Battle lines drawn over eco-towns

Published by Jon Land for 24dash.com in Housing and also in Central Government, Environment, Local Government

With the 'imminent' announcement of the Government's shortlist of possible eco-town locations, 24dash.com takes an in-depth look at the issues surrounding the increasingly controversial policy.

In recent weeks, the debate has made headlines in the tabloids due to the fact that former tennis star Tim Henman is backing his father's battle against the Government’s plans to build an eco-town next to his village.

But while Anthony Henman's fears for Weston-on-the-Green, near Oxford, will be dismissed by some as NIMBYism, the campaign is the latest in a series of high profile protests against the much-heralded eco-towns scheme.

Mr Henman is concerned that the picturesque Oxfordshire village he has called home for the past 40 will be ruined by the 15,000-home development.

In fact he is so worried he has already set up his own campaign group 'Weston
Front' and has earmarked a QC to present a case for a judicial review at the High Court if needed.

Mr Henman, a solicitor, explained: "There are 60 sites across the UK where applications have been made. Central Government in their wisdom are going to shortlist between five and 15, and we are in the frame.

"Tim was born and bred in the village and he too is categorically against this. He is as horrified as we are.

"If we wanted to live in a town we would go to Oxford or Banbury or Bicester but we don't. We love village life, the small, close-knit community and the open fields.

"What they are proposing to do is plant a town even larger than Bicester on our doorstep. Traffic on the A34 is already bad but this will make it even worse. It will create a traffic, travel and noise slum.

"We are among seven or eight villages within a three-mile radius which would have their village lives stolen from them by this massive development. It's about 600 acres east of Weston-on-the-Green that they want to concrete over."

Plans for Weston Otmoor have been drawn up by the developer Parkridge Holdings. New train and tram lines are being proposed to minimise car use.

Mr Henman added: "We have never given interviews about Tim's career, but this is an entirely different ball game, if you'll excuse the pun."

Mr Henman's views echo those expressed by opposition groups across England, with protests against eco-towns taking place in Derbyshire, Leicestershire and in Warwickshire where 300 protestors staged a march against a proposed development on former Ministry of Defence land at Long Marston, near Stratford.

The Government, however, is determined to press on with its plans with dozens of sites already ear-marked for the 'next generation' of environmentally-friendly developments.

And developers are already queuing up for a piece of what the Department of Communities and Local Government describes as "the potential to create a complete new settlement to achieve zero carbon development and more sustainable living using the best new design and architecture".

The Government has also set out a range of criteria for the towns, which would have between five and 20,000 new homes.

The key features would be:

• Places with "a separate and distinct identity" but good links to surrounding towns and cities in terms of jobs, transport and services.
• The development as a whole to achieve zero carbon and to be an exemplar in at least one area of environment technology.
• A good range of facilities within the town including a secondary school, shopping, offices and leisure.
• Between 30 and 50% affordable housing with a variety of tenures and size of homes in mixed communities.
• A delivery organisation to manage the town and its development and provide support for people, businesses and community services.

Opposition parties have been quick to seize on unease over the Government's plans, dismissing the eco-towns agenda as pure 'eco-spin' merely 'dressing up previously failed planning applications with a green tint'.

Perhaps more worrying for the Government is the concerned expressed by expert bodies such as the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI), which has called into question the environmental benefits of eco-towns.

The RTPI has warned that any environmental positives delivered as a result of the creation of eco-towns and promotion of carbon neutral buildings will be written off if the new developments lead to an increase in the length and number of car journeys.  

RTPI Policy Director, Rynd Smith, said: “We strongly support the Government’s push to make development environmentally sustainable.

"But if carbon neutral developments are in areas where there are no public transport links, no jobs or services and nothing to do it won’t matter how eco-friendly the buildings are because everyone who lives there will be spending most of their time behind the wheel of a car.

"This is particularly the case for eco-towns which, if poorly placed, could end up miles from the supporting services communities require.

“The Government needs to think about how it is going to put people in sustainable locations, not just sustainable buildings.”
 
Housing Minister Caroline Flint, however, has welcomed the criticism and pledged that each eco-town scheme would be subject to 'robust and transparent' scrutiny. And she insisted only the very best proposals would survive.

She said: "A weak bid where the greenest element is the recycling of failed proposals won't go through.

"Eco-towns have the potential to revolutionise the way people live and work, not just in individual development but across the country."

But she stressed: "People who are against these schemes have to talk about why that is, not simply that they are against more homes being built."