Whilst I’m not a major football fan, I absolutely love watching World Cups and cheering on the three Lions with my family.
Football, and sport in general, has a unique and wonderful ability to bring people together and raise their spirits. That shared positivity, whether it’s celebrating a goal, a victory or just a sublime piece of skill is something to truly treasure.
It was absolutely fantastic to see England play exciting, action-packed football, with such discipline and winning convincingly against a decent Croatia side who are previous World Cup finalists.
The World Cup showcases football from many different nations and it’s been great to watch other teams, particularly the less well-known countries, bringing different styles to the occasion. Living in a proud multi-cultural city like Peterborough and seeing many people supporting other teams as well as England, is just so uplifting. I hope after 60 years we can finally bring it home.
We are getting Peterborough further into the World Cup spirit by lighting up the trees and Town Hall in Bridge Street in red and white for each evening of the tournament, as well as filling the city centre with bunting, so look out for this spectacular sight! I shall also be at the Willow Café for the England v Ghana game on Tuesday (writing this beforehand) with some of my colleagues. Let’s all spread the happiness!
Continuing with the theme of our city centre – we are investing time and money into making this area even better.
The free parking offer that I have agreed with Mayor Paul Bristow will only help to encourage more people to visit.
Subject to Cabinet approval in July, it is great that the free parking will be in place from 3 August in time for people to enjoy what our city has to offer during the school summer holidays.
If approved, the scheme will cover Bishops Road, Car Haven, Riverside and Pleasure Fair Meadow car parks and initially be run on a time-limited trial.
Free parking aims to bring in more footfall to support local businesses and the health and vibrancy of the evening economy. Working alongside the Combined Authority, we will monitor its impact. But it also shows how collaborative my Administration is. We put the big P politics aside when it comes to a project that will benefit our residents.
Plans are also progressing to finalise how we will spend £1.5 million worth of funding to enhance the city centre as part of the government’s Pride in Place scheme.
Watch this space for further news soon, but the areas we are concentrating on include public toilets, greenery, planting and markets.
I also spent the weekend attending the Glastonbury weekender organised by our Business Improvement District, Peterborough Positive. Pep Cipriano and the team have worked so hard to make this happen, and it was wonderful to see so many people enjoy music and activity. I even had a go at the Peterborough B&D shuffle on stage!
The ballot for Peterborough Positive is now upon us and I wholeheartedly encourage businesses to vote for the BID to continue, as they have done so much to encourage footfall in the city centre and address wider issues such as ASB and supporting businesses.
Finally, we are also celebrating the dedicated work of our armed forces and their families as part of national Armed Forces Week.
Here in Peterborough, we showed our support by raising a specially commissioned Armed Forces flag above the Town Hall on Monday and to mark Armed Forces Day itself on Saturday, celebrations will take place from 10am to 4pm in Cathedral Square beginning with a Civic Parade.
There will be live music throughout the day, alongside military displays, vehicles and charity stalls manned by cadet, active service and veterans groups. Please come along and show your support if you can