GARDEN CITIES. LORD LYTTON'S SCHEME.

Evening Post, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 129, 27 November 1909, Page 13

GARDEN CITIES. LORD LYTTON'S SCHEME.

In the grounds of Knebworth House one Saturday afternoon in September, the Earl of Lytton gave an outline of the scheme which has been arranged for the development of a portion of the Knebworth estate on Garden City lines. When a railway station wtis built, he said, it was obvious that little by little the land would be turned from ordinary agricultural land into inhabited property, and the question which one had to consider was how the growth of the building could be controlled and developed with regard to the best interests of the population. Up to the present, building had gone on in a haphazard way. He had obtained^ the advice of those responsible for the laying out of the first Garden City, Letchworth. The plan he had adopted was to divide the estate into what he called zones; that was to say, that in a particular district houses should be built, plans of which should be submitted to the vendor, and that in another part purchasers should be allowed more latitude. He contemplated having a certain number of industrial concerns, but there would be no objectionable chimneys belching forth black smoke. Provision would be made for a large athletic ground, and there would also be something in the form of a public garden or recreation ground. Proceeding, his lordship suggested the formation of a resident's council, which would represent the interests of the residents, and with whom he could confer.