Government announces go-ahead for four eco-towns

The Government today announced the go-ahead for a handful of eco-towns across England.

The successful bids, which will still have to go through the planning process, were named as Rackheath, Norfolk; Whitehill Bordon, East Hampshire; North West Bicester and the China Clay Community scheme near St Austell, Cornwall (pictured).

The eco-town project was intended to meet housing needs and tackle climate change, with as many as 10 environmentally-friendly settlements built by 2020, but has been dogged by controversy and opposition from local communities.

The four successful bids are all supported or proposed by local authorities and meet the standards for "eco-towns" laid down by the Government, officials said.

In addition to the four locations given the go-ahead today, a further two - Rossington in South Yorkshire and North-East Elsenham in Essex - still have potential to be eco-towns but need more work to address certain issues with the bids.

It is also hoped more eco-towns will come through regional and local plans in the future.

The four "first-wave" settlements given the green light today will be able to bid for a share of £60 million in Government support for local infrastructure.

Housing minister John Healey said he wanted to see at least six "second-wave" developments and up to £5 million was being made available for councils to conduct further planning work on proposals.

Gordon Brown, who expanded the eco-town scheme from the original five towns to up to 10 when he first became Prime Minister, said the environmentally-friendly settlements were "a unique opportunity" to address housing and climate change.

"Eco-towns will help to relieve the shortage of affordable homes to rent and buy and to minimise the effects of climate change on a major scale.

"They will provide modern homes with lower energy bills, energy efficient offices and brand new schools, community centres and services," he said.

Mr Healey said: "We are leading the way on the world stage with these developments, by radically rethinking how we design, plan and build our homes we can create zero carbon developments, which combine affordable housing with new green infrastructures and a higher quality of life.

"I recognise that the proposals can raise strong opinions, but climate change threatens us all and with our commitment to the eco-towns we are taking steps to meet this challenge and help build more affordable housing."

But the Conservatives accused the Government of presiding over an "eco-con" which was mired in controversy.

Shadow housing minister Grant Shapps said: "Underneath the thick layers of greenwash, many of these schemes are unsustainable, unviable and unpopular, but Gordon Brown wants to impose them from Whitehall irrespective of local opinion.

"All the low-flush toilets in the world can't make dumping a housing estate on green fields somehow eco-friendly.

"At best, this scheme is a distraction from the more important task of reducing carbon emissions from our existing housing stock.

"At worst, it's a discredited gimmick from a discredited Government that's run out of ideas and run out of steam."

Liberal Democrat Shadow Housing Minister, Sarah Teather said: “Yet again this dismal Prime Minister is to be found running at full-tilt away from a flagship policy.

“The eco-towns project has been an object lesson in the dangers of centralisation. The Government was warned that bulldozing through legitimate local opposition and clear environmental objections would be doomed to failure.

“Local areas should be given the power to plan and build the homes they need, and every new home should be built to meet the highest environmental standards.

"It is with sensible, environmentally sensitive local planning that Britain will get much-needed new homes, not by wasting time on badly thought out policies that fail to deliver.”

More than £3 million has already been committed by the Government to the eco-towns project, paying for measures such as sustainability assessments for bids, financial support for local authorities and communications.

Eco-towns, like all new developments, have been affected by the downturn in the housing market and the wider recession, but it is hoped the interest in "greener living" and the savings - for example on fuel bills - it can deliver will remain.

Union leaders welcomed the announcement of the successful eco-town bids, more than a year after the original shortlist of 15 potential developments was unveiled.

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: "The new towns will mean more housing and more jobs, both of which are badly needed at the moment.

"The new developments will be using environmentally sound construction techniques and new, green building skills which can then be used across the whole of the house building industry.

"We hope that the development of eco-towns will be the first stage in the process of reviving the UK construction industry, and will lead to bigger building programmes that will help meet the massive need for new housing - and particularly new social housing - across the whole country."

Homelessness charity Shelter also welcomed the go-ahead for four new eco-towns, in which at least 30% of the homes must be affordable housing.

Kay Boycott, director of communications, policy and campaigns for Shelter, said: "Eco-towns provide a genuine opportunity to deliver much needed new affordable homes that are environmentally sustainable, so we are pleased to see four key eco-towns have been given the green light.

"The lessons learnt from these pilot towns will not only help shape any further eco-towns, but all future housing development and could help change the way we build new homes and communities.

"It is now vital that these homes are delivered by building on existing engagement and support of the local community to ensure the right infrastructure is in place and that these new towns genuinely integrate into the wider community."

Tony Henman, father of tennis star Tim, said he was thrilled to learn the Weston Otmoor development, near his Oxfordshire home in Weston-on-the-Green, would not go ahead after the nearby alternative of north west Bicester was given the nod.

He said: "We are mightily relieved that after months of campaigning, the Government has listened to what we have been saying all along, and that we're now out of it.

"It's a great day for Weston-on-the-Green and the surrounding villages, and a great day for the sustainability of Kidlington and Bicester, as their economic viability would have been affected if we had 30,000 people at Weston Otmoor.

"Our village life and village community would have been stolen from us if we had an eco-town here."

Cherwell District Council, which proposed the successful North West Bicester site as an alternative to Weston Otmoor, welcomed news that the 5,000-home development had been given the green light.

Councillor Michael Gibbard, portfolio holder for planning and housing,
said: "We know the town has to expand to accommodate new homes, but we also want to give people the opportunity to enjoy more sustainable lifestyles.

"This decision gives us the chance to build an exemplary, eco-friendly development which will attract more investment and jobs to Bicester.

"We expect better-quality growth for Bicester, planned and funded on the scale it requires, with better facilities and infrastructure to support it."

He added he hoped Bicester now has a "bright, green future".

A spokeswoman for the council, which supported the campaign against Weston Otmoor, said the Government's announcement was a "victory for community and common sense over poor policy".

Campaign for Better Transport Executive Director Stephen Joseph, said: "The Government is right to promote new sustainable housing development but whether these eco-town will be sustainable is down to the detail on transport provision.

"If built around major new roads – as the  local council wants the Rackheath scheme to be – and without good public transport, local services, car-free areas and convenient cycling routes at their heart, these schemes will not deserve the eco-towns brand. It should be possible for people to live in these places without having to own a car."
 
We were pleased to see that our call for the eco-town principles to be extended to “eco-quarters” within existing towns seems to have been heeded and the most unpopular locations have been rejected. New developments within existing urban areas will often be easier to serve by public transport than stand-alone eco-towns, and eco-quarters could also set a wider example to be followed. 
 
"We’d like to see some sustainable travel pilots with new developments to show that it’s possible to build and sell/let new housing centred round good public transport and car-free areas, with good local services and employment so as to reduce the need to travel, and without plentiful parking."