letchworth calling notice

7/30/2019 Letchworth Calling Notice

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LETCHWORTH GARDEN CITY: DAY STUDY TOUR Friday 8 March 2013

LETCHWORTH GARDEN CITY: Master Plan layout (1904) and Westholm housing (1906)


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From the Master:

Letchworth: the First Garden City, day tour Friday 8 March 2013

Garden Cities are back on the government's planning agenda. I have been involved with

their management and conservation for almost 40 years. I have published several books on

the subject: the latest Introducing English Garden Cities appeared in 2010 under the English

Heritage imprint. In liaison with the Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation I am

organising a visit to the First Garden City, established in 1903 on the basis of EbenezerHoward's book, Tomorrow: A peaceful Path to Real Reform published in 1898. Building a

Utopian community on the green fields of Hertfordshire was a bold strategy for First Garden

City Ltd. However the Master Plan by Barry Parker and Raymond Unwin and the

enlightened cottage housing set standards for community planning during the 20th century

and are still relevant today. Howard's 'joyous union of town and country' included a

spacious town centre and an industrial estate, reflecting an arts and crafts architectural

image, set in an agricultural green belt, which anticipated its statutory counterpart by 50

years.

A unique feature about Letchworth is the requirement that the added value created by itsdevelopment and management should be returned to the community, rather than

distributed to shareholders. The Heritage Foundation is a registered charity which has

ploughed resources into regeneration, including the local cinema, and awards grants to

community organisations. It is independent of North Hertfordshire District Council, which is

the planning authority. Most development requires landlord consent from the Foundation

in addition to statutory planning permission from NHDC.

Letchworth is easily accessible by rail from King's Cross or Cambridge, and is just off the A1

(M) junction 9. We will meet at the iconic II* listed Spirella building (a few yards from the

station) at 10.00 for 10.30 for coffee and a briefing by the Heritage Foundation, the groundlandlord. A bus tour will include stops at the Garden City Heritage Museum and the

outstanding regeneration of Howard Park Gardens, the new sustainable housing at

Hartington Place and an early Arts and Crafts private house. Lunch will be provided by the

Foundation. The day will end about 4.00 pm. The final itinerary will be shaped by the

demand for places, so expressions of interest are sought. I am aiming at a modest cost, all

inclusive, of 25 per place.


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To: The Clerk

Ian Head

164 Stockbridge Road

Winchester

Hants SO22 6RW

Tel No. 01962 869158

Email: [email protected]

Please reserve____ Places for the Visit to Letchworth Garden City on Friday 8 March 2012. This

expression of interest will be followed in due course by the issue of the full itinerary and a request

for payment. The visit will be provisionally limited to thirty places. Please reply now as the extent

of interest will shape the scope of the final itinerary .

NAME: ..........................................................................................................................

GUESTS: .

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