News
There have been numerous suggestions about what should happen on the Shredded Wheat site, particularly with the ‘landmark’ silos. Obviously the final decision rests with the owners of the site but the planners will take note of local opinion. The WGC Society have been canvassing opinions amongst their members and we thought it made sense to see what you think. At the two extremes the proposals range from demolition to putting a restaurant on the top.
For those of us living in the Conservation Area it is easy to forget that other parts of our town were built at the same time and many of those that were built later are just as delightful as the area within the original footprint. Peartree may be less cared for by its residents for economic reasons but many of the houses are almost indistinguishable from those in Handside.
"Welwyn Garden City is the model on which virtually all town planning has been based worldwide since the 1920’s. So why are we not celebrating that in the place where it began?", was the question Tony Skottowe, Liberal Democrat Councillor for Handside asked himself recently. It all began with the challenge posed by the bid by a developer to demolish 4 of the oldest inhabited buildings within the original Garden City boundary. "Residents in the vicinity were appalled at what was being suggested", said Tony,” and so a few of us got together to organise the opposition.” During one of the many conversations about how to prevent the vandalism to the town’s heritage the idea of a centre to illustrate the international importance of the town emerged.
Many thanks to all of you who wrote in to the Council in support of retaining and enforcing the Estate Management Scheme, we understand that the response was significantly in favour of the scheme when the consultation process closed at the end of July.
At a Cabinet meeting held on 7th October the recommendations from Cabinet Planning & Transportation Panel relating to the revitalisation of the Estate Management Scheme was unanimously agreed.
Included in the recommendations was a commitment by the council to consult with the Trust and the Welwyn Garden City Society on how the scheme is to be monitored. As both organisations were heavily involved in the review of the whole scheme, and were significantly in support of reviving it rather than any of the other alternatives, the Trustees were delighted with the council’s decision.
The Trust has been contacted by a researcher on military intelligence in the first world war regarding Mabel Dymond Peel, who lived in WGC just before/at the time of her death.
The Trust held a meeting to outline its ideas on creating a Heritage Centre in Welwyn Garden City on 25th March to gauge the reaction of representatives of industry, retailers and public bodies. The result according to Tony Skottowe and his fellow Trustees was " A resounding chorus of approval."
The Garden City welcomed back one of its long-lost residents last month when Anthony Titford returned for a visit after a 75 year absence. Mr Titford, now 92, left Welwyn Garden in 1934 when Parkway was little more than a road with a few flower beds and the White Bridge had only just been built.
Following its commitment to consult on implementation of the revived Estate Management Scheme (EMS) with both the WGC Society and the Trust an initial meeting was held on 22nd October.
First item on the agenda was publicising the EMS to everyone in the town, whether in the scheme or not, given that it is likely to affect all the residents in some way over time. The Council will be publishing and distributing a new booklet on the EMS that will be delivered to very house affected. WGCS and WGHT promised to promote the scheme to the best of their abilities via their members and supporters as well as using the respective websites.
Suspicion is growing that the delivery of the new Estate Management Scheme booklets by a council contractor have not been done. Everyone in the EMS area should have had a copy put through their door but many residents have not yet seen one.
Bradley Melton and Michael Kuhr, second year University of Hertfordshire students, have been undertaking some research into sport in WGC for our ‘Where Do You Think We Played?’ project as part of their Making Histories module.
