Seeing our communities come together and enjoy some of the fantastic events we have seen in Peterborough recently has been heart-warming.
It was lovely to see our city filled with light and happiness for the annual Diwali event in Cathedral Square last week. The efforts of those who organised the event, including my friend Rajni Reddy, were commendable and I thank you all.
I was also delighted to hear that over 16,000 people have visited the most successful museum’s, ‘Adventures in Time and Space’, unofficial Dr Who exhibition, concluding with a visit by Sylvester McCoy! Well done to everyone involved at the museum and Tom Dexter for bringing all the parts together to make it a hit!
During a recent interview with the BBC on tourism I was asked if we should be fearful of competition from heavyweight cities such as Cambridge and Norwich. I’m resolute; there is no reason to be fearful of any competition, because I know that Peterborough has so much to offer. We are working to position ourselves as a destination rather than a stop-over.
We still have fantastic events to come over the next few weeks including a spook-tacular Halloween litter pick tomorrow (Friday) between 11am and 3pm. Participants can win prizes while helping to keep the city clean, so please join in if you can.
With less than two months to go until Christmas there are also exciting events to get you in the festive spirit. Please do visit the Cathedral craft and gift market, Christmas Trail and Christmas Tree Festival in November and followed by a dazzling light switch-on in Cathedral Square on Friday 21 November. This will be the best Christmas yet for our city!
At last week's board meeting of the Combined Authority there was good discussion all around, including a plan to super charge economic growth in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough which was approved. As a council we have ambitious growth aspirations, as we know this benefits our residents in the city and we want to work with the CPCA on this plan.
At the meeting there was also discussion about the Tiger Pass, which offers £1 bus fares for under 25s. As an administration, we are very much flying the flag to keep the Tiger Pass in its current form. The impact of the scheme has been transformative for many young people and families and we will support its continuation.
Recently, Councillor Christian Hogg, cabinet member for Housing and Regulatory Services, and I met with the Peterborough Citizens group about the fantastic work they are doing in our city. One of their current goals is to introduce an alert system which informs a school when one of their pupils enters temporary accommodation.
This could be incredibly effective to ensure our schools can provide the best support possible for children in this situation and we are supporting its introduction.
I am upset about the Islamophobic racist incident at Darrassalam Mosque. I have written to the Joint Mosques Council to express support and we are working with all agencies to ensure this doesn’t happen again. A man has been charged in relation to the incident, but there is a lot of work to do to protect minority faith communities in our city.
As the granddaughter of a Muslim Soldier who fought in the world wars, I couldn’t be prouder to have attended the launch of the Royal British Legion’s Poppy Appeal which for me symbolises there is no room for hate in our city when those before us, gave up their today for our tomorrow.
Finally, we launched our new fortnightly e-newsletter last week and it’s already had positive feedback from residents. It’s a great way to keep up-to-date and get the latest council and community information straight into your inbox. Visit our newsletter page for more information and details on how to sign up.