| AdminHistory | On the initial creation of the Scottish New Towns, the Scottish Office had stipulated that the Development Corporations responsible for their creation would dissolve themselves when the town hit a specified target population (100,000 in the case of Livingston). 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 was Livingston ever likely to hit their target population. As a result, the Scottish Office began, as early as 1982, to look at how, when and why the assets and functions of Development Corporations should be transferred to local authorities. The Scottish Office also revised the trigger that would initiate process, first to when the New Town came within 5000 of its target population, and then later to a percentage of the total population.
The most prominent aspect of the appraisal of the transferral of assets, other than the revised timetable for winding up orders, was the production of "Maintaining the Momentum", a consultative document designed to gather a broad range of views on the future of the housing managed by the Development Corporations. Maintaining the Momentum led to a 1989 White Paper "The Way Ahead." The White Paper put forward that the New Towns would not have to hit any specified target, but wind-up orders would instead be issued based on a general view of the maturity of the town.
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 This was, however, superseded by the re-organisation of local government and the Windup Order was brought forward so that Livingston Development Corporation would dissolve on 31 March,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 a new unitary local authority, West Lothian Council. |