Latest news with #NewTowns
Yahoo
6 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Restoration of Bolton Library nominated for award
The £4.4 million restoration of Bolton Library has been nominated for a prize at the North West Regional Construction Awards. After its unveiling to the public in 1938, the Grade II-listed library reopened in January last year following a 15-month refit and will compete in the "Regeneration and Conservation" category against five other projects. These include the St Mary's Community Centre Extension in Leyland, the Smardale Gill Viaduct in Cumbria, and All Saints Park on the Manchester Metropolitan University campus, where contractors found unmarked graves in the former churchyard. 'It's such great news that Bolton Library Restoration and Refurbishment has been shortlisted for the Regeneration and Conservation award,' said Nadeem Ayub, the council's executive cabinet member for culture. 'Regeneration is about improving lives of our residents by offering services, experiences, and opportunities for all the residents of Bolton. 'The new renovated Bolton Library is modern, versatile, and welcoming space and offers something for everyone.' The money for the scheme came from the previous government's New Towns fund, with Robertson Construction North West leading the refit. The nomination follows on from Elizabeth Park, which opened in March last year on the site of Bolton's former Odeon Cinema, winning Project of the Year at the Civil Engineering Contractors Association North West Awards last September.
Epoch Times
26-05-2025
- Business
- Epoch Times
New Towns Offer a Solution to Canada's Housing Crisis
Commentary Prime Minister Mark Carney says his plan to end Canada's interminable housing crisis is to 'Build Baby Build.' We can hope. Unfortunately, Carney's current plan is little more than a collection of unproven proposals and old policy mistakes including modular homes, boutique tax breaks, billions of taxpayer dollars in loans or subsidies, and a new federal building authority. The enormity of the task demands much broader thinking. Rather than simply encouraging a stacked townhouse here and a condo there, Canada needs to remember what has worked in the past—and take note of what other countries are doing today. With this in mind, Carney should embrace New Towns. Also known as New Towns represent the marriage of inspired utopianism with pragmatic realism. And they can provide the home so many of us crave. Related Stories 3/22/2025 4/14/2025 Originally conceived in Britain during the Industrial Age, Canada witnessed its own New Town building boom during the post-war era. Communities built in the 1950s and 1960s, including Don Mills, Bramalea, and Erin Mills in Ontario, were all designed as separate entities meant to relieve population pressure on nearby Toronto. Other New Towns took advantage of new resource opportunities. Examples include Thompson, Man., which sprang up around a nickel mine, and Kitimat, B.C., which was built to house workers in the aluminum industry. While New Town development largely died off in the 1970s and 1980s, it is enjoying a revival today in many other countries. Facing his own country's housing crisis and building on the UK's past experience, British Prime Minister and Labour Party Leader Keir Starmer has established a On the other side of the Atlantic—and the political spectrum—U.S. President Donald Trump has proposed awarding 10 new city charters for building New Towns on underdeveloped federal land. Meanwhile, several Silicon Valley billionaires are backing To be fair, not every New Town has been a success. In the late 1960s, Ontario tried to build a brand new city on the shores of Lake Erie known as Townsend. Planned as a home for up to 100,000 people, the project fizzled for a variety of reasons, including a lack of proper transportation links and other important infrastructure, such as schools or a hospital. Today, fewer than 1,000 people live there. Despite the lessons of the past, there are three compelling reasons why Carney should include New Towns as part of his solution to Canada's housing crisis. First, by starting with a blank canvas, a New Town offers the chance to avoid the stultifying NIMBYism of existing home owners and municipal officials who often stand in the way of new development. The status quo is one of the biggest obstacles to ending the housing crisis, and New Towns are by their very nature new. Second, because New Towns are located outside existing urban centres, they offer the promise of delivering ground-level homes with a yard and driveway that so many young Canadians say they want. Focusing growth exclusively in existing urban centres such as Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal—as Carney seems to be doing—will deliver greater density, but not fulfill the housing dreams of Canadian families. Third, New Towns can herald a more prosperous and unified Canada for the 21st century. New Towns could be built in regions such as Ontario's Ring of Fire, rich with minerals the world demands. New Towns could also tighten the east-west ties that bind the country together. Further, this growth can be focused on areas with marginal farmland, such as the New Towns are already beginning to pop up in Canada. In 2017, for example, construction began on Having promised Canadians fast and decisive 'elbows up' leadership, our prime minister should throw his weight behind New Towns. To begin, he could appoint a New Town Taskforce similar to the one in Britain to get to work identifying potential locations. Even better, he could simply say his government thinks New Towns are a good idea and let the private sector do all the heavy lifting. If the millions of Canadians currently shut out of the housing market are to have any chance at owning the home of their dreams, New Towns need to be in the mix. John Roe is a Kitchener, Ont., freelance writer and former editorial page editor of the Waterloo Region Record. The original and longer version of this story first appeared at Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
The Independent
13-02-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Why my new towns plan brings hope to Generation Rent
Britain's New Towns movement was one of the most exciting and ambitious projects in our country's history. It was a huge and lasting achievement. But I can boil down the secret of its success in four words: it put people first. The vision was Clement Attlee 's, inspired to act and rebuild after the devastation of World War II. His Labour government stepped up to create entire towns from scratch – homes, jobs and communities to transform the lives of millions of working families and the economy. Now we're bringing that energy back, to create new towns of the future. It's high time – in fact, it's long overdue given the housing crisis that's squeezing people to breaking point. So today we're taking an early and important step: publishing draft placemaking principles for the design of new towns anyone would be proud to call home. Drawn up by the independent New Towns Taskforce, they are in the best tradition of the originals – enduring success stories like Stevenage and Crawley, Welwyn and Hale. As their first residents realised, they could look forward to a better quality of life. The designers had sat down and thought: What did people need, day to day? What are the building blocks that make a great place to live? Airy green spaces, decent transport links, amenities, and services on the doorstep – and of course affordable homes. Everything you'd want, rolled into one. I didn't grow up in a new town, but in Stockport my family did benefit from the kind of tight-knit communities we want to see grow up again. We had shops, schools and a GP close by, and parks and woodlands free for all to enjoy. We could walk everywhere we had to – no need for a car – but there was public transport right there when you wanted to go further afield. And like our own New Towns Programme, the post-war movement was about so much more than putting roofs over heads – although for me that is mission critical. It was about spotting the vital link – still there now - between quality, affordable housing and ensuring the nation's good health and education, and robust growth. About bringing people hope, opportunities and renewed ambition. And let's not forget the economic benefits – new jobs and a boost for industry. Unlike the last government, we will avoid the curse of the missed opportunity: failing to take advantage of creating steady jobs; building modern infrastructure, and all the social opportunities that flow from new settlements. As part of our Plan for Change to improve living standards right across the country, we are delivering 1.5 million homes over the next five years. It's to restore hope to people who cannot afford to buy or rent. To give hope to ' Generation Rent,' the young people stuck living with their parents because there is nowhere else for them to go, and for whom home ownership is out of reach. Decent housing is not a privilege – it's a right. And in our New Towns, our aim is for at least 40% of homes to be affordable, including social housing. The post-war towns weren't perfect, but they showed what can be achieved when you put people first. Today, millions of people live in New Towns, and they remain a crucial driver of growth. Our ambition is that our new generation of New Towns will provide hundreds of thousands more homes. By the end of its year-long mission, the independent Taskforce under its experienced chair Sir Michael Lyons will come up with a list of possible locations for new towns. Our ambition is to create well-designed and sustainable communities – good for the environment and cost-effective for residents. Let's be clear – this isn't just a pipe dream. The original new towns repaid the £4.75 billion of government loans provided to build them. They made economic sense – and we know about the huge social upside. And by learning the lessons of the past and what worked well, we will make sure residents of our new towns want to build their lives there for generations to come. By investing in a 21st century new towns movement we are tackling the housing crisis head-on while also creating long-term growth and jobs. We aren't just building homes and infrastructure but hope and a vision of a better future. That's the kind of forward-thinking we need today, and it's what this government is delivering by putting people first.
