As part of post war reconstruction Gordon E Payne the former County Planning Officer was employed to undertake a Survey of Gloucestershire - subtitled A physical, social, economic survey and plan. It is a really interesting document and highlights the extent to which rural Gloucestershire had inadequate sewerage, mains water and electricity. There is an inset map for each of the urban areas identifying where development should and should not take place. Sadly the Stroud map has been stolen from the copy in Stroud Library! Fortunately there are other copies in Gloucester, Yate and Cheltenham.

It is interesting to see the extent to which development has or had not taken place in Stroud. Tbe only area of development not (yet) undertaken is Rodborough Fields. The map also shows a proposed road through what is now Tesco's and at the time was Stratford Mills.

The plan does not show the canal and shows a proposed route for the Cirencester Road - along what appears to be the bed of the canal! When the County Council came to build a bypass their solution was not to fill in the canal but to build an inner ring road which would have demolished some of Stroud's historic buildings.