Stevenage Today is an independent news and information site for Stevenage, Hitchin and the towns around them. We work from public records, we link to them, and we are not connected to either council.
Planned towns and old ones
Stevenage was designated in 1946 as the first of the post-war new towns, and the way it was laid out, in neighbourhoods around a pedestrian centre, still governs how it works and what gets argued about. Letchworth, a few miles away, was the first garden city and was laid out on a different set of principles from 1903. Hitchin and Baldock are older market towns that predate both, and Royston sits out on the chalk to the north east. Having all of that within a few miles makes this an unusually interesting patch to read the planning papers for.
Two councils
Stevenage Borough Council covers Stevenage and the Old Town. North Hertfordshire District Council covers Hitchin, Letchworth, Baldock and Royston. They have separate registers, separate bin arrangements and separate car park rules. Hertfordshire County Council runs roads, schools and social care across both. We name the responsible body in every story.
What we work from
Each council’s planning register and committee papers, licensing notices, police.uk crime data, HM Land Registry sold prices, Food Standards Agency hygiene ratings, Environment Agency flood warnings for the local rivers, and company filings in The Gazette. Every fact links to the original document.
Reorganisation in 2028
Hertfordshire’s district and borough councils are due to be abolished in April 2028 and replaced by a smaller number of unitary authorities, which may put Stevenage and North Hertfordshire under the same successor or under different ones. We will report what the published documents say as the detail is settled rather than guessing at it.
Tips and corrections
Email hello@stevenagetoday.co.uk with a tip, an event worth listing, or a correction. Tips are treated in confidence, and corrections are made quickly and noted on the page.
Stevenage Today is published by Future Business Media.