Showground development recommended for approval

The project would see homes built on the showground's former speedway track and grandstand

Plans to build 1,500 homes on a disused showground have been recommended for approval.

Peterborough City Council will consider the £50m project to build on the East of England Showground at a meeting on 15 October.

Developer Asset Earning Power Group (AEPG) said the project would be "a great opportunity" for the city, however, its plans received hundreds of public objections.

The project also featured a new primary school, hotel, places to eat and drink, a care village for the elderly and sports facilities.

AEPG's plans include 1,500 homes, leisure and retail facilities, a primary school, hotel and care village

The development was being considered in two separate applications: one for 850 homes and facilities, such as the primary school, and the other for 650 homes.

AEPG has been asked to make contributions worth more than £7m as a condition of the development.

Peterborough City Council's education department asked for "a minimum" of £5.9m to go towards secondary schooling.

Cambridgeshire & Peterborough's Integrated Care System asked for £898,000 to support local GPs "already operating above capacity".

The East of England Ambulance service asked for a contribution of £289,000 to mitigate "significant pressure" on the service.

'Adverse impacts'

The applications received 904 objections and 53 letters of support.

Most of the public objections related to AEPG's controversial decision to exclude a motorcycle speedway track from its plans.

The showground was home to the Peterborough Panthers speedway team between 1970 and 2022, which is currently without a home.

A petition to preserve motorcycle speedway in Peterborough has received more than 1,000 signatures.

Representatives of Queensgate Shopping Centre lodged an objection calling for the city centre to be regenerated instead of building out-of-town leisure facilities on the showground.

Peterborough Civic Society highlighted concerns over education, healthcare provision and traffic issues, but did not oppose the idea itself of building 1,500 homes on the showground.

Cambridgeshire Wildlife Trust warned there could be "adverse impacts elsewhere" as a result of the development, because it deemed green spaces in the plans to be "insufficient" for people's everyday needs.

Both applications have been recommended for approval when city councillors meet on Tuesday.