Three new "garden cities" are to be built. What do you think?
1) Yes please, and I'll be moving in
2) Yes please, but not near me thanks
3) Good Lord no
Some of the towns built since the war are Stevenage, Harlow, Milton Keynes, Corby, Cwmbran, Newton Aycliffe, Peterlee and Cumbernauld - did they fulfil expectations?
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-27020578
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Depends where they are, don't think I've ever been in those old 'new' towns. What are they like are they popular?
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I live in Wokingham and while there is no new city planned, there is a vast amount of housebuilding going on on some of our open space. There will be clear benefits (e.g. ring roads) to existing residents but I do consider it a shame to be losing significant lumps of the gap which distinguishes us from Bracknell!! :-)
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>> I live in Wokingham ... (e.g. ring roads)
We're in the Wokingham borough but I hadn't heard of that - is this it?
www.bettertransport.org.uk/campaigns/roads-to-nowhere/map-text#NorthWok
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That's one, we got a flyer months back on the massive estate going in opposite the Plough (Loch Fyne) which I'm sure had some bypasses planned in round the other way (south?)
EDIT: The stuff I remember was, I thought, from a developer and also incldued a new railway station! The council doc is here www.wokingham.gov.uk/planning/development/locations/?categoryesctl5589519=3076&assetdet5364988=193406&categoryesctl5817583=3076
Last edited by: smokie on Mon 14 Apr 14 at 13:43
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No cathedral, not a city in my book. Just an overlarge town!
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15,000 population, I read. Large village or very small town, hardly a "city".
It doesn't seem to meet the scale of the problem. Don't we need a new city catering for about a million?
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It says homes, not population, I think.
No idea of the average home size, but that has to be at least thirty thousand people? And I suppose thirty thousand cars too.
But indeed, that's titchy. The new town they're building almost literally on my doorstep is planned to have 30000 homes in it (although only 1500 in phase one.)
(Incidentally, hard to know what Northstowe will do to property prices. Will folk think "I could have a nice little new build, why would I want an 1840s house with attendant maintenance issues" and our price drops, or will they think "A pokey little new build or go another mile and there a lovely 1840s house" and the price will rise. Who knows?)
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The answer to the original question all depends on how well or otherwise the new garden cities are executed. I used to live in Hemel Hempstead (new town). Parts of it worked well, parts of it less so.
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>> (Incidentally, hard to know what Northstowe will do to property prices. Will folk think "I
>> could have a nice little new build, why would I want an 1840s house with
>> attendant maintenance issues" and our price drops, or will they think "A pokey little new
>> build or go another mile and there a lovely 1840s house" and the price will
>> rise. Who knows?)
Location, Location Location.
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>> Some of the towns built since the war are
- Stevenage - Part of that are ok, parts less so - on the whole not bad.
- Harlow, - A crap hole - All of it.
- Milton Keynes, - strange place
- Corby, - The worse place on earth -
- Cwmbran - no idea
- Newton Aycliffe, crap hole
- Peterlee - so so
- Cumbernauld - Oooopps made a mistake Corby is not the worse place on earth after all. This is.
So given the above
>> Three new "garden cities" are to be built. What do you think?
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>> 1) Yes please, and I'll be moving in
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>> 2) Yes please, but not near me thanks
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>> 3) Good Lord no
^^^^^^^ That one ^^^^^^^^
Last edited by: Zero on Tue 15 Apr 14 at 18:16
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I honestly didn't know they were called Garden Cities until I read that article. That title for new towns must somehow have passed me by.
If Cumbernauld is alleged to be one of them then I'd agree it really must be the site of the compost heap.
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I kind of agree with the comments.
I am based in Stevenage and some parts are OK and some are not.
I've seen the town turn worse over the past 30 years.
Originally designed for a population of 60 to 80k people its now at bursting point with around 90,000
The cycle tracks for mopeds and bikes are hardly used at all. Mind you louts breaking glass bottles soon put the kybosh on riding bikes.
The town centre should have been modernised about 10 years ago.
Increasingly demishing green areas with "affordable" houses built on them.
Football grounds originally built in ideal areas are now in the wrong location.
Getting in and out of town is dead easy though and getting anywhere is quite ideal (north / south)
Last edited by: diddy1234 on Tue 15 Apr 14 at 20:57
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>>> The cycle tracks for mopeds and bikes are hardly used at all. Mind you louts
>> breaking glass bottles soon put the kybosh on riding bikes.
>>
That's a problem on the Redways in Milton Keynes too, together with louts gathering in underpasses. But OTOH, away from the underpasses in the Centre, they remain a fantastic resource, traffic free and giving another perspective on the 'villages' that constitute the residential suburbs.
The next Folding (bike) Society Origami Phoenix ride is round MK. They do one most years and manage to find routes and highlights enjoyable by locals and visitors alike.
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New garden cities - sooty123
