Inside the 9-year free ride: Peterborough councillor’s radio station in council property without rent or rates

City council leader Dennis Jones signalled the end of a 9-year free rent and rates package provided by the “munificence splendour” of his predecessors to Peterborough Community Radio Station Ltd (PCRFM), a community radio station of which Conservative councillor Wayne Fitzgerald is a founder director.

The tenancy of the council owned units at the Herlington Centre, Orton Malbourne, is informal (a tenancy at will) renewed indefinitely. PCRFM is not a registered charity or a community interest company (CIC) but operates as a private company limited by guarantee without share capital (often called a CLG). This is a standard UK structure for non-profit and community organisations.

PCRFM’s model includes commercial advertising and paid services (micro accounts filed to Companies House reveal three employees) but no detail is provided of the financial sponsorships that allow it, for instance, to pay breakfast presenter Kev Lawrence. Freedom of Information (FOI) requests from the city council confirm only limited accounts are provided to support the continued level of financial support.

Cllr Jones told CambsNews that the council had “bills to pay” and although it had been argued the radio station added social value to the city “social value butters no parsnips”.

An investigation by CambsNews uncovered through FOI requests confirmed that the radio station has enjoyed an extended period of rent and rate free occupancy on the council owned premises.

The council responded last month by pointing out that a review of the rent and rate relief arrangements to the radio station were part of a “review of rent concessions across the council generally and this will be considered as part of this process”.

Cllr Jones said he was alerted to the radio station’s financial honeymoon in a phone call last year from Cecilie Booth, at the time executive director of corporate services and section 151 officer, de facto finance chief.

“I was in Warwick say about October November last year when I got a call from Cecilie. “She said, ‘Wayne is not paying any rates on his place in Herlington. Why should he get rent and rate free? Are you happy?’”

Cllr Jones told Ms Booth he was not and agreed she should begin the process of ending the arrangement.

 Cllr Jones said he would not comment on “what happened on other people’s watch, going back to days of John Holdich (a former council leader) and Gillian Beasley (a former chief executive).

“They set this arrangement probably when we lived in the land of plenty – they were willing to let people have stuff for a £1 or rent and rate free.”

He described the philosophy as akin to “munificence splendour” by his predecessors in feeling able to offer rent and rate free arrangements in return for organisations bringing social value to the city – in short “you bring social value to this city therefore we will take care of you”.

But as CambsNews can reveal not all organisations who applied became beneficiaries of the council’s largesse, for example in 2019 council leader John Holdich signed off a report presented by Peter Carpenter, Acting Corporate Director Resources.

This was a list of those groups recommended to receive discretionary rate relief for charities and similar organisations to 31 March 2021 together with those recommended not to receive rate relief.

Among those refused the discretionary 20 per cent rate was Peterborough Volunteer Fire Service.

The report noted that the “Peterborough Volunteer Fire Brigade have applied for discretionary relief on the grounds they have just £4k per annum as an underspend and cannot maintain operations at that level.

“Accounts show £244k held in reserves against annual expenditure of £46k. The organisation do not therefore qualify for relief under point 2 of the council’s guidelines “Recommendation that no discretionary relief is granted in this case.”

However, in another appendix, listing those to qualify for “100 per cent discretionary relief”, is PCRFM.

And it quoted historic information – PR provided by the station and not gleaned from any due diligence.

The council report said: “Established in June 2010 (as Radio Peterborough) the station has around 60 volunteers from a variety of ethnic backgrounds and of varying ages all working on different aspects of the project.

“The station has been broadcasting on FM since May 2017 and is a ‘not for profit’ local (community) radio station, supported and run by a small staff and volunteers from the community.

“It is also expected that any volunteer or trainee will, after gaining a mixture of life skills and actual broadcast experience, improve their prospects of future employment through the training and skills they will acquire.

“One of the most important features of the project is that it will run an ‘academy’ for members of the community to learn together many of the skills which the experienced staff and trained volunteers will be able to pass on.”

The report added; “The radio project is now based in an ideal location at the very heart of a residential community in the Herlington centre. This converted shop not only being the base for Radio Peterborough’s output, will focus on the training academy project and become a local studio centre for and can be utilised by a number of community and performance art groups.

“This has also presented all concerned with a great opportunity to invest in and regenerate what is seen by many as a rundown area.”

However, there are no accounts to show income and expenditure for the radio station.

And no evidence of a “training academy”, and no evidence of it becoming a centre used by “community and arts groups”

Our investigation indicates that PCRFM may be generating significant advertising revenue and in light of this, we asked if the council had sought evidence from the company to demonstrate ongoing financial hardship or a continued need for preferential rental terms?

 “The council receives the company accounts on an annual basis,” was their reply.

Pushed harder, a council spokesperson later admitted: “The accounts we receive are more detailed accounts than those available at Companies House, but they are not the full detailed accounts”.

However, in our original FOI we asked the city council this: “From filed accounts of the company it is hard to verify turn over – can you confirm if full accounts are provided to the city council showing turnover, payments, liabilities, income, etc,? “

To which they replied: “This information is not held by Peterborough City Council.”

CambsNews has followed up on FOI requests published last month that revealed how Peterborough City Council has gifted tens of thousands of pounds to the radio station.

That financial support has allowed Peterborough Community Radio Ltd – where Cllr Fitzgerald is shown on Companies House records as holding “significant influence or control” – to operate rent and rate free from council owned premises at 23-24, Herlington Centre, Orton Malborne.

The radio station operates on a tenancy at will agreement, a temporary right for a tenant to possess land or property with the consent of the landlord for an indefinite period of time.

On Companies House, a second director of Peterborough Community Radio Ltd is listed as Stephen Durham.

Until February Dave King was listed as a director, but a notice filed to Companies House notes his directorship as having been terminated.

Despite its most recent accounts showing it employs 3 workers; the radio station has elected to adopt the totally legal procedure of not including a copy of the income and expenditure account within the financial statements.

The radio station has not only enjoyed rent free accommodation but between 2022 and 2024 it received £35,000 from the city council, which includes payments for promotional campaigns.

But the bulk – £31,000 – was for “live event programme and hosting of the Peterborough Christmas Lights Switch on”.

In 2022 the council paid the radio station £9,000 rising to £12,000 the following year before slipping to £10,000 for last Christmas.

Cllr Jones is confident the city council will shortly be in a position to explain more fully the arrangements not only applicable to the radio station but to other groups and organisations across the city.

“I am aware of other things offered to other people and these will gradually come to light; not as fast as I would like,” he said.

“If I am being kind, things were being done in good faith. It might be a bit of take care of your mates, but you would need to speak to the people who made those deals.”

Wayne had told him that if the studios are shut down, broadcasters can all work from home, and explained other stations operate remotely with some not having studios.

Cllr Jones said the argument put forward that Peterborough has the studio at Herlington because no one else wants it, may not be true.

“The property team tell me they can do something with Herlington.,” said. “My heart is saying it bring us lots of social value; my head is saying lets’ get some rent and rates for properties across the city

“That’s where we come from.”

Cllr Jones said that the improvement panel at the council had warned they had to become hard headed.

“I am not saying what the people did previously was wrong, but I am saying that certainly we can no longer afford to do that,” he said.

“To be fair to him (Cllr Fitzgerald) he gets it. But if you are not paying any rent, not paying any rates, what do you want to do? You want to hang on, don’t you?

“At some point the chickens are going to come home to roost. We have had the conversation, and he knows storm clouds are gathering

“I think this has been the issue with him and lots of other people across the city. He (Cllr Fitzgerald) was a beneficiary of how previous regimes dealt with property across the city in unloved bits of it

“I need to speak to the property team because they said we can find people to go in there, in which case I am not saying you don’t take stuff into consideration but what you can’t afford to do is let someone live rent and rate free.”

He added: “I cannot change the past but what we will do is address the present going into the future. All I can tell you on my watch and what happened in the past is that is gentlemen’s agreements

“Wayne has been a net beneficiary, but he is not alone. We know these things are going to come out, what comes out, when it comes out, I do not know.

Cllr Jones explained there was a similarity between the council acting over the Herlington property and another property owned by the city council, Chauffeur Cottage.

Until last year the cottage, in Cathedral Square, had been occupied, rent free since 2012, by Metal Hub, a community arts group. The council told them they had to leave to enable the building to be used as a care leavers day facility.

A spokesperson for Metal described the news as “sad” and said losing the hub put the cultural life of the city at risk.

Cllr Jones said that Metal was a “living embodiment” of the council’s actions to ensure better housekeeping of assets.

“Metal in Chauffeur Cottage had paid a peppercorn rent since 2012 and we kicked them out in 2025. That went down like rabies in a guide dog zone which you can appreciate.”

He said the building was needed “for care leavers and I had a very frank conversation with Metal, And now I will have the same frank conversation with Wayne. I saw Wayne the other night – he does get it.”

At the time notice was given to Metal Culture Cllr Jones said that although their work was greatly valued “we need the building to create a new dedicated care leavers’ day facility – something which was identified by Ofsted as urgently needed in the city.

“Using this site means we can create the facility at a lower cost, which is essential given our very difficult financial position.

“The day facility needs to be in a city centre location, with good public transport links, so that it is easily accessible.

“Chauffeurs Cottage is ideally situated, it is private enough to allow confidentiality and has an outdoor space which can be used by the young people it serves.

“Since 2011, Chauffeurs Cottage has been leased to Metal Culture on a rent-free basis.

“Our current budget pressures do not allow this arrangement to continue and any future venue we provide for Metal will be on a paid rented basis.”

There is an argument that the support given to PCRFM breaches multiple provisions in the city council’s policies and legal obligations, not least the absence of financial reviews or reassessment of the 100 per cent rate relief on an annual basis.

Prolonged rent-free occupation without a lease, valuation or Cabinet decision is also a red flag.

And the fact no community service level agreement has been in place to support the claims of PCRFM and to enable verification by the city council.

But maybe most curious is the fact that until the finance chief phoned Cllr Jones last year, there is no record that until that moment no senior officer had flagged the arrangement or assessed its legality and financial implications.

FOOTNOTE: CambsNews has, of course, invited Cllr Fitzgerald to respond. These were the questions we put to him on Wednesday. We await his responses which, of course, will be published fully.

1. Could you confirm how long PCRFM has occupied units 23–24 at The Herlington Centre rent and rate-free?
2. On what basis is rent and rate relief applicable in your case? For example, is this due to social benefits, or discretionary support from the council? What evidence has the city council required of you to allow a sustained period of rent and rate free occupancy?
3. Are there currently any rental or operational charges paid for use of the transmitter at St. Michael’s Court?
4. What services did PCRFM provide in support of the Christmas Lights switch-on events for the years 2022, 2023, and 2024?
5. Under what criteria were two Covid-related grant payments requested and received?
6. Does PCRFM submit regular financial accounts to the council, and would you be willing to share a detailed breakdown of your financial operations as a community broadcaster?
7. Beyond the self-reported listener estimate of 29,000, do you have any independently verified audience metrics?
8. Do all advertisers pay for their placements through standard invoicing, or are there instances of “benefit in kind” arrangements (e.g. vehicles or services in lieu of payment)?
9. What were the total refurbishment costs incurred in converting the units into a broadcast studio, and were the specifications and associated works submitted to the council for prior approval?
10. Are you currently in discussions with the council to negotiate rental agreement for the use of units 23–24? If so, will this arrangement include business rates? If not, on what grounds would you expect continued rate relief?
11.  Do you intend to replace any of the directors that have left your company?
12. Can you explain to our readers how the reported £40,000 a year contract to presenter Kev Lawrence is financed?
13. According to your ‘light touch’ accounts submitted to Companies House, can you confirm the names (or titles) of all paid employees?