As doors shut do any more open?

Well that was quite a week for Peterborough – we lost an iconic department store and gained an international climbing centre.

On balance, I think the city is a big loser.

The decision by John Lewis bosses to shut their Queensgate store after almost four decades is devastating for the hundreds of staff and a body blow to city centre shoppers and traders alike.

I shudder when I think how much cash I’ve spent at John Lewis since I made Peterborough my home more than 20 years ago, but I rarely regretted it. It was more than a place to buy things, it was a leisure destination too!

In the days pre-covid, when this newspaper was located in the heart of the city, I whiled-away many a lunchhour in the tech department.

I marvelled at the highdefinition widescreen tellies and the all-singing all-dancing gadgets.

I didn’t even mind having to battle throught the hordes that were making their way to spend a penny... or a couple of grand.

But we all know the High Street is changing and traditional shops have faced an onslaught from the likes of Amazon and online retailers in general. Then along came the pandemic to hurry the new age along.

Now we are left without a flagship department store but lots of questions.

And the first one that Queensgate’s owners, the MPs, Peterborough City Council and those who, when times are good like to style themselves as the movers and shakers of the city, need to ask themselves is: “should we have seen this coming?’’ and “could we have done anything to stop this happening?’’

Could the store have had a rent holiday?

Could parking have been cheaper, or God forbid, even free like it is at out-of-town centres? It seems an odd business model to want to get people into the city centre to spend money but charge them for the privilege.

Are there enough toilets in the city centre (no, seriously, it matters)? For many the inconvenient truth is ‘no there isn’t’.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, did we sell Peterborough to John Lewis?

Talk of a taskforce being created now to revitalise the city centre brings to mind ‘stable doors’ and ’bolted horses’.

It seems to me the city was very passive as its anchor store teetered on the edge of closure.Maybe they were lulled by the fact that John Lewis had only recently invested £21m in Peterborough. But if city leaders were caught off guard it was incredibly naive and remiss off them.

I’m no Gordon Gecko but even I know that business people don’t tolerate anything unprofitable.

Maybe they just believe that, in true capitalist style, the market will just right itself.

Council leader John Holdich was bullish stating that no less than 19 businesses were interested in filling the John Lewis-sized gap in Queensgate.

That sounds promising as long as it’s not six vape stores, half a dozen charity shops, six mobile phone outlets and another bookies.

The other big news of the week saw plans approved for a huge climbing wall to be built in Ferry Meadows.

There was fierce opposition to the plans but the protestors were no match for the big guns rolled out to support it. I think it will be a great amenity but the location is wrong and there’s a real risk it will wreck the park’s charm and character.

I’ve an idea – why don’t they put the climbing wall in Queensgate?

Unlike parking, you can have that one for free.