Welwyn Garden City campaigners have hit out at a national magazines article criticising garden cities and movement founder Sir Ebenezer Howard.

The Spectator article, which is written by Travis Elborough with extracts from a Simon Matthews book, ‘the folly of garden cities’ opens with the line: “We need high density, not utopian dreams: how Britain’s housing policy has been held back by Ebenezer Howard.”

The Spectator was quick to criticise his work, writing: “Howard was no less a romantic visionary, and on paper his basic outline was almost wholly impractical. But there were many idealists back then.”

Campaign groups to have hit back at the article, including the Welwyn Garden City Heritage Trust, with trustee Dennis Lewis describing it as ‘tosh’.

“I have read some funny stuff about garden cities in my 66 years as a happy resident in Welwyn Garden City, but what I read today tops the lot,” he told this newspaper.

“I intend to take up your challenge and aim to let you have 100 words on why writing such tripe is bad journalism.

“Under the naughty title, ‘the folly of garden cities’, Travis Elborough offers us a crit of a book by Simon Matthews with the awkwardly long and ludicrous title of ‘House in the Country: Where Our Suburbs and Garden Cities Came From and Why It’s Time To Leave Them Behind’. Tosh.

“I wonder if either have ever been to Welwyn Garden City. Even if one or both have, then I challenge them to accept a warm invitation to what has become my hometown.

“Every year we welcome hundreds of visitors from all over the world to this beautiful place, and it would be a great pleasure for us to offer them both a discreet view of the hidden secrets of Welwyn Garden City.

“We would welcome the opportunity to invite you both to lunch in the town centre.”

Kate Cowan of Keep the G in WGC also took issue with the article, adding: “The book that the article refers to may go further into explaining why Mr Matthews is against the concept of suburbs and garden cities and will make an interesting read, as one struggles to see how this can work hand in hand with healthy living.

“The article itself, however, gives little rational or background to the subject it is discussing - it is most certainly unable to justify the headline phrase, ‘we need high density’, and in fact does not even seek to.”