Wyndham Thomas CBE 1982 (born 1 Feb 1924) is a town planner and urban regeneration advocate who, among other things, oversaw the development of the city of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire as part of the New Towns project. As general manager of the development corporation, Thomas was in overall charge of the city’s development over 14 years, during which time it grew substantially from a cathedral market city with a population of 70,000 to a population of over 120,000. Thomas was also appointed director of the Town and Country Planning Association in 1955 – a post he held until 1967 – and he stood as prospective Labour MP for South West Hertfordshire in 1958. He was elected Mayor of St Albans in the same year, the youngest ever mayor in Britain at the time. Wyndham Thomas was made vice-president of the Town & Country Planning Association in 1992, a position he holds to the present day.
Thomas was always a persuasive advocate of using the New Town development corporation method to effect urban planning and inner-city regeneration. His socialist principles and interest in the Garden City movement led him to plan for the people and “swamp” developments in greenery. He currently still resides in Peterborough with his wife Betty and is vice-president of the TCPA (1992-present day).
Early years
editWyndham Thomas was born in Maesteg, south Wales in 1924 to Robert John Thomas and Hannah Mary Thomas. His father was a coalminer and he was one of three children. His sister Patty, died young and his mother died when he was six, meaning his childhood, alongside his younger brother Ken and older sister Elvira, was spent in hardship. After attending Maesteg Grammar School, his first job was in the local munitions factory and he subsequently joined the Army, serving as a lieutenant in the Royal Welch Fusiliers from 1943-47. After joining the Officer Cadet Training Unit in Wrotham, Kent he was shipped to India where he joined the Indian Military Academy in Dehradun to train as an officer.
He was returned to the UK after the surrender of Japanese forces following the bombing of Hiroshima in August 1945. Thomas was transferred to the Army Education Corps and, after meeting at an Army dance, he married Elizabeth Terry Hopkins in 1947. The couple moved to Hertfordshire in England where they had three daughters (Sally, Jenny and Tessa) and one son (Gareth).
Career
editFormerly the Garden Cities Association, the Town & Country Planning Association (TCPA) was the body responsible for encouraging the designation and building of 15 New Towns in the 1950s, as part of a UK urban development project to alleviate run-down inner-city areas. The programme was already underway when Wyndham Thomas was appointed director of the TCPA (1955–1967). In his time there, he was an advocate for a second round of New Towns being built and, through conference speeches, deputations to government ministers and media appearances, was influential in the decision by the Conservative government of 1951-64 to continue with the New Towns project in the early 1960s. Hailing from a strong socialist South Wales background, Thomas was appointed leader of the local council’s Labour group. The young Wyndham Thomas stood as Labour candidate for the strongly Tory South West Hertfordshire seat in 1955. This afforded him the opportunity to meet his lifetime hero Aneurin Bevan, who gave a speech at one of his campaign meeting. Thomas recalls a heckler shouting, “Does his mother know he’s out?” to which Nye Bevan, quick as a flash replied, “Yes – and tomorrow she’ll know he’s in!” However, although Labour’s share of the vote did increase, he failed to win the seat. Just a few months after his father died, Thomas was appointed Mayor of Hemel Hempstead (1958-59), at the time becoming the youngest mayor ever to have been appointed. Harold Wilson’s Labour administration of 1965 took up urban generation as government policy and Thomas was made a member of the board of the Commission for the New Towns (1964-68), the body set up to take over the responsibilities and assets of the New Towns when they approached completion. A little later, as a member of the Land Commission (1967-68), Thomas was a leading advocate of the introduction of a ‘betterment levy’ on the increased development value of land following the granting of planning permission. The following year, in his most significant role, Thomas was appointed general manager of Peterborough New Town Development Corporation (1968-83). This entailed the overseeing of the development of Peterborough from a small Cathedral city into a major commercial, industrial, shopping and population centre for the East of England. In addition to aiding its rapid expansion by attracting big companies to the city (Thomas Cook, Pearl Assurance), Thomas was – in recognition of the original Garden City ideal – responsible for “greening” of Peterborough, planting thousands of trees and establishing a new landscape around and within the city. As well as the creation of Thorpe Wood Golf Course He also planned the landscaping of Nene Park into the recreational park Ferry Meadows. He also oversaw the network of roads or ‘parkways’ which connected the city to its ‘townships’. But Thomas professed himself to be most proud of attracting John Lewis to take up space in the Queensgate Shopping Centre – a move which gave the centre kudos, in turn attracting bigger names. The city’s expansion was accompanied by a television campaign fronted by Roy Kinnear promoting the ‘Peterborough Effect’. Thomas was appointed member of the Department of the Environment’s Property Advisory Group (1978-1990). The body was tasked with advising the government and local planning authorities on how to gain, for the public, a substantial share of the increases in development values following the granting of planning consents. Following his tenure overseeing the development of Peterborough, in 1981 Thomas was appointed member of the board of the London Docklands Development Corporation (1981-88). As a board member Thomas was a leading advocate of using the development corporation method for regenerating the run-down inner city area of east London. He was also chairman of the Housebuilders’ Federation’s Commission of Enquiry into the inner cities (1986-7) and as such, was a persuasive advocate of using the new town development corporation method to carry through the regeneration of the run-down areas of Britain’s larger industrial cities. He was made chairman of a government-sponsored body set up to encourage inner city regeneration, Inner City Enterprises, in 1983 (1983-92). A report was published in 1987, which led to the designation of Urban Development Corporations, including the London Docklands Development Corporation and the Merseyside Development Corporation, which were followed by similar bodies in Scotland and the North East of England. Thomas became Chairman of the Cambridge New Town Corporation (1999-2008), which was set up to promote the idea of building a new town close to Cambridge to accommodate the city’s growth. In the absence of local government backing, however, the project did not come to fruition and the corporation was wound up.
Wyndham Thomas was made vice-president of the Town & Country Planning Association in 1992, a position he holds till the present day. Thomas was also an excellent ruby player and vice-captain of the Camelot Rugby Union Football Club during his years in Hemel Hempstead. He was made honorary member of Royal Town Planning Institute in 1979 for services to planning and the New Towns project. He was also a member of the council of the Royal Town Planning Institute (1989-98). He was made an Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau (Netherlands) in 1982 by Queen Beatrix on the occasion of her visit to Peterborough to open the Queensgate Shopping Centre. Also in 1982 he was recognized for his work in the New Towns project by being awarded a CBE.
Publications
editWyndham Thomas has, over the years, had many articles on town planning and housing issues published in planning and property journals.
In popular culture
editIn 2013 Eastenders’ writer Kenneth Emson wrote a musical stage production called ‘Parkway Dreams’ which was subsequently performed in various theatres across the south east of England. The play relates how architects, politicians and planners transformed the old Fenland city of Peterborough into new town and surrounding ancient villages into modern townships during the 1970s and 80s and tells the story of the emotional upheaval of moving home and the foundation of life-long friendships. The production featured Wyndham Thomas being played by an actor.