Eco-towns shortlist

ePolitix.com Stakeholders comment on the government's announcement that a shortlist of 15 locations has been drawn up for the first eco-towns in England.

Housing minister Caroline Flint has said eco-towns will increase the housing stock and provide more affordable homes, as well as helping to tackle the threat of climate change.

Party response: Liberal Democrats

Lembit Öpik, housing spokesperson, said: "Yet again, Labour's lack of commitment is holding back the green agenda.

"Brown's eco-towns are just a smokescreen for the government's poverty of ambition.  Why should just seven per cent of the new homes planned by this government be sustainable?

"We have to work harder to make every town eco-friendly, because three-quarters of the homes we'll be living in by 2050 have already been built. 

"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." 


Stakeholder response: Campaign to Protect Rural England



To send a comment to the CPRE clickhere

Kate Gordon, senior planner, said: "Our main worry is the proposed location of many of these schemes. We fully support the government's aspirations for achieving the highest standards in terms of sustainability and affordability. But achieving high environmental standards onsite is not enough if the development is in the wrong place to begin with.

"For settlements to be genuinely 'eco' they must be based around walking, cycling and public transport with a range of facilities available locally. They should enhance, not spoil, the surrounding area and landscape, and win the support of the local community. For this to happen, schemes must be agreed via the local planning process rather than attempt to circumvent this."


Stakeholder response: Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors



To send a comment to RICS clickhere

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

"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. It may be better to look at the possibility of creating eco-extensions to existing communities, rather than completely new towns."


Stakeholder response: Woodland Trust



To send a comment to the Woodland Trust clickhere

Lee Bruce of the Woodland Trust said: "New eco-towns must seize the opportunity to illustrate how much green infrastructure can contribute towards sustainable living.

"Housing minister Caroline Flint's statement today on eco-towns appears light on criteria about environmental quality, such as wildlife habitats and green spaces. We are concerned that there is more emphasis on business and housing, rather than genuine sustainability that integrates economic, social and environmental concerns.

"We believe that building on greenfield sites is undesirable and any new eco-town must respect the natural environment by promoting sustainable living through a wide range of policies - education, energy, public health, transport and the forging of a sense of community. 

"Eco-towns should not only look to protect green space, they should improve it; and for the Trust that means creating new woodland where there is a lack of existing public access.

"A healthy, thriving natural environment close to where people live is a key contributor to human health. No development should result in any loss of semi-natural habitats, such as ancient woodland, and there is a need to ensure natural buffer zones between developments and concentrations of habitats such as ancient woodland."