What are the issues in the suburb that keeps changing its mind?

7 hours ago 2

2 hours ago

Ben Schofield,Political correspondent in Hampton Valeand

Naomi Richardson

Ben Schofield/BBC A shot across a man-made lake towards a collection of fairly new housing. The image is framed by small trees and is shot from the corner of the lake. On the other side of the water, a grassy bank reaches out of the water, behind which are houses, bathed in bright sunlight. One of the buildings is four storeys high, while others are three and two-storey structures. The sky is blue, save for two small puffy clouds.

Hampton Vale could be crowned King of the Swingers.

In the last three local elections, voters in this Peterborough ward have elected candidates from three different parties.

In 2022 they chose a Conservative, in 2023 a Liberal Democrat, and in 2024, a Peterborough First independent candidate.

Ahead of the next city council elections on 7 May, what do people who live, work or play in the suburb say are the big issues on their minds?

Ben Schofield/BBC Tina Defalco, smiling and looking straight down the camera. She is standing in a kitchen, next to a stove. She is wearing a black cotton chef's coat and a black hairnet, under which her grey, wavy hair is escaping. Behind her on the left is a stainless steel piece of equipment, while on the right is a work surface and a white tiled wall, on which a paper towel dispenser is mounted.

Chef Tina Defalco is busy making a spicy arrabbiata sauce in the kitchen at Mattoni, the Italian restaurant where she has worked for two years.

If she ran Peterborough City Council for a week, what would be her top priority?

"Definitely clean up the city," she says.

"They really need to get somebody in the morning to jet wash that city centre because it's absolutely filthy.

"Peterborough needs a good clean up."

Alongside potholes, fly-tipping is one of the biggest issues on her mind.

She says there is "nothing appealing about Peterborough at all at the minute" and feels the state of the city is deterring visitors.

Hampton Vale ward is at the south-western tip of Peterborough, almost four miles (6.5km) from the city centre.

Its western border is the A1(M) motorway, where huge warehouses have been built, and to the south-east – across the border into Huntingdonshire – is the village of Yaxley.

The claypits have become large, inter-connected lakes, home to swans and geese.

On the surface, it appears peaceful and tidy.

But standing at a bus stop, Maria Djmanca echoes Defalco, saying there is "too much rubbish in the streets".

Her priorities? Safety and cleaning.

"But first is safety," she adds.

Ben Schofield/BBC A road sign bearing the street name "Four Chimneys Crescent". An outline of two swans is in the top left hand corner of the sign. The sign is against a row of black railings, behind which is growing a low, green hedge. Further in the background is a brick wall.

Before the elections, Peterborough City Council was run by a coalition of Labour, Peterborough First Independent and Liberal Democrat councillors, with Labour providing the leader of the council and the largest number of cabinet members.

Until November 2023, the council had been led by the Conservatives for more than two decades.

Ben Schofield/BBC A modern, brick-built church, set against a bright sun, in a bright blue and partly cloudy sky. On the left, a crucifix is mounted above a set of tall, vertical windows, built into a bay-type wall, that juts out of the building. On the right is another set of rectangular windows and on the edge of frame is a door leading into the church, though most of that is off-camera. Beyond the church and to the left of the image is a road, low-rise apartment block, tree and street lamp. A couple of cars are parked on the road.

Christ the Servant King (CSK) church just squeaks into Hampton Vale ward.

As well as its Anglican congregation, it is also home to a community cafe and several group activities through the week.

Fresh from a Pilates class in the church hall, Lise Gothard, 54, says there is "a lot of talk" online about anti-social behaviour in the Hamptons.

As well as bin fires, she recalls "break-ins; there's cars being stolen; people breaking into garages and stealing motorbikes".

Ben Schofield/BBC Lise Gothard smiling broadly and looking down the camera. She is wearing a black, zipped hooded top, which is worn open, and a black t-shirt. She has straight hair, tied back and is also wearing two small hoop earrings. She is standing inside a large room, with a wooden floor and white walls. A set of double swing doors can be seen behind her and to the left of image.

She moved to the area 28 years ago and says she "definitely" feels crime is getting worse.

"As a community you just want to feel safe, don't you?

"You don't want to feel that you've got to lock your door – you're going to lock your door – but you know, you want that community feeling."

Having lived in the area "for so long", she adds that it's "sad" to see the community feeling "slipping away".

Ben Schofield/BBC Phil Yau standing outside by a lake, smiling and looking down the camera. It is a bright day and the sky is bright blue, with several puffy clouds overhead. Phil is wearing a checked shirt, worn open at the collar. He has short, neatly cut black and grey hair, which is spiked upwards. The lake behind him looks calm and flat, with trees and tall grasses along the bank. Houses and trees can be seen on the other side of the water.

Phil Yau, 54, describes Hampton Vale as a welcoming place that is good for families, where "everybody integrates fairly well".

But he says anti-social behaviour is "one of those things that really does affect people's day-to-day wellbeing".

He and his family were among the first to move to Hampton Vale when they relocated there in 2003.

The kitchen of their home is where his wife Bonnie, also 54, develops recipes for their sauce business.

Bonnie Yau A young girl in a blue skirt and light green t-shirt is sitting on a park bench on the right of the image. She is turning towards a see-through cellophane packet on the bench next to her. On the ground in front of the bench and on the left of the image is an adult white swan and behind the swan is another, darker feathered bird. There appears to be some breadcrumbs on the ground between the birds and the bench. In the background are houses and trees.

Anti-social behaviour, he says, includes "people who are riding around on scooters" and "using the footpaths as their personal rally tracks".

He, too, recalls a "spate of arson" last summer, when bins were being set on fire.

"It needs to be nipped in the bud because today's petty thief is tomorrow's bank robber," he says.

Choosing who to vote for, he adds, is not just about "who's promising what, but historically who's delivered what".

Ben Schofield/BBC A composite image showing Bonnie Yau on the left, Valerie Godfrey in the centre and Rosie Adamson on the right. Bonnie Yau is wearing a checked shirt and has long, wavy black hair falling over her shoulders. Valeria Godfrey has rectangular framed glasses on and has grey hair, worn in a parting and cut relatively short, so it falls just above her ears. She is wearing a white top, patterned with lots of small red and blue flowers. Rosie Adamson is smiling broadly, showing her teeth. She is wearing a yellow zipped top, worn partially open. Her blonde hair is tied back and two small hooped earrings can be seen.

It is often said that local elections reflect national mood.

But none of the small sample of people we speak to mentions Mandelson.

Several other issues do crop up.

Bonnie Yau is one of several to highlight parking issues.

She says she would lower the cost of parking in the city centre "to entice more people into town".

Ben Schofield/BBC A view along a residential street in Hampton Vale. The corner of a three-storey residential block, with light orange bricks, is prominent in the image and is to the left-of-centre of the picture. The pavement running in front of the block and its neighbours can be seen, as well as several mature trees. The sky beyond the houses is a deep blue and no clouds can be seen.

Closer to home, Valerie Godfrey, 74, says Hampton Vale's roads are often clogged with parked cars and can get "very chaotic at times".

This is "dangerous" for people with disabilities, she says, as well as "mums, dads, [and] carers who have got somebody in a wheelchair or double buggies".

Godfrey, who is taking an art class at CSK church, also mentions she would like to see more community spaces built.

Rosie Adamson, 33, from Swift Pilates and Yoga, runs classes at the church.

She would like more "community spaces that are affordable", as well as improved parks.

In a barber shop in the centre of Hampton Vale, foreign affairs are on the mind of Muhammad Usman, 39.

He says he will be supporting an "anti-war party" and questions whether money spent on war could be better spent "in our country, our people, our population".

Asked what his biggest issue is, he mentions "Trump" and adds: "If you have money, you have power – you can do whatever you want."

Ben Schofield/BBC Jagpreet Singh looking down the camera and standing inside a fish and chip shop. He is wearing a heavy-looking black coat with a black sheepskin-like lining. Under the coat is a black top, over which a silver metal chain is hanging. Jagpreet is also wearing a peaked cap, with "Von Dutch" written on the front. He has a faint moustache and beard. Behind Jagpreet on the left are several sauce bottles, while on the right is a spit with dark kebab meat on it, turning in front of lit burners.

In fish and chip shop Hampton's Plaice, Jagpreet Singh, 20, is preparing for the evening rush.

He says he'll choose who he feels has "got the better intentions for the community".

Having just found a place to rent on his own, he says the city needs "more places for people to rent, more homes to be on sale, more places to be built".

"A lot of people need a place to stay."

Ben Schofield/BBC The exterior of Hampton's Plaice fish and chip shop. A set of double doors is in the centre of image, with two windows on either side of the doors. The windows bear words including "pizzas", "sausages & pies", and "desserts". Under "Hampton's Plaice" is written: "Serving our local community with quality fish and chips". The shop front is set into a brick-built building and above the shop the very bottom of three windows are just shown.

Five candidates are standing to represent the area. There is no Peterborough First Independent candidate up for election in the ward, though the party is fielding candidates elsewhere in the city.

We will find out who wins there after voting closes on 7 May.

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