Senior, Derek, 1912-

Born 1912; educated Manchester Grammar School and Balliol College, Oxford University; joined editorial staff, Manchester Guardian , 1937-1960; served World War Two, 1939-1945; free-lance writer, 1960-1988, on subjects including gardening, architecture, town planning and local government; Member, Royal Commission on Local Government in England, 1966-1969, for which he wrote a Memorandum of Dissent; member, Basildon Development Corporation, 1975-1979; died 1988. Publications: A guide to the Cambridge Plan (Planning Department, Cambridge County Council, 1956); (ed) The regional city: an Anglo-American discussion of metropolitan planning (Longmans, London, 1966); City of Manchester Plan (Jarrold and Sons, Norwich and London, 1945); Central redevelopment: the Eldon Square area (Newcastle-upon-Tyne City Council, 1964); Your architect (Hodder and Stoughton, London, 1964).

Derek Senior joined the Manchester Guardian as a reporter in 1937, where he specialised in planning matters. He became freelance Gardening Editor, Bridge Editor and contributor for the Guardian in 1960 until the 1980s. Senior also worked for the Civic Trust and he was appointed a member of the Royal Commission on Local Government 1966-1969, and published widely on planning affairs.