Eco-towns (UK)

Eco-towns are a proposed programme of exemplar sustainable new towns to be built in England. In 2007, Communities and Local Government (CLG) announced a competition to build up to 10 eco-towns. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7010888.stm BBC article on Gordon Brown's eco-towns announcement] ] Initially fifty companies were asked to bid. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7311548.stm BBC announcement] retrieved 11 April 2008] The eco-town concept and individual proposals are subject to a consultation by the Communities and Local Government ending on 30 June 2008. [ [http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/housing/ecotownsgreenerfuture Eco-towns: Living a greener future - consultation paper - Housing - Communities and Local Government ] ] Ministers want five built by 2016, with the other half completed by 2020.

The eco-towns programme is intended to offer the opportunity to achieve high standards of sustainable living while also maximising the potential for affordable housing. [ [http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/housing/ecotownsprospectus "Eco-towns Prospectus", published by the Department of Communities and Local Government, 23 July 2007] ] . Some 30% to 40% of housing in each eco-town is to be allocated as affordable, and made available to the thousands currently on the local housing waiting lists. The largest will provide up to 20,000 new homes, with officials saying the towns should be "zero-carbon" developments and should be exemplary in one area of sustainability, such as energy production or waste disposal. The new environmentally-friendly towns - low-energy, carbon-neutral developments built from recycled materials - will be the first new towns in England since the 1960s. The eco-towns will be largely car-free and the idea is that key roads will be restricted to 15 mph.

These strict development criteria are currently being developed and led by the Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA) through 'worksheets' as advice to promoters and planners. So far, three have been published - transport, community development and water cycle management, and can be accessed from the TCPA website (www.tcpa.org.uk).

On 3 April 2008, the shortlist of fifteen sites for the next phase of public consultations was announced. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7327717.stm BBC: 'Eco-towns' shortlist is revealed] ]

The shortlisted sites are:
*Bordon, Hampshire
*Coltishall, Norfolk (RAF Coltishall airfield)
*Curborough, Staffordshire (Fradley airfield)
*Elsenham, Essex
*Ford, West Sussex
*Hanley Grange, Cambridgeshire (near Hinxton and Duxford)
*Imerys, near St Austell, Cornwall
*Leeds city region, West Yorkshire
*Manby, Lincolnshire
*Marston Vale, Bedfordshire
*Middle Quinton, Warwickshire
*Pennbury, Leicestershire
*Rossington, South Yorkshire
*Rushcliffe, Nottinghamshire
*Weston Otmoor, Oxfordshire

The shortlist of fifteen sites will be trimmed down to 10 locations. Micheldever Station, Grovewood in the National Forest in Derbyshire and Shipton Quarry were among 42 locations which failed to make the shortlist.

Proposals for Curborough in Staffordshire, Hanley Grange in Cambridgeshire [ [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/08/28/eaecotown128.xml Telegraph: Another Eco-Town Bites The Dust] ] and Manby in Lincolnshire have subsequently been withdrawn.

Evidence-base for Eco-towns as Sustainable New Settlements

As part of the Best Practice in Urban Extensions and New Settlements study in 2007 [TCPA, March 2007, Best Practice in Urban Extensions and New Settlements] , the TCPA had looking at several urban extensions and new settlements around the country to identify what has changed since the new towns in terms of planning for large scale growth. This work is to inform local authorities who are contemplating growth and to showcase good practice, with reference to community engagement, design, environmental sustainability and masterplanning.

It carried forward a piece of research undertaken with Arup looking at the sustainability criteria for new settlement and urban extension options in the Cambridge and Stansted sub regions as part of the East of England draft regional spatial strategy Examination in Public process.

Some key terms of reference from this project are taken from the Barker Review. These include the following:• is the site able to support a viable community in terms of facilities and amenities?• can it showcase excellent design and sustainable buildings within a good quality environment?• is the site linked and supplied with good quality infrastructure – if not what are the transferable lessons to new growth poles?• what are the linkages to nearby viable settlements and are they appropriate and useful?

Controversy

The plans have proved controversial [ [http://www.celsias.com/article/uk-eco-town-plans-reality-behind-governments-pr/ Eco Town Plans Controversial] ] with campaigners saying the idea is a way to evade normal planning controls, although it has to be noted that many are already 'enabled' in current plans. Professor David Lock, former Chairman of the Town and Country Planning Association and an expert adviser to the Government has made public that the Government plans to "to force through eco-towns" [ [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article3953733.ece Whitehall to force through eco-towns] ] by "crashing the planning process". However, Government housing minister Caroline Flint has repeatedly assured critics that each eco-town proposal will go through the normal planning process.

Many local residents' groups have argued against the sustainability of locating an eco-town in their proximity, citing poor transport links and building on primarily greenbelt land. Supporters of proposed eco-towns counter-argue that their districts need more affordable housing and that eco-towns will provide these homes in a comprehensively planned and sustainable way. The Optimum Population Trust has pointed to a discrepancy between the limited number and size of eco-town schemes and the much larger figure for projected housing need [ [http://www.optimumpopulation.org/opt.release30Jun08.htm Eco-towns "Irrelevant" to UK Housing and Environment] ] .

References

External links

* [http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/housing/ecotownsgreenerfuture CLG's consultation on the 15 accepted eco-towns sites]
* [http://www.stophanleygrange.org.uk Stop Hanley Grange]
* [http://www.notoecotown.com Opposing the planned eco-town in Lincolnshire]
* [http://www.tcpa.org.uk Town and Country Planning Association]