ABSTRACT
Local government is also suffering from being by-passed in respect of new functions. An outstanding example is the building of new towns, which now forms one of the most imaginative and promising features of Britain’s reconstruction and development programme. The Reith Committee recommended that local authorities should be permitted to initiate the creation of new towns if they desired to do so. The Committee had in mind particularly the case where a large town, in order to carry out redevelopment on sound lines, needs to displace part of its population and industry and this can best be effected by building a new town or effecting a major extension to an existing small town. 1 These recommendations were not accepted by the Government and the New Towns Act, 1946, makes no provision for development corporations to be sponsored by local authorities. In consequence the new towns are being built without the participation of local authorities.
