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Boldness diminished? The post-war battle to replan a bomb-damaged provincial city

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 December 2008

STEPHEN ESSEX  and
MARK BRAYSHAY
STEPHEN ESSEX
Affiliation:
School of Geography, University of Plymouth, Drake Circus, Plymouth, PL4 8AA
MARK BRAYSHAY
Affiliation:
School of Geography, University of Plymouth, Drake Circus, Plymouth, PL4 8AA
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Abstract

The retreat from bold reconstruction planning in Britain's blitzed cities is now well established, although there are two notable exceptions: Coventry and Plymouth. While the circumstances in Coventry have been fully researched, the narrative in Plymouth remains untold. The aim of this article is therefore to evaluate the main formal measures required to embark on the comprehensive redevelopment of Plymouth's heavily blitzed core area and whether, despite Whitehall's failure to deliver the necessary legal and administrative powers in a timely and co-ordinated manner, the city maintained its faith in bold plans and planners.

Type
Research Article
Information
Urban History , Volume 35 , Issue 3 , December 2008 , pp. 437 - 461
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

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References

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78 PWDRO, Estates and Development Valuer's Department: allocation of sites in the new shopping centre, December 1947, 439/25a/1.

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80 Essex and Brayshay, ‘Vision’, 417–41.

81 RUL, Paton Watson to Astor, 29 Nov. 1944, MS1066/1/443.

82 RUL, Paton Watson to Works Committee, 27 Nov. 1944, MS1066/1/443.

83 RUL, Paton Watson to Astor, 29 Nov. 1944, MS1066/1/443.

84 RUL, Paton Watson to Astor, 30 Jan. 1945, MS1066/1/452.

85 RUL, Paton Watson to Works Committee, 9 Apr. 1945, MS1066/1/452.

86 RUL, Paton Watson to Astor, 11 Apr. 1945, MS1066/1/452.

87 RUL, Astor to Abercrombie, 27 Aug. 1945, MS1066/1/448. At the same meeting, Astor suggested that a central organization should build the basic infrastructure and public services on reconstruction sites. Indeed, the shortage of trained staff meant that the city's application for a Declaratory Order was delayed by 12–18 months, which caused much consternation in the Ministry of Town and Country Planning (PWDRO, Valentine to town clerk, 29 May 1945, 1673/027/GEN/11. Campbell's explanation was: ‘We have been trying for 12 months to obtain the release from the Services of 9 Engineering Assistants formerly employed in the City Engineer's Department, and up to date, we have succeeded in obtaining one man only. The present staff must, of necessity, be concentrated on work in connection with the preparation of housing sites, and there is only one assistant to work on the preparation of the necessary information to submit applications for the designation of areas’ (PWDRO, town clerk to Valentine, 29.5.45, 1673/027/GEN/11).

88 PWDRO, Ministry of Town and Country Planning, south-west region, to Campbell, 7 Jun. 1949, 027/CC/1/2.

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94 PWDRO, A. Black to Churchill, Dec. 1953, 1673/027/GEN/23.

95 Ibid.