Editing Peterlee (section)

==History==
The case for founding Peterlee was put forward in ''Farewell Squalor'' by [[Easington Rural District|Easington Rural District Council]] Surveyor C. W. Clarke, who also proposed that the town be named after celebrated Durham miners' leader [[Peter Lee (trade unionist)|Peter Lee]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=Austerity Britain 1945–51 |author=David Kynaston |author-link=David Kynaston |isbn=978-0-7475-9923-4 |page=159 |year=2008 |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Publishing|Bloomsbury]]}}</ref> It is one of the few places in the [[British Isles]] named after a recent individual, and unique among post-[[Second World War]] new towns in having its existence requested by local people through their [[Member of Parliament|MP]]. A deputation, consisting mostly of working [[miners]], met the Minister of Town and Country Planning to put the case for a new town in the district. The minister, [[Lewis Silkin]], responded by offering a half-size new town of 30,000 residents. The subsequent new residents came largely from surrounding villages in the District of Easington.

Peterlee Development Corporation was founded in 1948, first under Dr Monica Felton,<ref>Mark Clapson, ''The rise and fall of Dr. Monica Felton, British town planner & peace activist'',[http://www.fau.usp.br/iphs/abstractsAndPapersFiles/IPHS_miolo_20120711.pdf] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151018045133/http://www.fau.usp.br/iphs/abstractsAndPapersFiles/IPHS_miolo_20120711.pdf|date=18 October 2015}}</ref> then under A.V. Williams. The original master plan for tower blocks of flats by [[Berthold Lubetkin]] was rejected as unsuitable for the area's geology, which had been weakened by mining works, and Lubetkin resigned in 1950. [[George Grenfell Baines]]' plan was accepted, and construction quickly began, but it was of poor quality. Williams invited artist [[Victor Pasmore]] to head the landscaping design team.