Telford: Why we love our happy town

The new town, so often the butt of comedians' jokes,

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As well as 10th place nationally, Telford is the happiest place in the West Midlands, according to the Rightmove Happy and Home Index.

It has leap-frogged county neighbour Shrewsbury, which has fallen from 26th nationally last year to 29th this year, while Telford has jumped 23 places.

Shoppers today spoke of their love for the town, which they say boasts great facilities and a strong community.

Lee Rodgers, 34, of Southgate, Sutton Hill was shopping with his partner Lindsey Beech and their son 18-month-old Braxton.

The full time dad put Telford's happy vibes down to the laid-back way of life.

He said: "I guess Telford is more countrified than other towns. I come from London and here everything seems more friendly and slow paced and not as much hassle."

Miss Beech, a photography student, added: "We've got two little ones and I'm glad they've had an upbringing here where they've got space to play."

Fiona Hayward, 41, an assistant at Wellington Library said she moved to Telford from Norwich and never regretted it.

She lives in Albion Street St Georges and thinks the town has plenty to offer her little one, 18-month-old Oliver.

"There's lots of things for the children to do," she said. "Telford Town Park is brilliant and the local parks have been done up too."

Chloe Cross, 21, an agriculture student at Harper Adams University in Newport loves the area so much she never wants to go home.

"I am from Surrey and I came here for university and I absolutely love it," she said. "I wouldn't want to be anywhere else."

Jan Kynaston, 69 was shopping in Telford with Chris Keenan, 70, when they bumped into friend Peter Carter, 72.

"This is what it's like round here," said Peter. "Everyone knows everyone. I've known these ladies for years. I've been here since 1956 and I wouldn't move."

Telford & Wrekin Council leader Kuldip Sahota said: "I am not the least bit surprised by this survey as I happen to think Telford is a fantastic place to live.

"It is a vibrant, modern town with plenty of history and a perfect mix of industry and green space.

"As a council, we have taken great strides to help kick start the local economy by placing the emphasis on attracting inward investment and supporting our existing businesses to expand.

"If you put together the nearly completed £250m Southwater development, the forthcoming £200m upgrade of Telford Shopping Centre, our ongoing £200m Building Schools for the Future programme and significant regeneration projects in our borough towns and new town estates, it is no surprise that their a feelgood factor here.

"We are a new town and our communities have an all inclusive approach. I am delighted to learn that we are in the top 10 in the country."

Matthew James, head of communications at Rightmove, said: "Ask someone if they are happy where they live and you rarely get a short answer.

"That's because our overall sense of happiness with where we live is tied up in a range of different things, from how we rate our local amenities to how safe we feel walking the streets and how happy we are with our neighbours.

"What we've done is ask people to rate their own area on the 12 most important of these factors and created a model that crunches this data to give us an overall 'happiness' league table.

"And there should be no arguments with the results as there can be no better panel of judges than a town's own residents.

"This is the third time that we have produced our Happy at Home Index and the second time that Harrogate has topped the pile, fending off stiff competition from Inverness and Taunton."