Ottery St Mary celebrates 50th anniversary of town council

The council prioritized public works and approved the purchase of 8.4 acres of land at Winters Lane and 4.38 acres at Spring Gardens on March 3rd, 1945, to implement its post-war housing programme. A tender of £31,876 was accepted for the construction of 26 houses on February 6th, 1947.

Houses were built on Spring Gardens on a playing field, but in November 1946, it was recognized that an alternative site must be provided. The council resolved to acquire land at Winters Lane in February 1947. Proposals for two additional housing schemes at Longdogs Lane and West Hill were submitted to the Ministry of Health for approval. In March 1948, the first post-war estates of 38 Spring Gardens and Alfington homes were opened. On August 3rd, 1948, a tender of £22,753 for 17 houses on the Winters Lane site was accepted. On October 7th, 1948, notice was given that 2.006 acres of land would be acquired through compulsory purchase. The housing programme continued after the 1948 election. The first two post-war houses completed at Higher Spring Gardens were officially opened on March 19th, 1948. However, in June, it was reported that 142 people were still waiting for houses.

In June 1949, tenders were invited for 12 houses on the Tipton St John estate. On August 25th, it was decided to acquire three-quarters of an acre of land in Yonder Street to accommodate six houses. A further invitation to tender for the erection of ten houses at Shutes Meadow was issued on March 3rd, 1950, and a tender of £10,819 was accepted in April. This was followed in November by an invitation to tender for one pair of houses at St Budeaux Orchard, Yonder Street. In December, the Council proposed to ask the Ministry of Health for eight Council house licenses and 23 private enterprise houses for their 1951 programme. There were 132 applicants on the housing list, of whom 38 were in real need.

In July 1949, the Council considered buying the Lodge, Silver Street, for Council Offices. The project was shelved, but in September 1951, the Council decided to buy Hill House for conversion to new offices at a cost of £2,950 and £50 in solicitors' fees. The Council hoped to vacate the existing offices at the Town Hall by September 27th, 1951. Tenders were invited on January 30th, 1951, for eight houses at Gosford, and in July, a tender of £5,870 was accepted for four houses in Winters Lane. The 1952 plans, submitted in October 1951, involved 41 houses in Longdogs Lane, and schemes for three houses in Tipton Vale and one at Higher Spring Gardens. In February 1952, two bungalows were agreed upon at Pattesons Close, Alfington, and a further eight at Winters Lane near the tennis courts but not on the east or south side of the courts.

In July 1954, it was agreed to build six new houses at Tipton St John and, in 1957, a further six new houses in Winters Lane. The Clerk noted in 1957 that there had been no arrears of Council house rents for fourteen years and none of the general rates for twelve years, which was good news. In March of the previous year, the Council had adopted a scheme to give Council tenants a four-week "holiday" from rent, two at Christmas and two in the Summer. Tenants would be asked to pay extra in the remaining forty-eight weeks to cover this.

From the end of the war until 1957, the number of houses provided increased from 48 to 221. However, the Council held a meeting to discuss the town's future development. They wanted Ottery St Mary to expand to avoid losing its separate identity in any future reorganization, something that was put to the test many times in future years.