Council leader happy to work with Peterborough United over new stadium plans and weighs in on Embankment future

Peterborough City Council Leader Mohammed Farooq has said that his happy to help Peterborough United identify any site to build a new stadium.

When asked by the Peterborough Telegraph, Cllr Farooq did not specifically mention the Embankment, which the club has long since identified as its preferred location for a new multi-purpose arena.

Cllr Farooq said: “As far as football is concerned and my overall leadership is concerned, the key thing is to deliver economic uplift in the city.

“I always strongly believe that if you have a strong club, a club operating at the very highest level, it uplifts the whole business market and the whole retail scene. There is a host of economic benefits that follow that.

“I’m happy to work with the football club to identify any site, which is fit for purpose, to go on to deliver a new stadium which is fit for purpose for the next, 10, 20, 40 years and gets up to the Premier League.”

Cllr Farooq’s comments came shortly before Peterborough MP Paul Bristow announced his aspiration to work with Posh towards finally delivering the much-delayed project.

The club responded by stating that they welcomed the engagement and invited other political parties to also come forward.

There has been much discussion over the future of Peterborough’s Embankment, including from Posh, the ARU Peterborough University as well as campaigners who wish to see the area remain untouched.

As this moment in time, there has been no planning application submitted for a permanent development on the site.

A consultation was published in 2022 by Barton and Wilmore, on behalf of the council. Among the primary goals of the masterplan was to ensure the Embankment becomes a 21st century riverside park with a network of new routes, particularly for walkers and cyclists linking it to the city centre, other green areas and bringing people closer to the waterside.

The suggested area, which would contain a new ground, was sited to the north of the Embankment alongside the new university buildings, and seen as an optional extra.

Cllr Farooq added: “The Embankment is a key part of the whole city centre and we need to make sure that any development that goes there is right for the city.

“We’ve got a university already there and they are developing their campus. We want to create opportunities for the next generation. To do that and to help the next generation identify these opportunities, education is the key factor.

“We are all behind education and we’re behind ARU to deliver the best university for the city, which will uplift the whole economic outlook in the city.”