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Skeleton finds add £1.6m to cost of city's walkway

Shariqua AhmedPeterborough
News imageShariqua Ahmed/BBC Cars driving along a roundabout with fencing on the left side of the road.Shariqua Ahmed/BBC
The City Link will connect the city's train station and Cowgate

Peterborough City Council's cabinet will be asked to approve an additional £1.6m for the city's Station Quarter regeneration project.

Work on the first phase of the £65m scheme is already under way, including the construction of a walkway over Queensgate roundabout, which will connect Peterborough railway station with Cowgate.

The council said "good progress" was being made on the City Link, but said a combination of international events and discovery of more than 60 skeletons beneath the roundabout has delayed completion by 11 weeks and increased costs.

To cover the expense, the cabinet will be asked at a meeting on 1 October to approve reallocation of a portion of its £5m Towns Fund for the project.

A previous £1.5m allocation from the same fund was approved for the City Link project, so this would bring the total to more than £3m.

News imagePeterborough City Council A computer-generated image of how the station area could look. There are steps on the left hand side and a walkway on the right. There are people sitting, walking and cycling.Peterborough City Council
City Link is the first phase of the Station Quarter project, a collaboration between Peterborough City Council and other authorities

Peterborough's cabinet is due to decide how to reallocate the money from the sales of the former TK Maxx site in Bridge Street and the Goods Shed at Fletton Keys.

These were originally purchased using Towns Fund money but were found to be unsuitable. Their sales could amount to £4.5m being made available for other projects.

Numan Ali Iqbal, cabinet member for growth and regeneration at Peterborough City Council, said: "A lot has happened in the six years since the start of the Towns Fund including the national and local economic picture.

"Due to this, some Towns Fund projects... have had to be delivered in a different way and it now makes sense to reallocate this funding towards other, more viable projects."

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