Is Middle Quinton even Financially Viable?

Stratford-on-Avon MP John Maples has persisted in seeking detailed information on the financial viability of the Middle Quinton proposal.

John Maples MP has yet to receive a satisfactory answer from the government about why they have so far failed to make available a report on the financial viability of the proposed Middle Quinton eco-town.

Important information still to be released 

The financial viability report is part of the assessment of schemes and locations of the proposed eco-towns.

The government appointed PriceWaterhouseCoopers to assess the feasibility of the individual eco-town schemes being proposed. Each report should include appraisals of the financial model for each scheme, infrastructure requirements, their cost and the potential for these to be paid for by development.

Part of the financial viability assessment is to take on board the views of other interested parties, in particular the local planning authority. The Eco-town Joint Working Group, comprised of councillors from Stratford, Warwickshire and Wychavon, reported that the local authority received a questionnaire from PWC in September 2008 and had been given only one week to respond to it.

The report should enable government, local authorities and other public bodies to decide whether the appropriate and good value for money infrastructure options are being pursued and that the proposed development is affordable. In the current economic climate this assessment is more pertinent than ever, as a result the delayed release of the report is a source of frustration for many outside the government who are involved in the eco-town issue.

Government slow to respond

Mr Maples posed a parliamentary question about the release of the financial viability assessment on 18 November 2008. These questions are used by MPs to obtain detailed information on the activities of a government department. Communities Minister Iain Wright responded, “Early next year, at the end of eco-towns process, we expect to publish findings from the PwC assessment and other evidence that will inform decisions on the final list of schemes with potential to become eco-towns.”

To date the report has not appeared and today Mr Maples posed a second follow-up question on the issue, “To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if she will publish the PricewaterhouseCoopers interim financial viability study of the proposed Middle Quinton eco-town.” 

The current public consultation period on eco-towns will close in March. There are fears that respondents will be denied the satisfaction of seeing whether the shortlisted schemes are financially viable before having make their submissions to the consultation.

In December, Mr Maples spoke out about other problems with the consultation process, criticising the DCLG roadshows and the Department's failure to acknowledge BARD’s submission of evidence to the first round of the consultation. Mr Maples wrote a letter to Housing Minister Margaret Beckett and branded the consultation a “sham”.