ABSTRACT
In the 1960s the Ministry of Housing and Local Government (MHLG) began to think about the relationship between conservation and planning. It can hardly be said to have done so before 1960. The work on listing was carried on very conscientiously, but it was in something of a backwater so far as the Ministry’s main interests were concerned. Immediately after the war the main effort went into reconstruction, starting up the first generation New Towns, and getting the new planning system into operation. In the 1950s the spotlight was on the Conservative government’s commitment to build 300,000 houses a year. The planning side became pre-occupied with processing the first round of development plans.
