The Mass Housing Drive, 1945-75

What was most striking in East Lothian by now, however, was the rapid rise in the contribution of private building, especially in Haddington and the richer seaside towns. From a level of 13% of total East Lothian output in 1960-4, it reached 18% in 1965-9 and went on climbing beyond 38% in 1970-4 - whereas the nationwide average stalled at around 20% for several years after 1968. The replanned and enhanced East Lothian was naturally attractive to the private sector, whether in the form of large speculative developments, or individual feuars developing their own plots in places such as Longniddry and Muirfield. Tindall's planners made strenuous efforts to achieve some aesthetic coordination, through initiatives such as Haddington Town Council's 1960s competition for the harmonised development of the Clerkington Avenue site (ultimately won by Newcastle developer Bell). The 1970s saw the rapid growth of the new housing-association sector, previously pioneered in James Gray's design for the Adam Housing Association development at Gourlaybank, with its collective central open space (1961-2).

Miles Glendinning

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