The purpose of the Society
Today, at a time of great change and big challenges, the original principles underpinning the town remain valid. Indeed, the Society maintains that these principles are as relevant as ever – SUSTAINABILITY has become the buzzword of our era. The designers of Welwyn Garden City aimed to create a town for healthy living, where people could live, work and shop locally, all in a setting of fresh air and green space . For example, as the town grew, from the 1930s onwards decentralised local shopping centres began to be provided, so that residents could buy groceries without having to go far. Today there are even more of these shopping precincts, so we still don’t have to jump into a car for our last-minute shopping.
The town was a planned development inspired by social reforming ideals. Its planner and its architects employed good design and paid attention to detail in all matters. This scrupulous approach is too often neglected today, with the result that ordinary people can find themselves disappointed and irritated. These people are after all paying their taxes and they rightly demand that these are spent with care.
The Society believes it is important to ensure that the visual harmony of the town is maintained. This includes homes, industrial buildings and streetscapes. Inappropriate development only damages the look of the place and will also affect property values: this latter is important to many residents as their home is their principal asset. Equally, we believe that those who rent their homes should benefit from that same harmony and their properties should be managed with the same diligence as those of owner-occupiers.
In recent years the town centre has seen some deterioration in its upkeep and management. This is an issue which the Society is now acting on. We want matters improved.
The town represents an ideal of urban planning – one that proves that with care and forethought, designers can create thriving communities. There is no need to frustrate that intention and the Society seeks to ensure that proper attention is given to design issues so that they are fully thought through before building work starts.
Aims of the Society
The Society aims to ensure that the town is a more interesting and beautiful place in which to live. We aim to support and promote excellent design standards. We believe that it is important to safeguard and value what we have, as well as to improve matters when errors have been made.
So, with the help of our members, we aim to represent local public opinion in our goals. We seek to preserve and conserve the environment and local heritage, ultimately striving to create a ‘modern-day garden city’.
Despite the social changes that have taken place since the town was first founded – such as mass car ownership and the growth of out-of-town shopping – the founder’s original vision is still sound, though constantly under pressure and attack.
So it is, therefore, more important than ever to safeguard what we at present enjoy. This does not mean that we are solely concerned with preservation or conservation. Certainly, we do have to watch closely what is being planned, but we feel strongly that with a considered approach change can usually support the ethos of the town.
Above all, we feel that it is quite unnecessary to damage the garden city by doing things that are ill-considered or out of keeping with its design.
Finally, we are not affiliated or connected with any political party, nor are we linked to any commercial interests. We believe that this gives us an independent, non-partisan view. However, we see no reason why we cannot work with any person or organisation if we feel that this is in the best interests of the town.