By the time you’re reading this column I’ll be in my final day up in Leeds at UKREiiF – the Real Estate Investment and Infrastructure Forum – to represent Peterborough and our growth aspirations on the national stage.
The annual event brings together professionals from national and local government, investors and developers and it’s the place where conversations begin to drive investment and regeneration in cities such as ours.
Last year was my debut, as newly elected leader, and I'm looking forwarded to returning to update on our progress.
I'm looking forward to being able to talk to investors and developers about the Station Quarter project, following the business case approval from government. It's such an important development for our city and wider region, and I'm sure investors will be interested in knowing what opportunities there are.
One of the highlights of the week will be happening Today (Thursday), when I’ll be chairing a discussion panel with young people from Cambridgeshire Youth Panel, looking at how the built environment and regeneration projects can support attempts to address youth inequality.
As part of this I’ll be talking about our aspiration to have a Youth Zone in the city, which would bring investment to support thousands of young people to change their lives, build confidence and raise aspirations.
Bringing a state-of-the-art Youth Zone to life will need partnership funding and I am hoping UK REiiF can play its part in attracting an interested private sector partner.
You may have seen it reported in the media this week that the council’s non-statutory Government intervention has come to an end.
I received the welcome news last week in a letter from Minister of State for Local Government and English Devolution, Jim McMahon MP.
The Minister recognised the council’s improvement over the past three years and in particular, a willingness to continuously improve, the strengthened governance arrangements, and the collaborative culture between members and officers.
This is great news for the council and shows confidence in our abilities from Central Government.
As the letter from the minister acknowledges, challenges still exist in relation to our finances, as they do for many councils, but we now have the foundations in place to support the necessary reform in this area.
Earlier in the week, fellow councillors and I appointed Councillor Judy Fox as the Mayor of Peterborough for the coming year.
Cllr Fox has been a councillor for more than 20 years alongside her husband John who will serve as her consort.
Judy will support Sue Ryder Thorpe Hall Hospice and Peterborough Area Down’s Syndrome Group as her charities – two very deserving causes.
At the same meeting I gave a vote of thanks to the outgoing Mayor, Councillor Marco Cereste, who has embraced all aspects of his role with great commitment and spirit, and has been a fine ambassador for our city.
Along with the hard-working elves of his mayor’s charity committee, he has raised in the region of £40,000 for his three charities which is fantastic.
Not every day is a warm and fuzzy one when you’re council leader, but last Thursday was one of them.
During the day I attended the council’s annual Staff Awards where we recognised the fantastic work of officers. Highlights for me were the Aragon Streetcare Tree team who saved the life of a colleague who had a heart attack, and a colleague in Children’s Services who climbed up a drainpipe to save the life of a woman who had taken an overdose.
It’s never lost on me the sheer breadth of services that we provide for our residents and the city, to care, support and create more and better opportunities for everyone.
Then in the evening I attended the annual Civic Awards which recognises those who have made a real difference to the local community. It was a fantastic event and I was so pleased to see us able to recognise and congratulate some fantastic people, groups and businesses that are going above and beyond to make our city the great place it is.