Britain: An official handbook > 1959

jg0 Britain: an official handbook
Hatfield and Welwyn in Hertfordshire; Crawley in Sussex; and Bracknell in
Berkshire—are designed to help in absorbing excess population from the Greater
London area; four others—Corby in Northamptonshire; Aychffe and Peterlce in
Durham; and Cwmbran in Monmouthshire—are to serve the special needs of their
areas. Of the Scottish new towns, East Kilbride in Lanarkshire and Cumbernauld
in Dunbartonshire are being established to assist in housing the surplus population
from Glasgow; Glenrothes in Fife will also make a contribution towards the relief
of Glasgow overspill, but its primary function is to provide housing and other
facilities for miners and their families transferring to an area where mining activities
are steadily expanding. . ,
In spite of the fact that the development corporations have been somewhat
handicapped by shortages of materials and labour and for a time by restrictions on
capital investment, their work represents a notable achievement in the translation
of planning into reality. By the end of June 1958, the total population of the new
towns in England and Wales, designed to be 55°,000 when the towns are
completed, had reached an estimated total of 348,000 (including the people
previously living in the area); 62,852 houses had been built by the development
corporations, and a further 8,575 were under construction; 314 factories had been
established and a further 39 were being erected; 1,123 shops had been completed,
and 435 more were being built; 106 schools had been finished and 27 more were
under construction. Many miles of roads had been laid, and large main sewerage
works had kept pace with domestic and industrial needs.
In the Scottish new towns, by the same date, the population, eventually to be
125,000, had reached an estimated figure of just over 38,600; 7,667 houses had been
built, with a further 2,138 under construction; 90 shops had been completed and
23 were under construction; 10 new schools were in use, and the extension of
communications and public services was under way.
Under the New Towns Act of 1946, Parliament approved a consolidated fund
of £50 million to provide for advances to the development corporations for work
on the new towns. This fund was increased by subsequent Acts and, in 1958, stood
at £300 million. By the end of June 1958, £240 million of expenditure from this
amount had been approved by the Minister of Housing and Local Government
and the Secretary of State for Scotland.
National Parks and Access to the Countryside
The National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act, 1949, provided for the
designation of a number of extensive areas of beautiful country in England and
Wales as National Parks. In these areas the characteristic landscape is to be carefully
preserved, and facilities for open-air recreation may be provided or improved.
A National Parks Commission for England and Wales was set up by the Act of
1949, and by June 1958 its work had resulted in the establishment of ten of the
twelve National Parks recommended by the National Parks (England and Wales)
Committee, which reported in 1947. . . _ , • •
The established parks are: the Peak District, the Lake District, Snowdonia in
North Wales, Dartmoor in Devon, the Pembrokeshire Coast, the North York
Moors, the Yorkshire Dales, Exmoor in Devon and Somerset, Northumberland
(comprising most of the upland country from the Cheviots in the north to the
Roman Wall in the south), and the Brecon Beacons in South Wales (see map,
p. 179). These parks cover a total area of 5,254 square miles, almost one-eleventh ot
the area of England and Wales. The administrative arrangements for the parks are
as follows: the Peak District and Lake District National Parks are administered by