Heritage Assets and their Value to the Economic Growth of Peterborough

The variety of buildings and landscapes that make up the heritage assets of Peterborough help to embody meaning and notions of worth in many ways. The Dictionary of Landscape Architecture defines a heritage asset as denoting structures, features, and objects of historic interest and value that are potentially viable as attractions.

In Peterborough the heritage of the city provides places to live in and near, and a pleasant environment for work. The Heritage Attractions Group active within the city highlights that heritage also provides what English Heritage have called ‘option value’ as people derive a benefit from knowing they are there and can be visited in the future; this connects with ‘existence value’ where people who live in the city derive pleasure from knowing that such heritage assets exist within the city, without a need to ever actually set foot inside one.

The heritage attractions in Peterborough bring money and visitors into the region. Visitor numbers have gone up across the heritage and cultural sector in the credit crunch as people take holidays in the UK, and in Peterborough the average visitor numbers went up by 3% across heritage attractions over the last year.

While the tourism industry around specific sites is hugely important for the local economy, and we should maximise that, there is a wider economic benefit derived from the wider heritage stock of the city. The re-use of listed buildings for housing stock, for example, is both economically and environmentally beneficial 1, and encourages for the creation of sustainable communities. Historic buildings have a significant role in regeneration projects: a report by EEDA, English Heritage and the Heritage Lottery Fund in the East of England found that every £10,000 of heritage investment leverages on average £45,000 of match funding from public and private sources. Major heritage-based regeneration projects have been hugely successful around the country, in Newcastle, Derbyshire and Manchester for example, and have created businesses and jobs as well as attracting fresh inward investment.

Heritage also has a value as an educational tool, and is used by organisations from John Clare Cottage to the Peterborough Museum as a resource for learning. The value is inherent in the pleasure people get from aesthetic experiences such as looking at the Cathedral, and in the volunteering experiences available in the historic sector from the Adult Education College and the PCVS. The heritage of a city is related to people’s concepts of their own identity, allowing them to gain personalised meaning from the environment around them.

Alongside this the heritage of the city provides a recognisable brand, a local distinctiveness that characterises the city and creates a sense of place for people who live and work in Peterborough. If we are to market Peterborough successfully, we need to ‘exploit’ all of its assets.

Alice Kershaw

1Useful Fact 1: Did you know that the demolition of a Victorian terraced house has the same embodied energy to power a car 5 times around the world?

Out in the Country – Rural Heritage

Peterborough Unitary Authority doesn’t just comprise the city centre but also the surrounding rural areas. Recent debates on reinstating the old name of the Soke show the wide areas covered (although this name doesn’t covered areas such as Thorney) by the Council. Alongside the Council there are the new Neighbourhood Councils and numerous Parish Councils who deal with the rural areas. These come together at groups such as the Rural Working Group, run by the Greater Peterborough Partnership, to discuss issues and strategies relating specifically to the rural environment.

The rural heritage comprises the whole villages, the historical landscape found in aspects such as medieval field boundaries, scheduled monuments and archaeology. The spiritual importance of heritage in the rural area, from Flag Fen to modern places of worship, is often found in buildings such as churches, of which continuing disuse is beginning to become a real issue. These redundant buildings are often listed and of importance to a community, but their lack of daily use and the cost of maintaining them means some slide into disrepair.

The Heritage Strategy for the city covers both the urban and rural areas, and both work together to promote Peterborough as a desirable visitor attraction, and a good place to live, with a wealth of beautiful landscapes and rich architectural heritage.

The west and east of the city both have distinct characters of their own, with Fenland out to the east and stone villages and more forestation out to the west. Individual areas also have their own characters, descriptions of which can be found in documents such as Conservation Area Appraisals, Landscape Character Assessments and Village Design Statements. These all stress the distinctiveness of each area and provide reference points for development to allow positive management of change. The history of a landscape can be used as a guide for its future – a key part of the Opportunity Peterborough’s Integrated Growth Study for the city which set out how we can grow sustainably.

Alice Kershaw

First impressions of Peterborough and its City Centre Heritage

Getting into Peterborough by train can create a first impression of a not vastly attractive station, multi-storey car parks and underpasses. For a city with a strong railway heritage there is surprisingly little left, with the view of Railworld from the train, alongside the two listed sheds, providing the clues to the industrial past and the previous importance of the city to the railway industry. However whilst Peterborough is considered a New Town it has an old core, and rich archaeology. The rural areas surrounding the city are also rich in heritage.

Views of the Cathedral from the train station are limited - it is best appreciated at long distance from the railway line to Ely, but as you do enter the station you get a hint of this fantastic building at the heart of the city centre.

Alongside the railway the river would obviously also have had a larger role in the city in times gone by, and it is interesting to see any development which makes use of this feature.
Once off the train and through the iron arch which signals the way to the city from Cowgate one walks up into the stone city centre guided by the cathedral spires. The city centre area itself is relatively small, with no more large redevelopment schemes planned for it, so enhancing what is there in the historic core is obviously of importance.

OP’s initiative to remove the 1960’s Corn exchange building and the creation of St John’s square, currently being managed on site by PCC, has led to more attractive views already, and ultimately a more attractive vista into cathedral square and subsequently into the cathedral precincts themselves. The new squares and run-up to the Norman gate provides a showcase of the heritage of the city centre, with St Johns leading to the Guildhall leading to the Cathedral. The surrounding buildings, such as Pizza Express and Prezzo, have some fascinating quirks to them, if only more people could be encouraged to look up!

Leading from the Guildhall the Cathedral can be seen through the arch. An iconic image of Peterborough and the heritage ‘asset’ most connected with people’s image of the city, due to its use on promotional materials. The cathedral precincts have a different environment to the rest of the city centre, as one walks through the Norman gate the visual impact is quite striking.
The earliest known map of the city, drawn by John Speed in around 1610AD shows the Market Place (Cathedral Square). A covered market cross, another cross or post, and a free standing building are shown to the east of St John’s Church. The Old Guildhall was not built until 1671AD. The buildings on this map still provide the cities core and their importance cannot be underestimated.

In my next blog I will take a look at the heritage beyond the city centre…

Alice Kershaw

Alice Kershaw - Heritage Regeneration Officer for Opportunity Peterborough

Peterborough has a wide ranging variety of heritage, from cultural to built, comprising large stately homes and halls, evidence of medieval land boundaries, scheduled monuments, personality houses, museums, archaeology sites, bronze age settlements, Napoleonic prisoner of war camps, and railways. They make up a broad and valuable resource available to the people who live in the city and the surrounding area.

My post was created by Opportunity Peterborough, with funding from CLG, Peterborough City Council and English Heritage for two years to ensure that heritage plays its full role in the regeneration and growth of Peterborough, and perceptions of the city. It is a unique post; similar roles have existed in two other cities before, but not led by their urban regeneration companies.

My line manager is Steve Bowyer from Opportunity Peterborough. Opportunity Peterborough was established in 2005 to drive forward the regeneration and growth of Peterbrough. Among its objectives are to create a vibrant and attractive city centre - but that should be at the heart of a bigger and better Peterborough, and I will be looking forward to working with groups across both the rural and urban area. I was particularly interested in this role due to the potential of Peterborough to recognise and use the city’s heritage as a valuable part of its future.

It is important that heritage is seen as part of regeneration and not in opposition to it: it is not an either/ or situation or a compromise, but one in which there are a lot of benefits in combining the economic regeneration of the city with the existing heritage assets. Regeneration can be led by the existing fabric of the city, to create a sense of place and a city identity which is connected firmly to its past. Heritage needs to underpin and inform regeneration in order to create pride in the city.

Alice Kershaw

Peterborough Infrastructure Consortium’s Showcase

Now we have got the volunteer awards event out of the way planning is underway for the next big event on our calendar. 3rd December is an important date for the local voluntary and community sector. This is the date of the Peterborough Infrastructure Consortium’s Showcase event.

The Peterborough Infrastructure Consortium is currently made up of 14 local charities. The purpose of the consortium is to strengthen the local voluntary sector by providing better representation, a stronger voice, training and development opportunities for volunteers, paid workers and trustees. The Consortium was officially formed in April 2008 however, as a group we have been meeting for over 2 years.

The Showcase event is being held at the Reception Room in the Town Hall with the formal business during the morning followed by a buffet lunch. During the event delegates will hear about the work of the consortium, future developments and how this affects small and large charities and voluntary groups. Events such as this provide an excellent opportunity for networking with partners from statutory organisations, national and regional representation, local Councillors as well as representatives from voluntary groups themselves.

If anyone is interested in knowing more or would like to book a place at the event please email me at sarah.fletcher@pcvs.co.uk

Good news for the Volunteer Centre

We have recently had funding success which will enable us to increase the work of the Volunteer Centre. The one thing that always frustrates us is that once funding is secure the deadlines to recruit workers and complete the project are always very tight. We have been busy writing job descriptions, advertising posts and working out where new staff will be based in our already crowded offices. Not surprisingly in our current recession we have had a lot of interest in the new vacancies and we hope to have everyone in place well before Christmas.

The first new piece of work will provide a toolkit for anyone who recruits and retains volunteers. This will look to setting up quality volunteer management programmes which in turn will mean volunteers feel more supported. In addition the worker employed will help 50 small groups with volunteer management.

The second new piece of work is working closely with both GPP and JobCentre Plus helping our growing number of unemployed people in the city. GPP has recently set up the Peterbrough @Back to Business Club', for unemployed people with a focus on professionals and managers recently made redundant. This project is to support them with the running of the club. In addition the Volunteer Centre is working closely with Jobcentre Plus Advisors who are identifying people under the Flexi New Deal Programme wishing to use volunteering as a way of going back into work. Funding from EEDA is at present only guaranteed to March 2010 but it is hoped this can be extended to March 2011.

Creating the UK's Environment Capital

The Voyager school in Peterborough has a reputation for creativity and innovative use of multi-media. A year ago two of their students made a film all about Peterborough's ambition to create the UK's Environment Capital.

The film was shown at the official launch of Peterborough's green ambition where local civic and business leaders pledged their support to help the city achieve its goal.

Thank you to Ryan & Luke who spent days and days planning, filming and editing this short film.