Read Chapter 26: — THE MASTER PLAN

Rebecca's mother, Professor Helen Shaw, became unexpectedly invested in Willowbrook's future.

Her academic field was regional development. After the wedding she returned with colleagues, students and planners to study the village's regeneration model.

She challenged Martin's instinct to measure success through jobs and revenue alone.

"A village can become richer and still become unliveable," she said. "If property prices push out young families, if care disappears, if tourism consumes housing, you've built another kind of failure."

The research team proposed a long-term framework: mixed housing, protected employment space, flood resilience, transport links, heritage conservation, health services and limits on short-term holiday conversions.

Martin recognised the irony.

His final major project would again involve property.

This time the objective was not to extract the highest price from each square foot.

It was to preserve the conditions that let people remain.

Several developers expressed interest in converting derelict farm buildings and constructing modest new homes under strict local rules.

Martin chaired the negotiations.

He was better at them now because he no longer needed to win every point.