ARU Peterborough gets £20m toward buildings and car park

An artist's impression of the new university campus on Embankment next to the River Nene

A new university has been given £20m of funding for buildings and a car park despite concern from councillors.

The money will provide Anglia Ruskin University Peterborough with a second academic building and £500,000 to complete a 128-space car park.

City council members from Labour and the Liberal Democrats questioned whether the car park expenditure should go ahead, given the council's decision to put capital spending on hold.

The university is due to open in 2022.

Several Peterborough councillors said they could not support the £500,000 towards completing the car park, reported the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Nick Sandford, Lib Dems group leader, said: "We've been given two very specific instructions by central government to cease anything other than the most absolutely essential or legally required capital spending."

Mr Sandford also questioned whether the car park fitted in with the city's priority to get Peterborough to carbon zero by 2030.

His Labour counterpart, Shaz Nawaz, said while in favour of the university project, the authority should be cautious about the car park spending given it was "under the microscope" of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

Conservative council leader Wayne Fitzgerald accepted the authority had to reduce its capital budget, but he said the car park "is not costing us any money".

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According to the council's finance member, Andy Coles, the authority had saved money, since the original sum set aside for the car park project was £2m.

He said: "Once the car park is built, we will then lease the 128 spaces to the university and receive rental from them which will pay-off the entire sum."

Councillors voted by a majority of 49 to nine to approve funding for the car park and £20m towards the university buildings.

ARU Peterborough, the campus will specialise in technical and apprenticeship degrees.