Page 5 - Redditch New Town Centre Success or Failure

Redditch New Town, Success or Failure? Redditch Heritage

It is with that background that we came to repeat the cycle. Buildings and
infrastructure. the heritage of the Industrial Revolution, much outworn and
outdated, have now been cleared or improved.

Despite the early restrictions of Industrial Development Certificates and Office
Development Permits and the constraints imposed on attracting firms from

outside the region the Corporation has nevertheless promoted the advantages of
Redditch abroad. These endeavours have succeeded in attracting foreign firms
to the town though the number of firms migrating from the southern quadrant
of Birmingham still predominate. The high incidence of entirely new firms and
the growth of local firms suggest the significance of opportunities which have
arisen from the presence in the town of the Corporation. Nevertheless, an

assessment of the growth at Redditch has shown that this has been achieved with
an insignificant effect on Birmingham and its Inner Areas.

When the new town was designated in 1964 the population was 32,000, with a
small Urban District within the County of Worcester. At a population of 73,500,
and rising fast and with an employee workforce of over 25,000, as a Borough,

the town now holds second place to the City of Worcester in size, but now within
the new County of Hereford and Worcester. With the dynamism already generat-
ed within the town, Redditch is already recognised as having the largest growth
potential in the Structure Plan which will make it the largest town in the County.
The town is also well placed to harness an upturn in the national economy, both
in its location relative to motorways under construction and in its potential for
accommodating both industry and commerce.

The town now has the social and physical infrastructure necessary to meet the
second industrial revolution-The Information Technology Revolution-and gear
itself for the twenty-first century.

The Corporation supports the need for the appropriate Authorities to consider the

longer term future of the town and the Secretary of State's request for such a
joint study is timely. Indeed, previously, in response to the West Midlands
Regional Study Report of 1971 the Development Corporation, in association with
Warwickshire and Worcestershire, was able to show that Redditch could be
expanded in physical terms to a population of 150,000.

The pressure groups and Local Authorities which are currently aligned to prevent
further significant growth present a formidable force. It is to be hoped that the
absence of the Corporation and the limited role of the Commission for the New
Towns will not result in the lack of a driving force able to capitalise on the very
considerable potential the town has to stimulate the flagging economy of the
region.

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