| Activity | Livingston was the fourth of the five Scottish New Towns created under the New Towns (Scotland) Act 1946. The town was designated under the New Town (Livingston) Designation Order of 1962, 16th April 1962 by the Secretary of State for Scotland. The designated area for the town was to comprise an area of 6,692 acres. At the time of designation, the proposed town lay in the parishes of Uphall, Livingston and Bathgate in the County of West Lothian, and the parish of Mid-Calder in the County of Midlothian. The area included the existing villages of Livingston, Livingston Station and Bellsquarry. The town was to be situated 15 miles west of Edinburgh and 29 miles east of Glasgow, with strong transport links to both. The area chosen for Livingston was the Almond Valley, which had been comparatively unaffected by the coal and shale working in the area and, as such, would allow a building programme necessary to house a self-contained community of up to 100,000 people. The town was to provide overspill for Glaswegians displaced by slum clearances and was also to provide a new economic centre in the Lothians.
To build the town the Secretary of State for Scotland created the Livingston Development Corporation. The Corporation was, in short, responsible for the planning, construction, and continuing development of Livingston from 1962-1997. In 35 years the Corporation was to develop a town that had the components of an established settlement, with shopping districts, industrial and commercial areas, and a community with a strong sense of local identity.
By the late 1970s it had become apparent that the initial role of providing population overspill for Glasgow had been completed, and New Towns were, instead, acting as promoters of rapid initial economic growth; nor were the towns ever likely to hit their target population. As a result, the Scottish Office began, as early as 1982, to look at how the assets and functions of Development Corporations could be effectively transferred to local authorities. The Scottish Office also revised the trigger that would initiate the Wind-Up process, first to when the New Town came within 5000 of its target population, and then, later, to a percentage of the total population.
By 1989 a date of 1995 had been set for the commencement of the dissolution Livingston Development Corporation, with a projected timetable of 3 years. This was, however, superseded by the re-organisation of local government, and in 1992 the Windup Order was brought forward so that Livingston Development Corporation would dissolve on 31 March, 1997, at the same time as the creation of the new unitary local authority, West Lothian Council. The Corporation transferred its powers and responsibilities to the council through 1996, effectively ceasing to operate in December of that year.
The organisational structure of the Corporation changed over 34 years, with titles and responsibilities changing as the town developed. However, from the late 1960s until the late 1980s, the broad structure of the Corporation remained relatively stable and the key departments that had emerged by 1969 remained in place - Finance, Legal and Administration, Housing and Social Relations, and the Technical Department. The Technical Department incorporated planning, architects, engineers, landscape and forestry, and construction and maintenance staff, and was by far the largest department - even excluding the 300 manual workers that were at one point employed to undertake its work.
Having remained relatively stable for twenty years, as the Corporation approached the date set for its Wind-Up, March 1997, its structure started to change rapidly. A major re-organisation in 1991 resulted in the following Directorates: Finance & Management Services (finance, legal, personnel & training, computer services, administration and internal audit), Technical (Planning & Landscape, Architectural Services, Engineering and Quantity Surveying), Property Services (Housing, Direct Labour Organisation, Landscape & Forestry Organisation), Commercial (Estates, marketing, community development). These broad directorates remained in place until Wind-Up, but some of their minor responsibilities were either transferred between directorates or to West Lothian Council before the final dissolution of the Corporation.
Throughout the Corporation's life, the day to day running was undertaken by the General Manager or Chief Executive with Directors responsible for each major function of the Corporation's work. The General Manager/Chief Executive was responsible to a Board consisting of 8 or 9 members, led by a Chairman. There were two General Managers: Arthur Purches, 1962-1971, and SEM Wright, 1971-1977; and two Chief Executives: James Wilson, 1977-1987, and James Pollock, 1987-1997. |