Information for planners
Use for current proposals
The New Town archives are an important resource for planners working on current proposals and planning new garden villages. The many thousands of photographs and architectural drawings can confirm what an area looked like in the past. Without cataloging, these resources were very difficult to use. As a result of the New Jerusalems project, all of these are being catalogued, so you can quickly and easily find the information are looking for.
Land ownership
The documents can also help resolve disputes when ownership of land or other assets is contested. If there is a planning appeal, then New Town archives can provide valuable evidence to support your case. There is a wide range of materials available including, contracts, site surveys, minutes of meetings, letters, press reports, maps, and plans.
New Town Parks and Non-Designated Heritage Assets
There is growing interest in the merits of new town designs. They have been recognised by Historic England, which has designated many of the New Town parks as protected landscapes. In Milton Keynes, the City Council is drawing up a heritage register. This ‘local listing’ will provide extra protection for some of the most important New Town buildings, which will be Non-Designated Heritage Assets (NDHA). The New Town archives can provide valuable evidence when considering which buildings should be locally listed.
Becoming a NDHA does not prevent all development, but does mean their value is taken into account in the planning process. This could be an early building by an architect who later became famous, or a building which played an important role in civic life. Public art works attached to buildings including sculptures and murals are easier to integrate into a new development or relocate, if they are recorded as a NDHA.
In case where a building or area of interest is due for redevelopment, planning conditions can stipulate that a full documentation of the site is completed before any works commence and submitted to an archive. New town archives provide a safe and established place to deposit this information , which can later be referred to.
Original new town plans for Cwmbran, Crawley and Redditch. You can read more about the Crawley map here
Masterplans and Local Plans
Masterplans and local plans could also benefit from the New Town archives. Design principles from the New Town including public art, green wedges and cycle routes could help connect current developments with the earlier New Town. There are many architectural plans and drawings, which can reduce costs and uncertainty when looking at refurbishment options vs. demolition.
The New Towns have their own design qualities which residents have long valued. The merits of these, are being increasingly accepted by the planning profession. The archives can reveal how and why design decisions were made, enabling us to keep the positive features of new town design into the future.
Click on an image to enter town archive page