The town in 2000

This is a the basic scenario given to groups at at the start of the workshop. More on briefing to groups here.

In summary

  • Attractive market town on the river Stout, in an agricultural region. Population 125,000.
  • Early cotton mills converted for light engineering.
  • Professions developed around its role as a county town.
  • By late 20th century professional services, technical and university education dominated.
  • Good road and rail communications, with substantial commuting to nearby major cities.
  • Call centre expanding its services.
  • Attractive suburbs, but poorer terraced housing and peripheral housing estates.
  • Shopping centre suffering from out of town retail developments.
  • Arguments about how to revive the centre, and how far to pedestrianise.
  • Increasing concern about drugs and crime in some areas.
  • Hung council, but a group is ‘visioning’ how to use technology.

History

The town’s history can be traced back to medieval times when it formed around a new crossing over the river Stout. A few miles west of the current town is the small village of Bridling which is mentioned in the Doomsday Book. At Bridling are the remains of an earlier settlement, including a Norman keep and later Manor House; this seems to have been a substantial settlement at one time

There is evidence in Bridling parish church that this settlement was badly affected by the Black Death and this may explain why the medieval market town was able to become the centre of the surrounding area, which was predominantly farming.

The inclusion of the river Stout as part of an early 18th century navigation way stimulated the development of wider commerce in the town. The town had some early cotton mills that used first waterpower from the Stout and later steam power. The railway line arrived in the mid 19th century and because of its bridge the town was well connected to the developing national road network.

In the early 19th century it became a County Town with judicial courts etc and its area of influence increased, as it became a desirable place for the developing professional classes. This led to a substantial re-building of the town centre and the development of a number of attractive Victorian suburbs.

The establishment of the Queens Light Rifle Regiment barracks brought a spurt of Victorian prosperity to the town. Shortly after this a London entrepreneur turned some of the disused mills into a small armaments factory. For the next hundred years the town supported a range of light engineering companies.

By the mid to late 20th century the link with the military and much of the light engineering industry had disappeared. As a County and market town much of its prosperity depended upon its professional services supplied to the surrounding areas. The town’s industrial background meant it had good technical educational facilities that developed at first into a polytechnic, and more recently into a well-respected university specialising in biological and agricultural technologies.

By the latter part of the 20th century a significant proportion of the population commuted to one of two major cities, and this increased with the arrival nearby of a motorway. Regeneration money was used to attract new employment opportunities, including a call centre, which is predominantly staffed by part-timers.

The town today

The population of the town today is approximately 125,000. Planners see the town as a dormitory town with a number of very attractive residential areas. It has some less salubrious areas based upon old Victorian terraced housing stock and mid 20th century housing estates. There is concern about rising crime and drug taking among young people, who complain about the lack of leisure facilities.

The town has a very tight core with a regionally attractive shopping centre and service base. Although much of the population lives in the suburbs, there are still areas of the town centre with a high proportion of residents. Those who live in the town centre do so in owned or private rented property often above shops or in a few elegant Georgian streets where the town houses form the most desirable residences.

The commercial core holds a mixture of Victorian and Georgian development which is marred by a number of recent corporate headquarters developments built to meet demand from companies who see the town as an attractive location.

There are a number of council estates on the outskirts of the town which are undergoing regeneration and community groups have expressed interest in using the internet to assist various regeneration processes. Several social landlord organisations have shown interest in coming into these areas to broaden the work of existing housing associations through "Housing Plus" initiatives.

There is a hung council, which makes it difficult to establish clear civic leadership for the future of the town. However, there is a group of younger councillors keen to use new technologies for the social, economic and environment benefit of the town, and they have a strong champion in the chief planning officer. She sees this as one way to cut through policy blockages by creating a vision for the town in the 21st century.

This ‘vision’ group are working with university researchers, and with a learning access centre created by a coalition of voluntary organisations and the local education college.

What next? ….. look at the technology drivers for change.