This corner of Hertfordshire contains both of the twentieth century’s big experiments in how to build a town. Letchworth was the first garden city, laid out from 1903. Stevenage was the first town designated under the New Towns Act, in 1946, and built with neighbourhoods, a pedestrian centre and cycleways from the start. Hitchin and Baldock, older than both, sit in between.

Stevenage Today covers all of them. Stevenage has its own borough council; Hitchin, Letchworth, Baldock and Royston come under a different district. That decides your bin day, your car park charges and who rules on the application next door, so we name the right authority in every story and link to its record.

Two halves and a diary

• Local Info: bin collection days, parking and council tax bands, with the responsible council named.
• News: the public record, including planning applications across both districts.
• What’s On: what is happening in Stevenage, Hitchin and Letchworth.

Nothing goes up without a link to its source.