North Westgate developer says he is waiting for 'welcome flag' to go up from Peterborough City Council

A developer has shrugged off calls for him to sell a key area of land to enable the regeneration of Peterborough’s North Westgate.

Peter Breach, chairman of Hawksworth Securities, which is the largest landowner in the development area, says the issue of selling his part of the site has not been a topic of conversation with city planning chiefs.

His comments come three months after Councillor Wayne Fitzgerald, leader of Peterborough City Council, issued a written plea to land and property owners in North Westgate to sell to the local authority to allow it to carry out the long awaited regeneration of the site.

Mr Breach secured planning approval for a £150 million hotel-led leisure and accommodation development of North Westgate in 2018 but that permission elapsed in 2021 after he failed to submit ‘reserved matters’, which are details of how the development will work, to the council.

There are currently no plans for the regeneration of North Westgate submitted to the council.

Mr Breach, who is working on a development proposal for the area, says he needs council support to take it further.

He said: “I’ve not responded to the letter and the sale of land owned by Hawksworth has not been a topic of conversation with the council.

"I’m still talking to the council. We do have lines of communication.

“We’re waiting for the dust to settle after the recent political changes on the council.

Mr Breach added: “I hope to see the welcome flag go up from the council and we can get this sorted.”