Potential eco-town sites unveiled

Thursday, 3 April 2008 4:53 PM

The government has revealed a shortlist of proposed locations for its new eco-town developments.

Some 15 locations are included in the initial list, released earlier today, with the final number set to be whittled down to ten over the next six months.

Towns in Hampshire, Norfolk, Staffordshire, Essex, Sussex, Cambridgeshire, Cornwall, Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Bedfordshire, Warwickshire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Oxfordshire are all included in the plans.

It is hoped up to 100,000 affordable homes will be included in the plans - as part of the government's commitment to build two million new properties by 2016.

A further one million, carbon neutral homes will then be completed by 2020 under the government plans.

The new eco-towns will be the first new settlements to be completed in the UK for 40 years - following the development of Milton Keynes and Stevenage in the late 1960s.

As many as 42 other proposals were rejected by the government during the planning process - many for their inclusion of greenbelt land.

Under the proposals as they stand no new properties will be build on greenbelt land. Instead extensive use will be made of developed brownfield land - including former Ministry of Defence land, military depots, disused airfields and former mining pits and industrial sites.

Micheldever Station, Grovewood in Derbyshire national forest and Shipton Quarry were some of the areas which were rejected by the government at this stage.

The successful developments will be environmentally-friendly, built from recycled materials and are set to feature renewable low-energy technology to ensure they remain carbon-neutral.

Yet, the plans have criticised in some quarters.

There are concerns the towns will be too far from existing settlements and too small to be independently viable.

Inhabitants will therefore need to drive to larger towns in private vehicles, negating any environmental savings.

These concerns were articulated by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics).

"The development of brand new towns runs the risk of creating isolated pockets of housing that are not effectively linked into existing communities," explained James Rowlands, Rics public policy officer.

"Potential environmental benefits from eco-towns would be lost if strong communities are not created or if the people who live in them are reliant on private cars for transport.

The organisation argues it may be better to look at the possibility of creating eco-extensions to existing communities, rather than completely new towns.

However, housing and planning minsiter Caroline Flint denied the claims.

"Bidders will have to meet the highest standards for sustainability, affordability and creativity. This expert panel will challenge developers to the limits," argued Ms Flint.

The full list of proposed locations is as follows:

• Bordon, Hampshire
• Coltishall, Norfolk
• Curborough, Staffordshire
• Elsenham, Essex
• Ford, West Sussex
• Hanley Grange, Cambridgeshire
• Imerys, Cornwall
• Leeds city region, West Yorkshire
• Manby, Lincolnshire
• Marston Vale and New Marston, Bedfordshire
• Middle Quinton, Warwickshire
• Pennbury, Leicestershire
• Rossington, South Yorkshire
• Rushcliffe, Nottinghamshire
• Weston Otmoor, Oxfordshire

Gordon Brown announced proposals for the development of five new towns when he replaced Tony Blair as leader of the Labour party in June 2007. However, the initial warm reception of the scheme prompted the prime minister to double the commitment to ten at the Labour conference later in the year.

Ms Flint also confirmed the selection of the final ten proposals would be made by a team of industry experts.

To be formed of leading figures from the fields of climate change and sustainability, energy, planning, transport, and business, the Eco-Town Challenge will provide expert advice to bidders and challenge them to deliver the most sustainable developments possible.

"We have a major shortfall of housing and with so many buyers struggling to find suitable homes, more affordable housing is a huge priority," concluded Ms Flint.

"To face up to the threat of climate change, we must also cut the carbon emissions from our housing. Eco-towns will help solve both of these challenges."

Yet, the plans were attacked as backward looking by the Liberal Democrats.

Arguing three quarters of the homes which will be in the UK by 2050 have already been build Lembit Opik, the party's shadow housing minister, said: "We need to drastically improve the energy efficiency of existing homes and build all new homes to high standards - this is our real challenge.

"Making a mere handful of developments eco-friendly is simply not good enough. It will take a lot more than this to make a serious impact on climate change."

The Campaign for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE) also expressed disappointment.

"Our main worry is the proposed location of many of these schemes," said CPRE senior planner, Kate Gordon.

"We fully support the government's aspirations for achieving the highest standards in terms of sustainability and affordability. But achieving high environmental standards on site is not enough if the development is in the wrong place to begin with."

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