A TOWN IN THE MAKING.

Press, Volume LVIII, Issue 17419, 1 April 1922, Page 12

A TOWN IN THE MAKING.

EXPERIMENTS IN CO-OPERATION. VISIT TO WELWYN GARDEN CITY. (FROM Otra OWK CORRESPONDENT.) LONDON, Feb. 14. Much has been written of garden suburbs but less about garden cities. Indeed, it is only when one has aft opportunity of seeing for oneself the city in the making and of talking to officials who are inspired with enthusiasm for what is undoubtedly a great i work that one realises the possibilities for the comfort and well-being of those who become citizens of a town planned and developed for the beneiit of the inhabitants as a wliolo and not for any favoured class. Letchwortli, in Herefordshire, was the first garden city, founded in 1904. It now has 12,000 inhabitants, 50 factories, and is noted for the lowest death rate in England. Post-war housing difficulties brought the mattsr up again in earnest, and the terrible congestion in London prompted the idea of developing satellite towns at a distance from London, -which would ensure their not being swallowed un eventually in the evor-widening circle of tho metropolis. W'elwyn Garden City, in Hertfordshire, twenty miles from London, is the first of these satellite towns, and the fact that it is the project of idealists lends it a general interest which would bo entirely absent were it merely the speculative scheme of a party of capitalists., Moreover, it has a New Zealand interest, as the assistant architect is a young New Zealandar of Auckland, Mr A. J. . Brown, ■A.R.I.8.A., who has just distinguished himself by gaining the Soane Scholarship, which entitles him to three months' Continental travelling. To him lam indebted for an invitation to visit the Garden City. Although there is a decided element of socialism underlying the venture of Welwyn Garden City, the promoters have not lost sight of economic facts. Money was needed to float the scheme and a sufficient number of shareholders were available to purchase four | square miles of country belonging to i Lord Salisbury and Lord Desborough. ; Situated 400 ft. above sea level, between tho picturesque valleys of the Mimram and the Lea, the estate is surrounded |by well-wooaed parks and rich farm lands, Mid is certainly one of the healthiest and most delightful localities within easy reach of London. But the shareholders are not permitted to consider themselwes speculators. They receive a maximum dividend of 7 per cent, and the constitution of the company provides that surplus profits ovoi /md above that must be used for the benefit of tho town, residents having & share" in the control by the election of three members of the Board of Directors. Building Operations. ; - Just at present the residents, num- ! bering about 1100, are undergoing some _of the hardships of pioneers. Building operations are not calculated to improve the state of the existing roads, and all the women in the new settlement are wearing gumboots. But it takes little imagination to realise the delightful conditions of the spring and summer. Oaks and elms, many hundred years old, are scattered about the estate, and the architects and engineers work on the principle that the loads must deviate rather than these splendid trees be destroyed. Forest land is there in profusion and much of it will be retained for public parks. As for the houses they, already show a, .transition period, for when the settlement was Begun prices were exceedingly high, ana compact six-roomed houses were costing well over £IOOO. To-day there are houses being built of Hi rooms which are costing £BSO and less. An especial feature of one class is the combined heating and cooking apparatus. An anthracite stove not only provides cooking facilities, but also heats four radiators in various parts of tho house, and by means of a coil of piping through a tank provides n constant supply of hot water. Unlike many new and elaborate inventions, this system is said to be really effective.

Valuable supplies of brick earth are found on the estate, so that the new method of building with concrete slabs is not generally followed. Indeed, it is considered that there is no economy effected by means of these new methods. There was perilaps one exception. A house had been built of Bath stone, and it was maintained that by a process in which the stone slabs are standardised the material could bo used as economically as bricks, and that in spite of the necessary railage from the West Coast. Bath stone is not unlike Oamaru stone and can be cut into slabs by machine saws. Certainly, the house in question presented a decidedly pleasant appearance: There is no great uniformity about the houses so far erected and the promoters are not making the mistake of apportioning too little land ' to each house. But in respect to building there is probably no great distinction from that of other Garden Suburbs. It is in the economio and social arrangements that the real general interest lies. All Sections Leasehold. In the first place, the land ia obtainable on a 999 years' lease. It is maintained thai this is better than a freehold, as the-company gives its protection to all the owners oiT the estate against detrimental or objectionable actions ,by any one owner. The object of granting a lease is to preserve the power on the part of the company and ultimately of the town itself to see that nothing is done to the disadvantage of the rest of the community. Owners may either pay a yearly rent on their land or a lump sum commuting all further payments. In the end it is hoped that these payments will provide such a capital sum as to do away with all rates. Provision is made for a town of 50,000 people, and when it reaches that number further development must cease. The building area is all planned and limited, and around it is a belt of agricultural land. This has already beenr taken up by a company run on co-operative lines, and the intention is to produce enough of dairy produce, vegetables, and other commodities. to make the city self-supporting in this respect. The agricultural belt is to serve another purpose, however. It is to prevent the encroachment of other settlements upon the original city, and also to prevent the city from becoming unwieldy by the addition of innumerable suburbs.

Central Co-operative Stores. One portion of the estate is set' aside for factories. It is on a lower level and hidden from the residential portion by a belt of trees. Here, perhaps, the communal principle ceases. Trie object is to induce the factory owners of London to leave the congested part si of the metropolis and build their factories in mtvre desirable surroundings, and incidentally to attract a population of workers with them. Already one large - firm of confectionerSj with seven different establishments in London, have taken up ten acres, and intend to concentrate their works at Welwyn. Others will doubtless follow, as the Great Northern Railway main line runs through the middles of the ■estate. Retail tracers, however, are to be rigidly excluded. Already a fine co-operative store has been built, with its various departments, and tno inhabitants are obtaining goods at a lower price than they would otherwise

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have to pay. The company formed draw a limited dividend, and surplus profits here again go towards the benefit of the whole scheme. Even with the comparatively small number of inhabitants the stores are doing well and certainly they' appear attractive and well managed. At present there js private competition in the milk supply, but when the co-operative farms get into working order these competitors will be firmly dispensed with. Educational Facilities. In the matter of education the company intend that the standard of the Board School shall be such as to pro- ■\ ide for the education of the children of every resident, whatever his financial or social standing, and private schools are to bo discouraged, it is admitted that the Board Schools of England suffer for the reason that the people who pay for their upkeep, but siena their children elsewhere, fail to take any interest in them. To obviate this an Education Trust has been formed representing the company and the residents who carry on negotiations with the educational authorities. Recreation has been taken in hand by the company, and the necessary playing fields have been provided for in the plans of the city. Even at this present early stage of development arrangements have been made for prominent men to deliver lectures at intervals to the inhabitants.

The whole scheme was originally inspired by Mr Ebenezer Howard —not a rich man—and thoush the Board of Directors now has more famous names upon the list it is Mr Howard's enthubtasm that is a vital factor in the success that is gradually being achieved. The company's idea is to hold the affairs of the scheme in trust until such time as elected representatives of the town can take over control and carry on with the ideals set up by the founders. Many interesting "possibilities present themselves, and the experiment will doubtless be keenly watched, not only by economists in Loudon —the congestion of which ». elwyn and other similar satellite cities are intended to relieve—but by those who are interested in the accommodation of the ever-increasing population in the Dominions.