{"id":88110,"date":"2018-01-17T20:54:37","date_gmt":"2018-01-17T20:54:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?guid=d23900aa784e38a0dcf73167e6c99d57"},"modified":"2018-01-17T20:54:37","modified_gmt":"2018-01-17T20:54:37","slug":"speech-new-towns-launch-of-the-all-party-parliamentary-group","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?p=88110","title":{"rendered":"Speech: New Towns: launch of the All-Party Parliamentary Group"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Good evening and thank you, Lucy. It\u2019s a pleasure to be here.<\/p>\n

Now, we all know the jokes about roundabouts, concrete wastelands and ring roads.<\/p>\n

The references to eternity looking like Milton Keynes.<\/p>\n

The people who make these jokes have no idea what they\u2019re talking about.<\/p>\n

If they want to know what eternity feels like, try being a politician waiting for the call from No.10 on reshuffle day!<\/p>\n

But, seriously, as the launch of this APPG<\/abbr> shows, New Towns have got a lot to offer.<\/p>\n

That we need to do more to ensure they\u2019re fit for the future.<\/p>\n

And that we have an ambitious vision for the New Towns of the 21st century.<\/p>\n

One man who certainly wasn\u2019t lacking in vision was Ebenezer Howard, the pioneer whose garden cities inspired the New Towns.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s fair to say that not everyone bought into his dreams of marrying the best of city and rural living.<\/p>\n

Even the progressive Fabian News said rather sniffily:<\/p>\n

\u201cHis plans would have been in time if they had been submitted to the Romans when they conquered Britain\u2026<\/p>\n

But Ebenezer Howard\u2019s achievements; as an urban planner whose influence can still be felt, here and abroad, speak for themselves.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re all the more remarkable considering that his day job was as a Hansard short-hand copy-taker right here in Parliament.<\/p>\n

So maybe I need to look a little closer to home for solutions to the housing crisis!<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s especially pleasing to have the Town and Country Planning Association\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2026the organisation Howard founded\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2026supporting this APPG<\/abbr> and represented here today.<\/p>\n

Your input, and the history behind it, underlines that the challenges Howard sought to address are just as relevant today.<\/p>\n

Not enough good quality affordable housing.<\/p>\n

Overcrowding.<\/p>\n

The belief that everyone deserves to live in a strong, vibrant community.<\/p>\n

Of course, the bleak industrial backdrop that spawned Howard\u2019s garden cities has long gone.<\/p>\n

But the desire for people to live somewhere they can find work, build families, get about easily, and enjoy green space has not.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the most basic of desires \u2013 the desire for a place to call home.<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s this issue of place\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2026how to build not just more homes, but strong communities\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2026that goes to the heart of the challenge we face as a country.<\/p>\n

A challenge we\u2019re determined to meet – as underlined by the recent change in my department\u2019s name\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2026to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.<\/p>\n

And the launch of a new national housing agency, Homes England.<\/p>\n

A challenge that the important work of this APPG<\/abbr> has an opportunity to inform.<\/p>\n

Because there\u2019s little doubt that there are valuable lessons to be learned from New Towns.<\/p>\n

Many, like those represented by my honourable friends here today,..<\/p>\n

\u2026 are home to successful companies<\/p>\n

\u2026offer affordable homes<\/p>\n

\u2026and job opportunities that attract inward commuters.<\/p>\n

But the downsides of the rapid development and, in particular, centralised planning, that underpinned New Towns are all too evident.<\/p>\n

Dated, often identikit housing, infrastructure and town centres that, too often, look like everywhere and nowhere.<\/p>\n

That don\u2019t just make these towns the butt of lazy jokes\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2026but make it harder for them to be seen as truly aspirational and attract the investment they need to grow and thrive.<\/p>\n

Like you, I want this to change.<\/p>\n

And I can see that many new towns are stepping up to the challenge.<\/p>\n

Some, like Bracknell, are making intelligent use of their existing assets\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2026and making a virtue of the need for massive regeneration to offer investors and developers scale of opportunity.<\/p>\n

Others, such as Crawley, are introducing a richer mix of shopping opportunities and development\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2026by breaking down the original blocky zoning and the inner ring roads.<\/p>\n

And we\u2019re seeing high quality and better design informing the development of Lightmoor Village in Telford.<\/p>\n

A development that, fittingly, is being driven by a partnership between Homes England and Bournville\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2026one of the first and still most successful New Towns.<\/p>\n

And I see partnerships; between central and local government, between local government and the private sector, as very much the way forward.<\/p>\n

For regenerating existing New Towns and driving the delivery of new ones.<\/p>\n

Again, Lucy\u2019s constituency, is showing just what\u2019s possible through initiatives such as the Telford Land Deal.<\/p>\n

A partnership between:<\/p>\n