ANGER IN A SMALL TOWN SIR,—Mr. Hodge and Mt. Nairn
are more at odds with each other than with me. And Mr. Hodge is even at odds with himself.
On the one hand, he wants people to be quite free to build whatever they like wherever they like. This freedom produced Greater London, ribbon develop- ment, depressed areas and deserted villages. On the
other hand, he approvingly recalls 'the impetus given to planning after the war.' Post-war Planning Acts were designed to put right, as far as was possible, these and other horrors of our unplanned past, and prevent new ones occurring.
Mr. Hodge and Mr. Nairn think Alresford is just fine as it is. The Hampshire County Council, including representatives of the district, think it less evil (to put it no higher) to expand it and one to two other small towns than to allow Portsmouth and Southamp- ton to become a single urban mess. They, of course, have to face the dilemma that Mr. Hodge refuses to face. So I repeat the question he evades in his article and letter : Should our great cities be allowed to sprawl even further, or should people and employ- ment move from them to new towns and towns to be expanded under the Town Development Act? The latter course, incidentally, has the advantage of spreading industrial and social investment more evenly over the country as a whole, to the benefit of the rural areas themselves.
Mr. Nairn recognises the dilemma but proposes an unworkable solution. It is a great pity that Lowestoft and Gorseinon (among other places) are unattractive to industry. But it is foolish to think that employers and employees will move from South-East England to these places in order to give them an economic and social uplift. But perhaps he feels that new indus- trial plant, looking for a home, should be guided to such towns. If he does, I agree with him. So does the Government. But not Mr. Hodge, judging by his remarks on the proposed British Nylon Spinners fac- tory. So I'll retire and let Mr. Nairn and Mr. Hodge fight it out.—Yours faithfully,
WYNDHAM THOMAS
Town and Country Planning Association, 28 King Street, Covent Garden, WC2
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