Support the Estate Management Scheme for Welwyn Garden City

12.11.31pm BST (GMT +0100) Wed 23rd Jul 2008

Recently, many households in Welwyn Garden City received a letter from Tracy Harvey, the Head of Development Control at the council. The letter advised them of the rejuvenation of the Estate Management Scheme. After a detailed look at options for the scheme, by a sub-committee that included Tony Skottowe, the scheme will be relaunched. Before doing this, we want your views.

PLEASE REPLY TO THE LETTER YOU RECEIVED

Please reply in favour of the scheme if you feel you would like to defend the beauty of our town against the worst and ugliest attempts by some residents to 'improve' their properties. Unfortunately, proposals being pushed by government to simplify planning rules would remove many of the controls that currently exist and enable the council to block such attempts. Remember that Welwyn Garden City is a special and unusual example of town planning, admired and studied throughout the world. The original town embodied an optimistic blend of nature and architecture that was to combat the soulless urban landscapes of London made famous in the nineteenth century.

WHY SHOULD YOU SUPPORT THE SCHEME?

It is just the features mentioned above that make people want to live here, and that keep property prices high as a result. The town is unique and precious in demonstrating what a well-designed urban space can offer, and losing any of its key attributes would be a disaster. One of the key concerns that Ebenezer Howard sought to protect for this beloved Welwyn Garden City was its wholeness. The town was designed from road layout to window catch, which unified its overall appearance.

By all means offer constructive suggestions. There are probably aspects of the scheme that can be improved. But please let us make sure that we keep one of the very few means left to prevent Welwyn Garden City joining the concret jungle which is rapidly encroaching on our towns.