate for the site. He said: “What we need in Peterborough if our university is successful, and I’m sure it will be, is student accommodation, or at least housing that’s suitable for students. Fair Meadows could be an option for that.”
Mr Chapman confirmed that ARU Peterborough’s board is keen to bring forward a strategy for student accommodation in the city and that the site is “on the table” for this.
Car parking provision ‘needs to be woven into future development’
Also on the table is including parking provision on the site alongside whatever other development is eventually chosen for the location. The car park has historically been used by shoppers, people spending the evening in the city centre and Posh fans visiting the nearby Weston Homes Stadium.
Ongoing provision “needs to be woven in” to whatever development replaces the car park, Cllr Allen said, with Mr Chapman agreeing that it “could well include parking”.
PCC leader, Cllr Wayne Fitzgerald (Conservatives, West), has made his views on 15/20 minute cities – whereby everything a person needs is a 15/20-minute walk or cycle away from their home – “very clear”, Mr Chapman said. “We are a city which is very accessible by car and that won’t and cannot be ignored.”
“The Conservative administration in Peterborough will not be introducing 15/20 minute cities,” Cllr Fitzgerald re-affirmed in his most recent blog, having raised opposition to the concept and particularly restrictions on motorists several times in council meetings.
Assessment of parking needs to be undertaken at Regional Pool
Peterborough has already lost the Regional Pool car park, Mr Chapman continued, as ARU Peterborough’s new ‘Living Lab’ – a science centre and teaching block – is being built on that site on Bishop’s Road. A temporary car park replacing that car park adjacent to the pool is close to completion, he said, and will be followed by a “full assessment” of need; how many spaces are used on particular days is already being monitored.
The sale of the Fair Meadows car park hasn’t been without controversy; PCC’s Labour group leader, Cllr Dennis Jones (Dogsthorpe), recently told the Peterborough Telegraph that the procedure around its transfer from the council to Medesham Homes should be reviewed. As of yet there is “no pre-determination” as to what the outcome of the site will be, Mr Chapman said. “For this site, nothing is off the table.”
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