Memorandum by the New Towns Special Interest
Group
The review by Oxford Brookes University was
comprehensive and focused on eight themes:
5. Economic Achievement and Competitiveness;
6. Physical, environment and design;
8. Long term sustainability.
At the end of each theme a table on the lessons
learned provides a useful summary. This spread of interest encompasses
all the concerns of the New Towns SIG and demonstrates that the
review has been extremely comprehensive. Interestingly, it notes
significant early research into New Towns with a significant decline
since the late 1970s. The research (Section 3.5) identifies some
key points of similarity between New Towns and present day Growth
Areas where there is a need to learn the lessons from the past.
However, of this list of eight similarities, only one (6. "There
are likely to be comparable problems of major infrastructure provision
which will be critical before large scale development can proceed")
picks up on a major point of concern expressed by the SIG and
even then the issue is more concerned with initial provision than
maintenance and dealing with infrastructure coming to the end
of its useful life all at the same time. Revenue Budget considerations
are flagged as an issue in itself in section 5.2.2. (4) and reference
is made to the fact that "reinvestment needs of New Towns
have not been addressed by government and that a significant policy
change is needed to tackle issues of run-down public facilities,
deteriorating public spaces and ageing housing estates".
A suggestion is made that a way forward in financing maintenance
and repair in the Growth Areas would be by way of capturing increased
land values. However, disappointingly, the subsequent table 5.2
on the key lessons from the literature on finance does not identify
this ongoing revenue issue as a "key lesson requiring action".
Of all the many issues facing local authorities
with a legacy of a New Town this is perhaps the most important
and yet it is consistently downplayed.
In the sixth theme, Physical environment and
design/master-planning it is correctly noted that "extensive
green spaces have sometimes created unsafe environments: footpaths
between widely dispersed housing estates are perceived to be unsafe
by residents. The use of extensive planting has in turn created
unforeseen expenditure in both maintenance and landscape modification
to overcome safety problems." This is picked up in the lessons
table but only to the extent of noting that different types of
landscaping can have different revenue effects. That is, large
expanses of heavily planted land can require greater maintenance
than other forms (eg restricting planting to private spaces).
However, the need to ensure that successive maintenance bodies
(in most cases the local authority) have sufficient resources
available is not specifically highlighted.
The research concludes (Section 6.8) that sustainability
of the New Towns has not been evaluated in any depth—whether
this applies to economics, society or the environment—and
suggests further research is needed in a number of areas. This
conclusion can be supported if this includes an assessment of
revenue budget considerations. The New Towns were built in an
era when capital costs were carefully assessed but sometimes cheap
and not particularly long lived solutions were erroneously promoted.
Today, it is essential that any long term planning must take account
of whole life costs. At the same time as a scheme is being promoted
the long term asset management plan must be completed.
The second piece of research specifically referenced
is the IPPR report from 2005 "From New Towns to Growth Areas;
learning from the past" which seeks to apply key lessons
learned from the New Towns experience to new Growth Areas. As
with the Oxford Brookes University report, the IPPR review comprehensively
covers the subject. The split of lessons into six themes is helpful.
Again, however, whilst in the chapter of Delivery, it is recognised
that "a mechanism for financing up-front capital investment
in infrastructure which does not create unsustainable long term
financial burdens on delivery agents is essential" there
is no acknowledgement of the long term financial burden that has
to be borne in maintaining extensive infrastructure. The eleven
lessons grouped under headings of Community, Economy and Delivery,
identified in the conclusion provide a useful summary and point
of reference for those involved in the new Growth Areas.
Jointly these two pieces of work comprehensively
review the areas identified by the TLGR Committee but the question
of re-investment in the New Towns is somewhat glossed over. It
is not suggested that further extensive research is required but
a recognition (i) that infrastructure ageing at the same time
and needing replacement; (ii) the fact that some early social
provision, eg local centres, are no longer fit for purpose and
need replacing; and (iii) the fact that some New Town estates
which suffer from serious deprivation need intervention in terms
of community engagement and addressing the problems of worklessness
as well as through physical development are not particularly strongly
emphasised.
Given the overall scale of the New Towns Programme,
it is perhaps somewhat surprising that the research has been substantially
desk based. It is also surprising that there does not seem to
be much recognition that the origins of the New Towns is very
varied. Some New Towns start from Greenfield sites, others are
based on town expansion, in some the focus was on regeneration
and in the case of Central Lancashire, there is the single examples
of a polycentric New Town. The New Towns also show enormous variety
in size and in the timescales for their development. if lessons
are to be learned from the New Town experience, it is important
that this variety is recognised.
If the lessons to be learned from the New Towns
are to be applied to the new Growth Areas, it is suggested that
the following should be given a high priority:
1. The Growth Areas and subsidiary neighbourhoods
within them, need to comprise mixed communities with a range of
housing types and tenure providing accommodation for a cross section
of society;
2. The IPPR study suggests that "unlike
the New Towns, in the Growth Areas, the goal is not to create
self-contained new communities. Indeed, much of the debate about
the Growth Areas has focused on whether the proposed investment
in transport infrastructure will be adequate to support the level
of commuting anticipated from the Growth Areas to regional economic
centres." In fact, to fail to provide employment opportunities
and even more importantly opportunities for training and skills
development within the Growth Areas could continue a failing manifested
in some New Town neighbourhoods and needs to be avoided at all
costs;
3. It seems from looking back at the review
that securing capital for necessary investment has been achieved
without a clear understanding of the long term funding implications.
In Runcorn, for example, (i) the dedicated bus way runs parallel
to some relatively quiet roads and significantly increases highway
maintenance budgets whilst bringing very marginal benefits; (ii)
the independent footpath network brings with it problems of security
and perceptions, if not actual problems, of crime and disorder
and high maintenance costs; (iii) the extensive areas of public
open space and the complex road systems are not only in some cases
extremely wasteful of land, they bring with them significant problems
of funding necessary maintenance.
4. Again, using the example of Runcorn,
the Award winning residential development of Southgate had to
be demolished over a decade ago, whilst in Castlefields there
is an on-going programme of regeneration involving the demolition
of significant numbers of the balcony access flats which proved
both hard to maintain and unpopular with tenants. Innovative design
and building techniques are to be encouraged and applauded but
the clear lesson to be learned is that very careful consideration
needs to be given to whole life costs, problems of maintenance
and changes in society's needs and aspirations before capital
expenditure is committed.
5. There is a tendency for the research
to try to draw general conclusions and if lessons are to be learned,
there is a need to also look at specific examples. For example,
there is a danger in developing New Towns where the focus has
been on a very narrow economic base. The dangers of large scale
problems if that employment base is adversely affected are, perhaps,
exemplified by Corby. Whereas in Milton Keynes, the lessons had
been learned and a broader economic base established. Over time
employment needs have changed radically since the first New Towns
were built and in many cases the economic rationale behind their
implementation is no longer valid. Local Authorities need the
potential for both investment and flexibility in land use allocations
to deal with significant changes in employment structure in their
areas.
The Government Memorandum highlights a number
of positive actions that have been taken which cover the main
concerns of the New Town SIG in terms of planning powers. The
SIG has long argued that any residual powers or land holdings
should be transferred to local authorities to further effect a
"normalisation" of the New Towns. It is noted that the
extent of the new Homes and Communities Agency's powers will be
subject to the legislative process and the SIG would wish to reserve
its right to comment on proposals as the Government's wishes become
more clear.
| 
