New towns: practical delivery – why our inquiry matters and what comes next

Having chaired 11 public evidence sessions and read nearly 90 pieces of written evidence, I am firmly convinced that we made the right choice.

Our written evidence captured diverse voices across society, from expert academics to industry insiders, and even interested individuals with no experience in the built environment sector but with an infectious passion for urbanism and the opportunities that new towns provide.

We have seen and heard how strong the support is for the programme and we, much like them, are increasingly excited about the possibilities new towns bring.

“We have seen and heard how strong the support is for the programme and we are increasingly excited about the possibilities new towns bring”

The first generation of postwar new towns was a genuine success. Some may have their issues but, then again, nothing is perfect, and it is clear that they have nonetheless matured and become an integral part of the UK’s urban landscape, where many families live and work happily.

However, later programmes struggled to replicate this success, leaving a trail of deeply dysfunctional settlements and, latterly, failing even to get spades in the ground.

The latest attempt under this government offers another chance to make new towns happen and to help get them right, with the opportunity to build genuinely affordable homes in new settlements and to create communities and homes of quality where people want to live and raise families.

Each of us on the committee, regardless of party affiliation and background, is united in our desire to do all that we can to ensure the programme’s success and support the government to get it right this time.

We have now concluded our evidence-gathering and, over the summer, we will write our report. I will not jump the gun and say here what our conclusions and recommendations might be, but I can identify the key themes that have played out throughout the inquiry as the essential foundation blocks for successful new towns: the necessity for long-term strategic thinking; a strong vision – both for individual new towns and the programme as a whole; meaningful community engagement; human-focused design; effective placemaking; and taking the chance to build genuinely affordable homes.

We intend our report to set the standard for the taskforce and the government, and to lead the conversation as the sector and the wider public digest the taskforce’s recommendations and the government’s response to it.

“The essential foundation blocks for successful new towns are: the necessity for long-term strategic thinking; a strong vision; meaningful community engagement; human-focused design; effective placemaking; and taking the chance to build genuinely affordable homes”

And, once we have published our report, we will not be sitting back and taking it easy: we will be launching our next module at the same time, getting straight back to taking evidence throughout the autumn. We have several possibilities for that next module, and we will ensure that we focus on the areas in which we can make the greatest impact. We do not intend to publish yet another report that will be filed away on a shelf, never to be looked at.

And we are keen to ensure that, both in gathering our evidence and in the discourse of our inquiry, we do things differently, ask questions that may be overlooked and seek to speak to people from as many groups, ages and parts of the country as we can.

Look out for further announcements closer to the time, and keep your eyes peeled for our report. This is just the beginning and there is much more to come.

Lord Gascoigne, chair, House of Lords Built Environment Committee