Stevenage 75th anniversary magazine | biz4Biz - Magazine - Page 20
The early years of a
town in development
A
s the very first of the British
state-sponsored New Towns to be
designated, Stevenage achieved
national and international fame.
But the label ‘new town’ can be
contentious – not least as Stevenage
ceased to be managed by a Development
Corporation over 40 years ago, more than
half its ‘official’ lifetime. At the time of
designation back in 1946 there was noisy
opposition from many residents, and the
legal battles went all the way to the High
Court, then Court of appeal, before the go
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S T E V E N A G E A C ATA LY S T F O R G R O W T H | 2 0 2 4
ahead could be confirmed.
The early years were marked by lots
of official talk, and little action. But
when development finally did get
under way, it was mainly in the Sish
Lane area. You can still see four ages of
Stevenage here: a mixture of pre 1914
buildings, interwar, and early new
town, and finally the new Stoney Hall
redeveloped flats and houses.
By 1959 a proper town was
emerging out of the mesh of new
neighbourhoods and earlier villages
