Census 2022: Peterborough, one of UK's fastest growing cities

According to the latest census figures more than one in every five Peterborough residents is aged under 15 years old

According to the latest census, Peterborough is one of the fastest growing cities in the UK. Why is this cathedral city, which boasts a history of settlement dating back thousands of years, continuing to swell in size and what does rapid population growth mean for those who live here?

In the 10 years to 2021, the population has risen from 183,631 to 215,700 in the city and district, which includes villages such as Wittering and Thorney.

That's a 17.5% rise, compared to a rise of 6.3% for the whole of England and Wales.

Peterborough City Council says the increase is driven by both "natural change" and people moving there from within the UK and from abroad.

The BBC visited a community cafe at Family Voice Peterborough in the Goldhay Centre to find out what life is like in the city.

'This is exactly the place for us'

Mary Duyiro Felix, 29 and a mother of five children, says the family has been "blessed with good schools" in Peterborough

One of the city's latest additions is Mary Duyiro Felix, 29, who arrived in the UK from Nigeria in February.

The mother of five children came to join her husband who has been working in the UK for more than a year.

"Even though he works in Cambridge he does not mind the travel because this [Peterborough] is exactly the place for us," she says.

"It is welcoming and the people here are really nice. He chose this place and I really love it.

"I just love this community and we've been blessed with good schools."

'I have noticed it getting busier'

Destiny Moles, 21, has lived her entire life in Peterborough

Destiny Moles, 21, has lived her entire life in Peterborough, which became a designated new town in 1967, and has seen waves of growth since then.

"It is expanding," she says. "There are new homes, new shops and everything.

"I have noticed it getting busier, more flats going up, growing diversity and I think the city centre has grown a lot."

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Alongside the overall rise in population, another key aspect to emerge from the census data was the proportion of young people living in the city.

According to the latest figures, one in five people in Peterborough is under the age of 15.

And given the size of the city's younger population, Ms Moles says, more provision is needed for youth services.

"I think there is a lot of demand on services, especially in terms of mental health, and I think that is definitely something that could be improved upon."

East London tops growth chart

The census statistics are based on local authority districts and there are five above Peterborough in the top 10 for population growth.

The London Borough of Tower Hamlets saw the largest growth with a 22.1% rise.

Dartford in Kent recorded a 20% growth, while Barking & Dagenham in east London had a 17.7% rise.

Just down the A1 from Peterborough, with its 17.5% rise, the borough of Bedford, which includes the town and surrounding rural area, saw a 17.7% rise, while the city of Cambridge followed with a 17.6% increase.

Those three districts contributed to making the East of England the region with the highest growth at 8.3%, slightly ahead of London and the East Midlands which both saw 7.7% growth.

The North East was the English region with the smallest increase - 1.9%.

You can check the changes in your district on the Office for National Statistics interactive website.

'Peterborough is in this prime location'

Faustina Yang is "not surprised at all" at how fast Peterborough is growing

Faustina Yang is a trustee of Family Voice Peterborough, which manages the Goldhay Community Centre, and works as a community specialist in the NHS. She also works supporting charitable organizations, including grassroots community groups, in Peterborough.

She says she is "not surprised at all" at how fast the city is growing.

"Peterborough is in this prime location with excellent transport links and also the house prices are much lower than London or Cambridge," she says.

"The other thing is Peterborough is a diverse city with lots of different nationalities and it is more welcoming and accepting to other cultures.

"It has got beautiful parks and meadows nearby and good schools and a nearly 1,000-year-old cathedral."

'It is a commuter's paradise'

"I haven't really noticed the city centre being any busier," says Janet Armstrong

Janet Armstrong, 71, says she has not really noticed the population growth in Peterborough.

"I haven't really noticed the city centre being any busier," she says.

People in Peterborough praise the layouts of new estates in the city, such as the Hamptons on the southern edge

Ms Armstrong moved to Peterborough in 1992 for her husband's work and she praises the city's transport links with it being on the A1 and A47 on the road network, and a major railway junction on the London-Edinburgh line, with east-west rail links to Cambridge and Birmingham.

"I think word gets around that Peterborough is an inclusive city, that the new estates are beautifully laid out and good places to live - people find that attractive," she says.

"It is a commuter's paradise - it has got everything really."

She says while there is growing demand in the city for support and help, that is more to do with the current economic difficulties than the rise in population.

"We are in very hard times," she says. "And people need a lot of support."

'The young people will keep the city going'

Louise Roe, 45, is the fundraising and engagement manager at Family Voice Peterborough

"It ends up being quite gradual," Louise Roe says of the growing population. "So you don't notice it as a sudden influx or anything.

"There certainly seems to be more diversity in the city now than there was 10 years ago."

The 45-year-old says the high proportion of under-15s surprised her.

"I thought it might be more older people, but it is good.

"We are constantly building more schools and colleges and it is the young people who are going to keep the city going."

She says the city is both modern but has a "great sense of history".

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Wayne Fitzgerald, Conservative leader of Peterborough City Council, says while Peterborough is a "a fast-growing, evolving city" supporting that growth can be challenging.

"We're lobbying hard for the funding to follow up that growth," he says. "But there's a lag between the money coming in and the numbers of people settling here.

"In many ways that growth is one of the solutions to our financial woes at the council. We have to generate income and that comes from growth.

"Growth is good."