This picture shows Westley Middle School and the housing immediately to the north of the school. These houses were built as a neighbourhood unit of 6000 people as part of a scheme to rehouse London's overspill population. Bury St Edmunds was one of several Suffolk towns to be developed in this way.

The developments usually had schools and neighbourhood shopping and service centres as part of the overall design. A feature of the design was the open space between houses that were often built using a limited number of stock designs for different groups of people such a single persons flats, maisonettes, terraced semi-detached and detached houses for families of different sizes.

Houses themselves were separated from roads and had pedestrian front entrances and garages for some houses in blocks. This separation of traffic from people was thought to be a safer environment for children. In fact it seems to encourage vandalism and a sense of insecurity. The shopping centres and schools for younger children were planned to be within easy walking distance from the homes. New houses are still being built in this area.