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Yate (pop. 23,000), near Bristol, is a modern English town situated at the southern end of the Cotswold Escarpment.
The town was conceived in the 1960s. Yate was a part of Gloucestershire until 1974 when it became part of the newly formed county of Avon. In 1996 Avon was abolished and the area became part of South Gloucestershire.
Yate once had an aircraft manufacturing industry in the form of Parnall.
Yate was awarded the honour of being the 45th worst place to live in the UK, according to the Idler book of Crap Towns (Eds. Sam Jordison and Dan Kieran, Box Tree 2003). Residents disputed this judgement in letters to a local newspaper. Despite the award, Yate is surrounded by green fields, plenty of trees and is away from the hustle and bustle of Bristol City life.
According to the DETR index of multiple deprivation, Yate (West), with about 30% of Yate's population, ranks among the top three most-deprived wards in South Gloucestershire.
Development in the 1960s included a concrete shopping centre that a 1990s survey described as having cold, windswept alleyways; the owner, MEPC, declined to invest in redeveloping the centre at the time. The district council later consulted [1] with local residents and found that 26% of those surveyed wanted more fast-food outlets such as McDonalds, one of which has since been built.
In 2003/2004 it was disclosed that Yate's shopping centre is to undergo a major re-development with new shops, cafes and the enlargement of Tesco's supermarket.