To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the New Towns Taskforce has undertaken a consultation on the proposed new town at Crews Hill and Chase Park, Enfield.

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the New Towns Taskforce has undertaken a consultation on the proposed new town at Crews Hill and Chase Park, Enfield.

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the New Towns Taskforce has undertaken a consultation on the proposed new town at Crews Hill and Chase Park, Enfield with Hertfordshire County Council.

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the New Towns Taskforce has undertaken a consultation on the proposed new town at Crews Hill and Chase Park, Enfield with Hertfordshire County Council.

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the New Towns Taskforce has undertaken a consultation on the proposed new town at Crews Hill and Chase Park, Enfield with Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council.

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the New Towns Taskforce has undertaken a consultation on the proposed new town at Crews Hill and Chase Park, Enfield with Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council.

The 1946 New Towns Act was a response to the urgent need to alleviate housing shortages and urban overcrowding in a war-ravaged Britain. The acute and entrenched housing crisis that afflicts England today has far different causes, but the need for equally bold solutions is no less pressing.

As the...

The 1946 New Towns Act was a response to the urgent need to alleviate housing shortages and urban overcrowding in a war-ravaged Britain. The acute and entrenched housing crisis that afflicts England today has far different causes, but the need for equally bold solutions is no less pressing.

As the...

My Honourable Friend the Minister of State for Housing and Planning (Matthew Pennycook MP) has today made the following statement:

The 1946 New Towns Act was a response to the urgent need to alleviate housing shortages and urban overcrowding in a war-ravaged Britain. The acute and entrenched housing crisis that afflicts...

My Honourable Friend the Minister of State for Housing and Planning (Matthew Pennycook MP) has today made the following statement:

The 1946 New Towns Act was a response to the urgent need to alleviate housing shortages and urban overcrowding in a war-ravaged Britain. The acute and entrenched housing crisis that afflicts...

Motion that this House has considered new towns. Agreed to on question.

Motion that this House has considered new towns. Agreed to on question.

I beg to move,

That this House has considered new towns.

I am grateful to the Backbench Business Committee for finding time for this important debate. As we reach the 80th anniversary of the New Towns Act 1946, it feels like exactly the right moment for the House to pause and reflect...

I beg to move,

That this House has considered new towns.

I am grateful to the Backbench Business Committee for finding time for this important debate. As we reach the 80th anniversary of the New Towns Act 1946, it feels like exactly the right moment for the House to pause and reflect...

The hon. Member is making an excellent speech about the importance of new towns. I was brought up just outside Kilwinning, which is part of the Irvine new town in Ayrshire. She and I are probably of a similar age, so does she remember the campaign—the iconic campaign—in the 1980s:...

The hon. Member is making an excellent speech about the importance of new towns. I was brought up just outside Kilwinning, which is part of the Irvine new town in Ayrshire. She and I are probably of a similar age, so does she remember the campaign—the iconic campaign—in the 1980s:...

The fact that you could not go anywhere in the ’80s without seeing that statement meant that people across the country knew about Cumbernauld. I remember seeing that wording on the tube on my first trips to London. Other new towns tried to get in on the act. “Living in...

The fact that you could not go anywhere in the ’80s without seeing that statement meant that people across the country knew about Cumbernauld. I remember seeing that wording on the tube on my first trips to London. Other new towns tried to get in on the act. “Living in...

Will the hon. Lady give way?

Will the hon. Lady give way?

I am very aware of the time, but on you go.

I am very aware of the time, but on you go.

I thank the hon. Lady for Cumbernauld and Kirkintilloch—I hope I have pronounced that correctly; apologies if my Ulster accent has destroyed that word. The last new town we had in Northern Ireland was Craigavon back in 1965, some 60 years ago, when I was a 10-year-old starting secondary school....

I thank the hon. Lady for Cumbernauld and Kirkintilloch—I hope I have pronounced that correctly; apologies if my Ulster accent has destroyed that word. The last new town we had in Northern Ireland was Craigavon back in 1965, some 60 years ago, when I was a 10-year-old starting secondary school....

The hon. Gentleman must have read the other parts of my speech, as I will come to that point. As I was about to say, new towns were never meant to just be housing schemes. They were meant to be places: planned communities, where jobs, homes and services developed together,...

The hon. Gentleman must have read the other parts of my speech, as I will come to that point. As I was about to say, new towns were never meant to just be housing schemes. They were meant to be places: planned communities, where jobs, homes and services developed together,...

My hon. Friend is making an excellent speech. As co-chair of the all-party parliamentary group on housing and care for older people, we are about to complete an inquiry into intergenerational communities. Will she join me in calling for the new new towns to be built and designed for all...

My hon. Friend is making an excellent speech. As co-chair of the all-party parliamentary group on housing and care for older people, we are about to complete an inquiry into intergenerational communities. Will she join me in calling for the new new towns to be built and designed for all...

I very much commend my hon. Friend’s suggestion. What is clear is how important it is to have intergenerational towns and accessible housing.

Another local legend was Danny McGowan, who taught generations of Cumbernauld’s children to swim. He founded Cumbernauld swimming club and built it into a competitive force, driven by...

I very much commend my hon. Friend’s suggestion. What is clear is how important it is to have intergenerational towns and accessible housing.

Another local legend was Danny McGowan, who taught generations of Cumbernauld’s children to swim. He founded Cumbernauld swimming club and built it into a competitive force, driven by...

I would like to make it clear that I am speaking in an individual capacity as the Member of Parliament for North Bedfordshire. I congratulate the hon. Member for Cumbernauld and Kirkintilloch (Katrina Murray) on her speech and on the extraordinarily human way in which she described her life in...

I would like to make it clear that I am speaking in an individual capacity as the Member of Parliament for North Bedfordshire. I congratulate the hon. Member for Cumbernauld and Kirkintilloch (Katrina Murray) on her speech and on the extraordinarily human way in which she described her life in...

I begin by thanking my hon. Friend the Member for Cumbernauld and Kirkintilloch (Katrina Murray) for securing this important debate. As she said, her constituency is one of Britain’s great post-war new towns, and she clearly knows a lot about the subject. It was evident from her speech that there...

I begin by thanking my hon. Friend the Member for Cumbernauld and Kirkintilloch (Katrina Murray) for securing this important debate. As she said, her constituency is one of Britain’s great post-war new towns, and she clearly knows a lot about the subject. It was evident from her speech that there...

The hon. Lady is correct that I am familiar with the site in her constituency that is proposed as one of the new towns. I acknowledge, accept and support her argument that the DLR infrastructure would stimulate the regeneration of Thamesmead. Is it therefore a cause of regret that that...

The hon. Lady is correct that I am familiar with the site in her constituency that is proposed as one of the new towns. I acknowledge, accept and support her argument that the DLR infrastructure would stimulate the regeneration of Thamesmead. Is it therefore a cause of regret that that...

I thank the shadow Minister for recognising and supporting my work in Thamesmead. I feel very optimistic about the Government’s proposal of Thamesmead as one of the new towns, and that is why we are collaborating with the Government on it. Part of the reason why we are having this...

I thank the shadow Minister for recognising and supporting my work in Thamesmead. I feel very optimistic about the Government’s proposal of Thamesmead as one of the new towns, and that is why we are collaborating with the Government on it. Part of the reason why we are having this...

I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Cumbernauld and Kirkintilloch (Katrina Murray) on securing this debate, and I thank her for outlining her experience, and for her passion in representing a new town. When we talk about the next generation of new towns, it is important to listen to...

I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Cumbernauld and Kirkintilloch (Katrina Murray) on securing this debate, and I thank her for outlining her experience, and for her passion in representing a new town. When we talk about the next generation of new towns, it is important to listen to...