Cambridgeshire planners 'deeply concerned' by Eco-town proposal » Housing » 24dash.com

Planning chiefs in Cambridgeshire are deeply concerned about new proposals made to Government to build an ‘Eco-town’ next to Waterbeach.

Cambridgeshire County Council was sent the proposals by consultants Boyer Planning who have applied to the Government to create the new 10,000-home town.

The site has been previously considered and rejected by the County Council through the Structure Plan process in 2002.

The proposal is in response to the Government's invitation in the summer of 2007 asking developers and other authorities to submit applications to build new Eco-towns of at least 5,000 to 20,000 homes.

These could help provide for higher growth targets but be much more environmentally friendly than traditional developments.

Ten are to be selected nationally and the Government says special funding would be made available to ensure development is as sustainable as possible.

It is understood that around 60 Eco-town bids have been made to the Government.  These are currently being assessed by Government but specific locations have not been disclosed.

At least one Eco-town bid will be selected in each region of the country. A national announcement of the short listed ten schemes is expected in February 2008.

Any schemes short listed by the Government will need to be considered through the normal planning process including the Review of the Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS) which will begin in the Spring and will take several years to complete.

At that stage all local authorities and other stakeholders will have an opportunity to comment and make formal representations.

Cambridgeshire County Councillor Matt Bradney, Lead Member for Planning and Regional Matters, said: “We are deeply concerned by premature plans for a new town when there is already development properly planned for the county. We have just received these proposals and will be looking very closely at them.

"The identification of these sites circumvents the normal planning procedures although the Government has promised the public will be fully consulted on any scheme that goes through to the next stage. The County Council will make sure that Government is left in no doubt about Cambridgeshire’s views.

"Although we back moves to make sure housing is much more environmentally friendly any new development that will put extra strain on vital facilities such as our roads, health and education needs is a major concern. It is also not very clear what level of funding the Government would give.”

Cambridgeshire County Councillor Michael Williamson, Local Member for Waterbeach, said: “Villagers are upset that once again developers seem to want to put a new town at Waterbeach.

"Any one who drives in the area knows just how congested the A10 and A14 already are without thousands of new cars adding to the problem. The recent rains have also highlighted that any new development on this land could face problems with being flooded.

"Waterbeach has already been looked at through the proper planning channels and thought unsuitable with other sites in and around Cambridge better placed for new development. We hope Government will see sense and not announce Waterbeach as one of the 10 sites.”

Waterbeach is the first bid in Cambridgeshire to be directly confirmed to the local authorities. At this stage there is no indication that this or any alternative proposal will be accepted by the Government.