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The HISTORY of REDDITCH New Town

The need for a New Town

For post-war rebuilding and for slum clearance a new town was required to accommodate
the population from Birmingham, where there was not enough housing land to meet the
city's needs.
It was estimated that even after allowing for development of sites available in
Birmingham, in Dawley New Town (now Telford) and in expansion schemes at Worcester,
Daventry and in Staffordshire, there would be a shortage of 48,000 housing sites by
1971, and in 1981 there would still be a shortage of 42,000.
The possibility of expanding Redditch under the Town Development Act, 1946 had
previously been
discussed, and the
Ministers at the
time proposed that
Government funds
should be made
available for the
expansion to be
carried out by a
d e v e l o p m e n t
corporation under
the New Towns
Act, 1946.

This would enable
development to go
forward more
speedily than
would be possible
if the local
authority had to
shoulder the whole
burden of the
expansion.
Thus, the future of Redditch was decided, and in April 1964 an order was signed declaring
Redditch a “New Town”.

However, as Redditch was already a manufacturing based town with a population of over
20,000, it provided special challenges to treble in size whilst integrating the existing
residents and infrastructure and ensure a happy and coherent community.

Book Image and Map opposite form
Redditch - Success in the heart of England by Gordon Anstis

© Redditch Development Corporation
First published in 1985

Paperback ISBN O 904928 19 5

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