The Local Setting

Before the end of the war, plans were drawn for the redevelopment of London and the dispersal of people and industry to several new towns beyond the metropolitan green belt. Harlow was one of the first sites chosen and the first residents moved into homes built in and around the original villages in 1949. There then followed the development of the first major area of the new town at The Stow, where our Practice premises are situated.

The town was built to a master-plan by Sir Frederick Gibberd on a system of self-contained neighbourhoods, each with their own shopping centre and community facilities (including a health centre). The neighbourhoods themselves are separated by wide areas of green space and are clustered around the main shopping area known as The High.

This master-plan is now more or less complete and the local council has recently published for public consultation a new plan for the continued development of the town over the coming years.