About the BARD campaign

The BARD Campaign has been established to prevent the building of an eco-town as in Long Marston and remind town planners that there are other more suitable and sustainable areas for Better, Accessible and Responsible Development.

The BARD Campaign believes the eco-town development as it currently stands, would devastate the Stratford District.

1. This will devastate historic Stratford-Upon-Avon
   • Town of international cultural importance
   • Home to Shakespeare and the RSC
   • Hub of local economic activity


2. We are not against eco-towns*, this is simply the wrong location
   • Jobs are located elsewhere in the region
   • A new town of 6000 houses plus some amenities (2/3rds the size of Stratford-upon-Avon) on Stratford’s doorstep, supplies no local need
   • People will have to travel miles across the region by car every day
   
   
3. There is woefully insufficient transport infrastructure:
   • One small B road to the site for an estimated 20,000 additional people
   • Most car journeys will be north through Stratford to major urban areas
   • Only two old bridges across the Avon at Stratford; will cause gridlock


4. It will put unsustainable pressure on local services
   • Schools and hospitals already overstretched
   • Children being sent by taxi to schools in other districts



5. In summary, locating an eco-town on the Long Marston site is madness:

   • It’s not where the jobs are, so it’s not where new houses are needed
   • Will devastate historic Stratford
   • Will cause traffic chaos
   • Will dump thousands of people in the wrong place with nothing to do (full employment) and unable to get anywhere else (infrastructure)
   • Size matters!

* Whilst not against eco-towns in their entirety, we do challenge the concept of eco-towns as the Government defines them, because we believe that separate and distinct eco-towns are unlikely to prove environmentally sustainable. 

Our view remains that an eco-quarter, attached to larger towns and cities, is more likely to achieve the dual aim of reducing the carbon footprint of its residents whilst providing easy access to a broader employment base and contributing towards the country's increased housing need.