Rise and decline of Britain’s New Towns

Press, 4 August 1977, Page 16

Rise and decline of Britain’s New Towns

DANIEL KNOWLES, a New Zealand geography teacher, recently visited Britain where he inspected several of the New Towns built since the Second World War. In this article he discusses the implications for New Zealand cities, and for the proposal to build a New Town at Rolleston.

New Zealanders are still arguing about housing problems and solutions. To some people, many of them the decision-makers, the solution is found in proposals to build New Towns such as Rolleston.

Our problems of sprawl, with the city suburbs taking up good agricultural land, and with increasing commuter congestion, are all seen to be resolved by building a brand new city, complete in itself, well to the south of Christchurch.

The planners say that firms can be encouraged and helped to transfer their businesses to the new area. They say there is no problem with water supply, drainage schemes, electricity, perhaps even gas supplies. The area is already well served by both road and rail transport. The policy-makers look at Britain and say that the British once had the same headaches, and they built New Towns. Why can’t we? The answer is that, in Britain, the New Town dream has gone sour. The problem of housing the people of Britain had become complicated, and, up till recently, the planners thought they had found the answer in New Towns.

Now they are having to think again. Many of the large towns in Britain grew up without much thought or planning; working living areas were jumbled together. Houses for the workers were small and crowded together. Many were without bathrooms or gardens. The streets were the children’s playground. Smoke and dust from nearby factories and mines made living conditions very unhealthy.

As the houses deteriorated with age, maintenance and repairs became expensive. Landlords were not prepared to spend large sums on old properties and so they gradually became slums. Many of these slum areas had been in existence for a very long time. Clearing them and rehousing the people became one of the major tasks of the authorities.

In Britain, though, just as

in New Zealand, they found that the more the existing large cities were extended, the worse the problems became.

The answer was to set up New Towns — not just suburbs of the present towns, but separate towns which are modem and complete in themselves. Many New Towns were built. To take the overspill from London, the New Towns of Basildon, Harlow, Hatfield, Welwyn Garden City, Crawley, Hemel Hempstead and Stevenage were founded. In other parts of the British Isles the crowded areas were relieved by building towns such as Corby, near Leicester, Peterlee near Newcastle, Aycliffe near Middlesborough, East Kilbride near Glasgow, Skelmersdale near Manchester, and many more. What has happened to the experiment? The hard fact is that New Towns are not managing to weather the economic gale. The shadow of recession is falling over the established towns and cities; it is all but blotting out the hopes and dreams of the New Towns inhabitants. The companies who once were only too happy to move into the ready-built factories and to take advantage of Government grants are now pulling out of the New Towns, leaving behind unemployment residents. In Skelmersdale, near Manchester, last year, two giant firms — Thom Electronics and Courtaulds Textiles — pulled out in rapid succession. The people who once moved to towns such as Skelmersdale, full of hope for the future, delighted to move into their ready-made homes in their ready-made streets, are finding themselves living in severely depressed areas. Unemployment is very high. The hopes of rapid expansion have been blighted. In some parts of Skelmersdale there are streets and streets of empty houses, most of their windows smashed, probably by the unemployed school-leavers who have simply nothing to do.

The once-always-busy building sites have been

deserted too, and now there is the amazing sight of dozens and dozens of halfcompleted homes with their windows and doors boarded up. What is the point of building more houses when there is no-one left to fill them?

One has only to walk through the central shopping area to see the problem in human terms — groups of young people sitting about, wandering through shops, their time their own, no jobs, and nothing to do. Passers-by have to run a gauntlet of jeering youths, standing in shop doorways, loud, crude, “having a laugh.” In the Department of Employment offices there are one or two people 'scanning the boards, looking for jobs that are not to be found. In the Department of Health and Social Security the rooms are crowded. It is difficult to get in. People have been attracted to the town. They have pulled up their previously established roots elsewhere and committed themselves to the New Town dream. For many, it has become a nightmare.

But, here in New Zealand, we reckon we can do it better. We know we are in a position to learn from the mistakes of others. I wonder if we can.

Are we, in New Zealand, prepared to be organised into living in rows of faceless State houses? Does anybody,

anywhere, want to live in a totally planned environment? Can our light industries commit themselves to setting up shop in this sort of New Town environment? Can they possibly plan, in our own

economic difficulties, to open new factories while they are already closing down uneconomic plants in Kaiapoi, Christchurch, and other parts of the country? We have to rethink this

whole issue. Let us not rush in. Let us be prepared to back down. We are talking about people here; the people of Skelmersdale would be happy to offer us advice on the matter.