Eco-towns must not become isolated and soulless suburbia
The government has announced 15 locations shortlisted for its proposed eco-towns.
The news, which came from housing minister Caroline Flint on Thursday 3 April, was met with widespread scepticism.
Green campaigners argued the eco-town concept was admirable but limited when set against the government's plan to build three million new homes over the next 12 years.
Paul de Zylva of Friends of the Earth (FoE) explained: “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.
Philippa Lyons, chief executive of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxon Wildlife Trust (BBOWT), reacted angrily to the announcement.
"Whilst we are not opposed to the concept of eco-towns, the current plans for this development take in not only our own nature reserve, but also another area of nationally protected grassland and ancient woodland.
"If the scheme goes ahead and those sites are included it sends out an extremely damaging message about what the government considers to be ‘sustainable’ development.
"Furthermore, we find it outrageous that a developer can come forward with a proposal covering land BBOWT owns and has been protecting for wildlife for nearly 20 years, yet we have not even been consulted. How anyone can call this an ‘eco’ town is completely beyond belief.”
The Woodland Trust echoed these sentiments. James Cooper, the trust’s head of government affairs, said: “No development should ever result in any loss of semi-natural habitats such as ancient woodland and we maintain that natural buffer zones must exist between building and concentrations of ancient woodland.”
Community and regional groups also spoke out against the plans. The South East England Regional Assembly (SEERA) aired concerns that the towns may not be self sufficient.
The assembly, made up of councillors from across the region, claimed residents of the new eco-towns would most likely need to travel to neighbouring towns to work and shop.
This, they argued, would increase their environmental impact and putting a strain on already over-stretched and under-funded infrastructure.
Councillor Keith Mitchell, assembly chairman, said: "There is a great concern among local authorities that the selection of eco-towns has so far been independent of the usual planning process.”
In Essex, where a minimum of 5,000 homes could be built north east of Elsenham village, locals voiced their suspicions that the eco-town was connected to the government's support for expansion at nearby Standsted Airport.
The Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) said that local democracy could be threatened, and warned the new towns could resemble a “soulless Stepford Wives suburbia”.
RTPI director of policy Rynd Smith said: “Planning a country as complex as England requires national policy to deliver national priorities but while we welcome the government’s commitment to a national spatial strategy for eco-towns it should not be used as a vehicle with which to ride rough-shot over local communities.
"The public must retain a strong voice in the decision making process. Nor should the strategy be invented on the hoof. What is needed is a clear and coherent vision which informs the decision making process, not a quick and dirty document drawn up for the sake of expediency."
The government’s national regeneration agency English Partnerships warmly welcomed the announcement and called for an immediate focus on the practicalities of delivery.
Chairman Robert Napier said: "We need more homes in England and we need to tackle climate change. It’s a simple as that, and far from being incompatible, the twin aims can and should be tackled together.
“The eco-town guiding principles embed environmental sustainability as an integral part of a major national building programme, and that is exactly the route I believe we should be taking
"However, identifying 15 potential sites is no more than the beginning. Selection of the final sites must be based on the practicalities of delivery, rigorous excellence in design and planning and must involve local communities at every stage.”
The government is seeking views on its plans in a four-stage, three-month consultation. The final list of locations will be published later this year.
