Category D Villages -The 1951 Redevelopment Plan
There was an interesting programme on Radio 4 on 19/05/08 at 11.00am. For those that missed it, or are not aware of the issues that were involved, it was the story of the Durham villages that were lost owing to the closure of so many pits in the 50s and 60s.
As part of a 1951 redevelopment plan the County Council categorized each pit that closed on an A to D basis. A stood for villages that would have major investment, B villages would have modest investment C villages would only benefit from a care and maintenance regime and finally D villages would not have any investment.
Waterhouses was one of the D villages and it was featured on the programme this morning. Residents were expected to relocate to better housing and better employment prospects, which sounds understandable to me but a closer look indicates that Waterhouses was, and of course still is, far from being a slum area! It was originally designated as being what was called a Model Village.
During the programme Professor Fred Robinson, a social scientist at Durham University, explained that the 1951 redevelopment plan was a reassuring and carefully worded document that pointed out that no village would die and genuine village life would be retained. He queried what the phrase ‘genuine village life’ meant.
