Decision details

The report seeks approval for the Executive Member for Planning and Development to attend the Town and Country Planning Association Annual Conference 2015 and Report Launch, to be held on 15 September 2015 in London. 

In post-election Britain the need to create comprehensively planned, larger-scale developments, alongside the continuing task of urban regeneration and renewal of older towns, is still firmly on the political agenda. The Government has committed to continuing its programme of ‘locally-led Garden Cities…….in places where communities want them’, and local authorities are continuing to explore how best to meet their growth needs.

Delivering new Garden Cities requires a holistic approach to place-making which incorporates the full range of principles that make the Garden City model of development such a success – from land value capture to climate resilience. The Garden City movement transformed the way we think about building new places, putting the highest environmental standards and social justice at their heart. The New Towns programme, which between 1946 and 1970 designated 32 New Towns in Britain that today provide homes for over 2.7 million people, was the most ambitious large-scale town-building programme ever undertaken in the UK.

This timely conference will showcase the lessons – both the good and the bad – for large-scale development and place-making today that can be learnt from the UK’s Garden Cities and the post-war New Towns programme. Exploring what their legacy can tell us about tackling contemporary delivery issues such as site designation, public support, finance and governance, the conference will also mark the publication of the final report of the TCPA’s New Towns and Garden Cities: Lessons for Tomorrow study. The event will provide an opportunity for learning and debate about the future delivery of planned large-scale development in the UK.

RESOLVED that approval is given for the Executive Member for Planning and Development to attend the Town and Country Planning Association Annual Conference 2015 and Report Launch, to be held on 15 September 2015 in London.