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I.

THE PLANNING OF ENGLAND

Report of Manchester and District Joint Town Planning Advisory
Committee, 1926.

Rotherham Regional Planning Scheme. By W. R. DAVIDGE.

1925.

East Kent Regional Planning Scheme. By Prof. ABERCROMBIE &
ARCHIBALD. 1925.

2.

3.

4.

Wirral Peninsula. By W. HEWITT. 1922.

5.

West Middlesex. By ADAMS & THOMPSON.

1924.

6. Northampton Report. By T. H. MAWSON & SONS. 1925.

7.

D

The Town Planning Review and the Journal of the Town Planning Institute.

URING the past few months there have been many conferences of persons keenly interested in the need to preserve the historic towns and pleasant countryside of England from being disfigured by uncontrolled building. These bear witness to the awakening of public opinion on this subject, but the speeches have been so many, and the old and new societies-with somewhat similar objectives are so various, that the man in the street, when he feels any interest at all in the subject, is already somewhat confused by the multitude of counsellors. It may, therefore, be useful at this juncture to try to state clearly what steps have already been taken to improve our towns and to save rural England, and to suggest that the main object of planning is to meet modern needs.

Primarily, it must be confessed that we dwell in an overcrowded country. The population of England, apart from Wales and Scotland, is more than 700 to the square mile. We are four times as crowded as India, and nearly three times as congested as China; we are twice as crowded as Germany or Italy, and nearly four times as crowded as France. Nevertheless, since 1919, we have built some 800,000 houses at a capital cost to the public purse estimated to be about £147,000,000-and still State subsidies are being given towards uneconomic housing schemes, which fill our suburbs and encourage builders to erect ugly villas along our country roads.

In order to try and check the evils that inevitably arise in such a congested land, the Council for the Preservation of Rural

England has recently been founded, with the object of coordinating the activities of other bodies like the Royal Institute of British Architects, the Town Planning Institute, the County Councils' Association, the National Federation of Women's Institutes, the National Trust, the Royal Automobile Club, the Automobile Association, the Urban District Councils' Association, the Central Landowners' Association, the Rural Advisory Committee of the National Council of Social Service, the Garden Cities and Town Planning Association, the Rural District Councils' Association, the Scapa Society, the Commons and Footpaths Preservation Society, the National Housing and Town Planning Council, the Surveyors' Institutions, the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, the Country Gentlemen's Association, Ltd., the Royal Society of Arts, the Architecture Club, the Land Agents' Association, and the Ancient Monuments Society. The promoters hope that they may be able to secure prompt action against any threat to our rural amenities. However much we may sympathise with their aims, we must not overlook the fact that, while the housing problem remains acute, it is by no means easy for any local authority to take drastic steps to stop or even to check the speculative builder from erecting badly-designed bungalows. Moreover, those responsible for our industries are more and more going into the country in search of cheaper land and lower rates, and their needs often conflict with æsthetic ideals. In short, so long as our industry and our population increase, so long we shall have to struggle against many difficulties, if towns are to remain habitable, and our countryside to retain its freshness and beauty.

Nevertheless, a determined and successful organized effort is in progress. Lord Milner set a lead some years ago in Kent, where he and a little band of enthusiasts inspired the formation of the East Kent Regional Committee, with the aim of planning out the future development of the Kent Coalfields and trying to preserve the " Garden of Kent." But, even in this part of England, seriously threatened by collieries and an expanding population, some of the local authorities are inclined to be lukewarm, and Kent owes much to the continuous interest in the subject shown by such men as Mr. H. E. H. Rice, the Chairman of the Regional Committee, and by the Archbishop and Dean of Canterbury, who have fully recognized the great opportunity now presented. The joint committee has wisely consulted, on

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the one side, industrial and commercial interests and, on the other, representatives of archæological societies, including such experienced bodies as the Kent Rural Community Council.

The problem facing Kent and many other English counties is not new. Some 140 years ago the poet Cowper wrote of people who built

Suburban villas-highwayside retreats,

That dread th' encroachment of our growing streets;
Tight boxes neatly sashed, and in a blaze

With all a July sun's collected rays,

Delight the citizen who, gasping there,

Breathes clouds of dust and calls it country air.

One reason for hope in the twentieth century is the existence— not only in Kent, but in other parts of the country-of town planning and regional committees, formed in accordance with the Town Planning Acts. The first of these Acts was passed eighteen years ago, and the last in 1925, in the form of a Consolidating Act. These Acts give local authorities limited powers to control the future development of land within their border not yet built on, but do not apply to the replanning of built-up areas. The total area of land now subject to these town planning powers is nearly 3,000,000 acres, and as all authorities with a population of 20,000 or over must by law submit schemes to the Ministry of Health by 1929, a further forward movement may be expected in the next two years. Of the urban authorities with a population of 20,000 or over, 144 have started to fulfil their obligations; but there still remain 118 Borough and District Councils who have taken no action at all.

No doubt in many cases the responsible officials are preparing plans quietly in their offices, but some councils are slow to look ahead, and are reluctant to spend a farthing on work that they do not fully understand. Even Cardinal Richelieu, in France, when he planned a street 28-feet wide, was accused of megalomania ! When Baron Haussmann planned a boulevard across Paris, critics announced that he was creating" two cities, separated by a desert," but to-day policemen on horseback and on foot and electric signals of various kinds are needed in order to enable traffic to proceed at all along his magnificent thoroughfare.

The officials who are drawing up town-planning schemes today need to possess patience as well as foresight. One result of

the thought already given to these problems is the recognition that our local government areas are in some cases unsuitable as planning areas. Districts cannot live independent and isolated lives. Proposals, for example, for planning important new roads, or for reserving large open spaces, usually affect several local authorities at the same time. Thus it has been found desirable to encourage joint action between neighbouring authorities, and consequently there have come into existence a number of Regional Committees. On March 9, 1927, there were altogether 45 Joint Town Planning Committees in England and Wales. The earliest, the Doncaster Committee, was constituted in May, 1920; two or three others in the year 1921; and the majority in the years 1922 to 1926. A new committee for South Bucks and Thamesside was constituted in January of the present year. Each of these committees represents several local authorities, sometimes only three or four or five, sometimes a much larger number. For example, the Leeds and Bradford Committee represents 43 separate local authorities; the Midlands Committee 67, and the Manchester Committee 96. The areas covered and the rateable value comprised naturally also differ greatly. It is notable also that in certain districts of the kingdom these committees are more numerous and more widely extended than in other districts. Lancashire is very well represented; also Tees-side and Tyneside so also are some of the Home Counties, especially Kent. But there are many counties in England and in Wales with no regional planning committees at all.

Scotland is altogether lagging behind. The question of regional planning north of the Tweed has been referred to an advisory council, and the executive committee of this council met in Glasgow for the first time in March, 1927. The advantages of local authorities working together through these joint committees are many, as they lead to the pooling of resources in money, experience and staff. Projects which might be beyond the resources of a single authority may become possible when the varied forces co-operate.

It must, however, be understood that pooling of finance need not be equal. Contributions can be adjusted according to the benefits received. For example, it might be decided to preserve parts of the Downs or similar special areas entirely as open spaces, to be kept free of all buildings. In such a case builders would

only be allowed to erect houses on selected portions in accordance with a well-considered plan, which might bring enhanced values to the land left free for building. Under these circumstances, the local authorities who reap the benefit of the concentrated building value in the form of higher rates, might well be asked to contribute to the cost of preserving the remainder. They may sometimes be able to arrange by agreement for certain beauty spots to be saved without the payment of any public money. For, under the existing Town Planning Acts, when building is prohibited on any area, the landowner affected has the right to receive reasonable compensation for any building value that has already accrued, and would therefore be lost. Experience may

show that by judicious concentration of building on selected sites, with due regard to ownerships, a low building value scattered over an extensive area may not be lost, but concentrated in a smaller area. Thus, even where building value exists, compensation may be reduced until it comes within practical limits.

A joint committee might also promote voluntary exchanges between owners, or arrangements for the pooling of profits, so as to secure a fair distribution of the acknowledged building land or value, and enable the remainder, perhaps some beauty spot, to be saved. In such a case the local knowledge of the joint committee concerned should help considerably in carrying through exchanges of land amicably and to the public interest, especially if the committee has the support of public opinion. In the past, a rural landscape might often have been preserved from disfiguring buildings, without the need for exercising any legal powers or the expenditure of any local money, if only public opinion in the district had been more vigilant and more ready to bring influence to bear in the right direction. Voluntary effort, as at the Seven Sisters, near Eastbourne, can also be of the utmost assistance, for the public will often respond more willingly to an organized appeal for voluntary help, whereas a local authority— rightly concerned with the wish of the ratepayers for low rates— is very reluctant to place any unusual expenditure upon public funds.

We have heard much recently about the control of building by local authorities so as to prevent the erection of eyesores. This is, indeed, a controversial and difficult question. To carry out such control effectively will involve detailed regulations that

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