Archive
Third-Party Organisations
The Country Land & Business Association responds to the Government's Eco-town consultation
Download the full report here...
A new document sets out the Country Land & Business Association's response to the Government's Eco-town consultation "Living a Greener Future".
Download the full report here
Britain needs to build the right houses in the right places
Centre for Cities calls for the Government to fulfill their pledge on housing
A new report from the Centre for Cities calls on the government to deliver on its pledge to build 3 million new homes by 2020, by tailoring new housing to the needs of city economies. Only by building from accurate assessments of local housing markets will the government deliver the homes Britain's economy needs.
Taking a uniform national approach to the government's "3 million homes" target, and simply increasing the overall supply of housing, will not fix the wide range of economic challenges faced by Britain's towns and cities. Houses need to be built in response to the economic needs of individual cities - some (such as Cambridge or Bristol) have problems with affordability and supply, but others (eg Hull, Sunderland and Bradford) need to focus on widening the range of private housing on offer to local people.
Today's report, Home Economics: How Housing Shapes City Economies, recommends that cities should plan new housing supply based on a better understanding... Read More...
The Renewable Energy Centre is shocked that homes in Eco Towns will not be zero carbon
"Government are already sidling out of their own policies to create greener homes..."
A special report in the Sunday Telegraph revealed that the government was likely to make huge profits from the sale of Ministry of Defence land for the UK’s first Eco Towns but also that the homes to be built would only need to reach level 3 of the Code for Sustainable Homes (CSH).
The Renewable energy Centre today expressed its concern that the government was appearing to renege on its own environmental policies which would further reduce the likely hood of private housebuilders adopting greener building practices. Level 3 of the CSH means that the house would need to improve energy efficiency by 25% whereas Level 6 would be a zero carbon home. Ministers still maintained that the Eco Towns would be zero carbon and the shortfall from the houses would be recouped through other energy saving measures.
However The Renewable Energy Centre said that the government had put in place legislation that all new homes built after 2016 had to reach level 6 of the Code.... Read More...
Eco Towns are Not the Answer, says Federation of Master Builders
The Federation of Master Builders gives its response to the Governments eco-town plans
The Government should promote a patchwork of small eco-projects, with contracts awarded by local regions and communities for both new homes (in existing towns, near existing transport links etc) and refurbishment of old buildings, with green measures spread around a range of proven technologies rather than creating new eco towns, says the Federation of Mater Builders (FMB) in its response to the Government's consultation on 'Eco towns, Living a Greener Future'.
Brian Berry , Director of External Affair s at the FMB said:
"Eco towns are a misguided attempt to provide more homes on the premise that they will be beacons of sustainability.The reality is that we already know how to create sustainable settlements as demonstrated by the BedZed affordable eco-homes development in South London which has been a shining example to the UK housebuilding industry since 2002. The simple fact is that building brand new 'eco-towns' outside existing towns and cities is a really... Read More...
Joint response from Sustrans, Campaign for Better Transport, Friends of the Earth England and Carfree UK to the consultation paper Eco-towns - Living a Greener Future
Read the response here...
The transport CLG/TCPA Transport Worksheet sets out at ambitious vision for sustainable transport, which should be achieveable under the right circumstances.
This vision will not be achieveable in the locations short-listed through the eco-towns process. Small satellite towns, and extensions to exisiting medium-sized towns, are likely to be characterised by high car ownership and use.
Car ownership is a key determinant of car use. Around 10% of the adult population lives without a car by choice. Research suggests others would be prepared to, under the right circumstances. In current circumstamces, to enable substantial proportions of their new residents to live without a car, eco-towns must be either:
Integrated towns, functioning as part of a larger conurbation,
or:
Self-sufficient... Read More...
An open letter to MP Caroline Flint
Environmental groups write an open letter to Minister for Housing Caroline Flint expressing concerns over the eco-town shortlist of locations
16 May 2008
Dear Ms Flint
We are writing this open letter to you to express our support for the many objective of the eco-town programme, and our concern about the shortlist of candidates.
Although each of us intends to respond to your consultation, we are writing to you now because we are concerned that promoters in shortlisted areas are being given the impression that land they own, or have an interest in is now more liekly to gain planning permission. We note that one has already submitted an application. This letter seeks reassurance on these and other points. It also requests that you seriously consider a similar initiative for eco-quarters within existing urban areas.
We believe the Eco-towns Transport Worksheet is one of the best pieces of guidance ever to emerge from a British government. We strongly support its objectives, and your statement that 'we should be following the most ambitious European models, where... Read More...
New call for Eco-towns public inquiries
Read the full press release from the Town and Country Planning Association
In a new statement the Town and Country Planning Association has called for a full public local enquiry to be held into any Eco-town proposal not already allocated in a Development plan. The statement follows an in-depth debate of the charity's members who also renewed their support for the Eco-town concept.
TCPA Chief Executive Gideon Amos:
"Our members are clear - the highest standards can be and must be achieved in any Eco-towns that go ahead but key safeguards are needed to the process and we are, therefore calling for a full public local enquiry in any location not already allocated for development."
The Association highlights that an inquiry could be provided following 'call in' of a planning application for determination by the Secretary of State. An inquiry would be required by law if the provisions of the New Towns Act 1981 were used to determine whether the development should go ahead, since these gurantee a public enquiry if any objector... Read More...
Eco towns - The zero evidence footprint
Professor Nick Bosanquet and Elizabeth Truss of think tank Reform call for the Government to examine alternatives to the eco towns proposals
There are serious issues to be addressed with current plans:
- the focus on 0.4 per cent of the total housing stock, rather than the 99 per cent of houses that are already built;
- the true carbon neutrality of eco towns, given that many proposed locations are a considerable distance from work and amenities;
- the opportunity cost of further building in the countryside, for both the natural environment and agriculture;
- specific development problems at the proposed sites, many of which are former military installations, deliberately sited in remote and unsociable locations; and
- lack of evidence on the total cost of these settlements, including infrastructure.
Eco towns – the zero evidence footprint
The eco town plans have been provided as one part of the answer to addressing climate change and housing need. However the Government has not presented any estimates of the costs of the... Read More...
Pressure group fears eco-town traffic nightmare
The Campaign for Better Transport has said that any of the 15 eco-town sites would become a traffic hotspot if Government plans get the go-ahead
The Campaign for Better Transport has responded to the Government's eco-town proposals by claiming that if a new town is built on any of the 15 proposed sites, it would soon become a car dependent commuter town.
Writing in the pressure group's monthly e-bulletin, campaigns director Jason Torrance argues that most of the sites are far from existing towns and cities, and many are miles away from rail lines, making them prime locations for traffic jams, air pollution and CO2.
The Campaign's executive director Stephen Joseph is a member of the Government's 12-strong eco-towns challenge panel, and the e-bulletin challenges readers to help him stop eco-towns from being built in unsuitable places by sending in their opinions and comments.
To read the Campaign for Better Transport's E-bulletin and send in your comments, visit www.bettertransport.org.uk/ebulletin
Read More...
Other statements - Third-party groups
Statements concerning the eco-towns plans and the Middle Quinton proposal from representatives of third-party organisations
Lord Rogers (Award-winning architect and urban planning advisor): "I think eco-towns are one of the biggest mistakes government could make. Building in green areas for 5,000 to 10,000 people has to be car-based, it will not be a walking, living community. It goes against everything we know about sustainability."
Mark Sullivan (Campaign to Protect Rural England): “Eco-towns are supposed to be new forms of development which minimise consumption of natural resources, including fuel and power, and thus carbon dioxide emissions. But they will never be self-sustaining, effective communities if they are sited in the wrong places.”
David Lock (Town and Country Planning Association): "There has never been a true zero-carbon settlement and the eco-towns will not achieve it either. They will generate much less greenhouse gas than normal but to call it zero-carbon is slack language. These phrases are... Read More...
Drifting Apart: Report shows why Government housing policy is failing
20 May 2008
Research by the CPRE suggests that well designed high-density living within existing towns and villages can build sustainable communities
A return to well designed high density living, in rural as well as urban areas, can build sustainable communities and secure environmental objectives. This is the conclusion of research being published by CPRE today (Tuesday).
The Proximity Principle: why we are living too far apart, suggests that proximity encourages community interaction, makes public transport, local services and environmental initiatives more viable, and drives creativity – a key component of a successful economy.
Marina Pacheco, Head of Planning at CPRE said: "Current housing policy is causing settlements to spread out wider, and people are now living further away from each other than at any point since the birth of modern cities. The creation of ten new eco-towns, the centrepiece of Gordon Brown’s housing plans, will only worsen this drift, and will weaken the social fabric of existing towns."
Becky Willis, author of this report commented: "Despite... Read More...
Eco-towns are a red herring, says Federation of Master Builders
Hundreds of small eco-projects across the country would be preferable to creating 10 new towns, says the Federation of Master Builders
New homes in every village, town, and city built to a high quality and sensitive to the local environment, would offer a more sustainable long term approach to our housing needs than the Government's top down housing policy which has been dressed up as eco-towns says the Federation of Master Builders.
Commenting on today's Government announcement short listing 15 locations for the 10 eco-towns, Brian Berry, Director External Affairs, says: "Eco-towns sound lovely but are really a red herring to give the Government's housing plans a stamp of green credibility. The truth is we already know how to create sustainable homes as demonstrated by the BedZed affordable eco-homes in south London and the renewable energy theme park developed by Kiklees Borough Council in Yorkshire"
Berry continued:"Building brand new eco-towns outside existing settlements is really bad idea when there are 675,000 empty homes in England alone sitting empty, all ripe for refitting... Read More...
Eco-towns are a drop in the ocean, say Friends of the Earth
Environmental organisation Friends of the Earth says that eco-towns represent a very small part of the Government's wider house building programme
Commenting on the shortlist for a number of Eco Towns that the Government is planning to build across England, Paul de Zylva of Friends of the Earth England said:
“With proper involvement of local communities and stringent standards, the Government's new eco-towns could provide an inspiring blueprint for low-carbon living - but they will be a drop in the ocean of the Government's wider house building programme. All new homes must be built to the highest green standards.”
“And the question remains over how Ministers will reduce emissions from existing homes - which currently account for over a quarter of all the UK's carbon impact. The Government must prioritise this area and make it cheaper and easier for people to green their homes, and invest in energy saving and clean renewable technologies such as solar panels.”
Download the Friends of the Earth briefing on... Read More...
Press Release from the CPRE
Countryside campaigners Campaign to Protect Rural England expressed deep disappointment at the shortlist of proposed eco-town schemes
Eco-towns: right idea, wrong place
Countryside campaigners the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) expressed deep disappointment at the Government’s shortlist of proposed eco town schemes.
CPRE senior planner Kate Gordon 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 on site 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.'
... Read More...
Royal Town Planning Institute's press release on eco-towns
The Government risks 'Stepford Wives suburbia' if it fails to link new eco-towns with existing communities
Eco-towns must not become "soulless Stepford Wives suburbia"
The Government risks creating "soulless Stepford Wives suburbia" if it fails to adequately link new eco-towns with existing communities, according to the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI).
The warning comes after the Government released the initial shortlist of preferred locations for the towns. The film Stepford Wives was shot in 1975 and remade in 2004 starring Nicole Kidman. It highlighted the goings on in a particularly “perfect” but sterile, newly built and isolated suburb.
The RTPI is calling on the Government to ensure the eco-towns finally selected for development have strong public transport links to other major metropolitan centres, provide sufficient local jobs to support the majority of the town’s population and contain desirable places to spend recreation time within the town. It warns that failure to meet these criteria will lead to the... Read More...
Planning Officers Society Position Statement on eco-towns
Read the full text of the Planning Officers Society 12-point Position Statement on the Government's so-called 'eco-towns'
Background
1. In March 2007 the Housing Minister Yvette Cooper announced that the Government would consider plans for eco-towns put forward by local authorities as part of the New Growth Points scheme, and that new small zero-carbon eco-towns built on brownfield land could lead the way. The Minister also announced that she had appointed Prof. David Lock, Chair of the Town & Country Planning Association (TCPA), to report to Government on further developing the criteria for eco-towns.
Source: http://www.communities.gov.uk/news/planningandbuilding/401185
2. In September 2007 the Prime Minister announced that 10 finalists would be selected as eco-towns from the many submissions.
Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7010888.stm
3. In July 2007 the TCPA... Read More...
Latest Entries
- The Country Land & Business Association responds to the Government's Eco-town consultation
- Britain needs to build the right houses in the right places
- The Renewable Energy Centre is shocked that homes in Eco Towns will not be zero carbon
- Eco Towns are Not the Answer, says Federation of Master Builders
- Joint response from Sustrans, Campaign for Better Transport, Friends of the Earth England and Carfree UK to the consultation paper Eco-towns - Living a Greener Future
- An open letter to MP Caroline Flint
- New call for Eco-towns public inquiries
- Eco towns - The zero evidence footprint
- Pressure group fears eco-town traffic nightmare
- Other statements - Third-party groups
- Drifting Apart: Report shows why Government housing policy is failing
- Eco-towns are a red herring, says Federation of Master Builders
- Eco-towns are a drop in the ocean, say Friends of the Earth
- Press Release from the CPRE
- Royal Town Planning Institute's press release on eco-towns
- Planning Officers Society Position Statement on eco-towns