Eco-town shortlist

Eco-town shortlist revealed

The Government has named 15 potential locations for further detailed consideration as eco-towns in England.

Communities and Local Government has stressed that none of the proposed new homes will be built on Green Belt land and that at least 30 per cent of the housing will be affordable.

Publication of the shortlisted locations has indicated that they make significant use of previously developed brownfield land including former MoD land, military depots, disused airfields and former collieries and industrial sites.

More than 40 proposals have not been taken forward. Ministers decided that some were undeliverable or not ambitious enough to meet the high environmental and affordability standards set by the Government.

Housing and planning minister Caroline Flint has announced that a panel of experts will be set up to help developers improve their proposals and ensure the final eco-towns incorporate the best and most innovative proposals for sustainable living.

She said: "We have a major shortfall of housing and with so many buyers struggling to find suitable homes, more affordable housing is a huge priority. To face up to the threat of climate change, we must also cut the carbon emissions from our housing. Eco-towns will help solve both of these challenges.

"Building in existing towns and cities alone simply cannot provide enough new homes. I understand this is an issue that can raise strong opinions, but everyone now has the opportunity to express their views before any decisions are made - because this is an issue that affects us all."

The minister added: "Some really innovative green ideas have been proposed - from free public transport for all residents to using the waste heat from nearby power stations to heat homes and businesses. But I am setting the bar high and challenging bidders to go further.

"I have already rejected more than 40 proposals and those promoting eco-town schemes cannot rest on their laurels. That is why I want a panel of experts challenging developers to meet the highest standards possible for sustainability, affordability and creativity."

Ministers will now consult widely on the shortlisted locations with a final shorlist due to be published later this year after which each potential eco-town will need to submit a planning application.

A total of 57 initial proposals were received from local authorities and developers across the country. The 15 shortlisted locations are:

• Pennbury, Leicestershire: 12-15,000 homes on a development incorporating brownfield, greenfield and surplus public sector land four miles south east of Leicester.
• Manby and Strubby, Lincolnshire: 5,000 homes put forward by East Lindsey District Council on two sites, with large elements of brownfield land including a former RAF base.
• Curborough, Staffordshire: 5,000 homes on the brownfield site of the former Fradley airfield, ten miles from Burton.
• Middle Quinton, Warwickshire: 6,000 homes on a former Royal Engineers depot which has a rail link to the Worcester-London rail line and is six miles south west of Stratford upon Avon.
• Bordon-Whitehill, Hampshire: 5-8,000 homes on a site owned by the Ministry of Defence. A significant number of ex-MoD homes are already on the site, west of Whitehill-Bordon.
• Weston Otmoor, Oxfordshire: 10-15,000 homes on a site adjoining the M40 and the Oxford-Bicester railway. Three miles south west of Bicester, the site includes a current airstrip.
• Ford, West Sussex: 5,000 homes on a site which includes brownfield land and the former Ford airfield. Close to rail line linking London and the Sussex coast.
• Imerys China Clay Community, Cornwall: Development of around 5,000 homes on former china clay workings, industrial land and disused mining pits no longer needed by owner Imerys. The site is close to St Austell.
• Rossington, South Yorkshire: Up to 15,000 homes regenerating the former colliery village of Rossington, three miles south of Doncaster.
• Coltishall, Norfolk: 5,000 homes on a former RAF airfield, eight miles north of Norwich.
• Hanley Grange, Cambridgeshire: 8,000 homes on land adjacent to the A11.
• Marston Vale and New Marston, Bedfordshire: up to 15,400 homes on a series of sites, including former industrial sites, along the east-west rail line to Stewartby and Millbrook.
• Elsenham, Essex: a minimum of 5,000 homes north east of the existing Elsenham village. Close to M11 and the London to Cambridge rail line.
• Rushcliffe, Nottinghamshire: An eco-town proposal was submitted for Kingston-on-Soar, to the south of Nottingham. In response to representations from Rushcliffe Borough Council, this site is not to be pursued. However, the Government is proposing to carry out a further review in partnership with the council to consider whether there is a suitable alternative location.
• Leeds City Region, Yorkshire: a number of eco-town proposals were submitted for locations within the area of Leeds City Region partnership of 11 authorities, principally between Leeds and Selby. The Leeds City Region Partnership has indicated support in principle for an eco-town within the sub-region. The Partnership has proposed a further study to compare the best alternative locations across the area. The Government has agreed to support this approach, on the basis that it will allow a further announcement to be made shortly of one or more sites for consultation.

Weston Otmoor Oxfordshire Eco-Town

Here is the Wiki entry to get the ball rolling.............

Weston Otmoor is a proposed eco-town in Oxfordshire planned for a site 7 miles north of Oxford next to Junction 9 of the M40 Motorway.

The eco-town concept and individual proposals are subject to a consultation by the Department of Communities and Local Government ending 30 June 2008.

Weston Otmoor is one of 15 bids shortlisted by the Department of Communities and Local Government on 3 April 2008.

Principal features

Located 7 miles north of Oxford next to Junction 9 of the M40 motorway.
The site covers 828 hectares, 2,046 acres. 84% of this is working farmland. The other 16% is an entirely grass airfield. 250ha is within the Oxford greenbelt.
15,000 dwellings (10,000 initially)
35,000 people
12,000 jobs
An inhabited bridge over the A34 dual carriageway, taking inspiration from Birmingham and Florence, will be the signature architectural feature.
The prospective developer is Partidge Holdings Ltd.

Detailed plans for the half of the site SE of the A34 await further ecological study. This area includes the Woodsides Meadow Nature Reserve (Wendlebury Meads) and ancient woodland.

Elimination of the car

The exemplary eco-town feature will be the transport system.
There will be limited private car access to the body of the development.
Travel within the town will be by free tram. Homes will never be more than 200m from a stop.
Travel to Oxford and Bicester will be free by train from a new station and improved railway line. The Oxford-Bedford line will be reopened as far as Milton Keynes.
There will be a park and ride service from J9 of the M40

Small communities

Small schools will be located throughout the town and will be a focus of the urban architecture.
Many small shops so that they are never far from any home.
A "proper" high street.

Layout

There will be extensive green spaces ("green infrastructure") and allotment gardens for all.
There will be a large commercial area for offices and industry.

Energy and environment

There will be a combined heat and power (CHP) station in the NW corner of the site.
Waste disposal innovation.
Water management innovation..

Housing

Housing will be located in a compact urban core of 220 ha.
The distribution of dwelling types will be significantly skewed towards affordable housing.

Summary of published criticism

Unsustainable, unrealistic

Figures for expected car ownership and traffic flows are unavailable from the developers. This renders an objective assessment of whether the proposal meets eco-town exemplary transport criteria impossible and the ongoing government consultation meaningless.

Normally 15,000 dwellings would be expected to generate 10,000 car journeys at peak hours. A 100% modal shift to rail is completely unrealistic. It is therefore highly likely the proposal will break the eco-town rules for sustainability and for exemplary design given the existing levels of road congestion at the site.

Inappropriate, unnecessary

Oxfordshire County Council policy is to concentrate development around the county towns, not on working farmland.

Cherwell District Council has already planned for 12,000 new houses over the next two decades and these are to be sited to develop and support existing towns.

The developers suggest that a completely new town must be built because attempts to improve transport and housing in Oxford have failed, not because they are an impossibility.

Other more appropriate sites exist, such as the entirely brownfield RAF Upper Heyford.

Unemployment in both Cherwell District and Oxfordshire is half the national average. New jobs are not needed and would have to be taken from elsewhere.

Impact on existing towns

Bicester suffers from lack of infrastructure, limited social and community facilities, and a town centre that is in dire need of development. Resource competition would have a negative impact, as it also would on nearby Kidlington.

Water stress

The site is on a flood plain and in an area of high "water stress" or shortage. The site drains into the RiverCherwell frequently in flood in winter.

Ecological impact

By using an entirely greenfield site, the eco-town rule requiring a "net benefit in landscape and bio-diversity" is immediately broken. The proposal is by definition not an eco-town.

25% of the site is within the Oxford greenbelt and much of Weston on the Green is within a conservation area.

Development would destroy the Woodsides Meadow Nature Reserve, a Site of Special Scientific Interest, and ancient woodland. The site is almost entirely working farmland with hedgerows and crops that sustain diverse wildlife.

The dramatic rise in food prices requires a large increase in agricultural output. " Farmland will be just too important for greenfield development".

The development includes a power station for Combined Heat and Power. A 300 megawatt gas fired cogeneration plant would emit up to 1,800 tonnes of carbon dioxide greenhouse gas per day. If run on wood chips, it would consume 5,000 tonnes daily. Prevailing winds will carry any particulate fallout and pollutants from the proposed power station (NW corner of site) over Bicester. Unless the power station runs on biomass, the town will violate the eco-town zero carbon rule.

The proposed eco-town will not have "higher order" facilities (those of a larger town such as Oxford) and would thus increase car use.

Sociological aspects

If eco-towns are not created where the jobs and services are, we will create ghettos

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

The distinguished designer and broadcaster, Kevin McCloud , is building two eco-suburbs of 200 homes each in Swindon. He regards these developments as experimental and aims "not to create ring-fenced ghettos but to focus on the social and physical relationships between Hab projects and the wider community". Eco-town design is in its infancy and Weston Otmoor is far too big to used as an experiment.

The eco-town will not have the retail or leisure facilities of a large town such as Oxford. One of the few benefits for low income families of living in a large city is that many facilities, often free of charge or discounted, are on their doorstep or a short bus ride away. This will not be the case for the eco-town in the middle of the countryside. The bias towards low income households, the elimination of cars and the lack of facilities appears designed to increase the deprivation of already disadvantaged families and to contain them in a rural ghetto.

Rushcliffe Nottinghamshire Eco-Town

Under construction.

Rossington South Yorkshire Eco-Town

Under construction.

Pennbury Leicestershire Eco-Town

THE LOCAL ARGUMENTS

Destruction of vital Greenfield land

Thousands of acres of important countryside would be lost forever. The proposed site and the surrounding area would no longer provide the space, recreation and enjoyment it does now.

It is not just the local rural communities that are threatened. Leicester’s south-eastern green wedge, a strategic feature defined in the Government’s own planning guidance, would be cancelled out due to the town’s close proximity. As a result, tens of thousands of people living in Oadby, Knighton Stoneygate and Evington would no longer have immediate access to unspoilt countryside and would have to travel long distances to enjoy similar green space.

Lack of suitable transport infrastructure

A huge increase in road traffic in the area is inevitable, with steep rises on the already congested A6 and A47 routes into Leicester, and dangerous levels of road use on minor roads such as the Gartree Road into Leicester. There are no nearby motorways. To provide the required new roads would be hugely costly and pointlessly destructive.

As it stands, Leicester already has a serious traffic problem. Our city has been shown by various Government studies to have the worst traffic speeds in the country (BBC report, Guardian report). Furthermore, Council employed researchers found that the A6 is the second worst road in Leicester (Leicester Mercury).

The only public transport facilities that are easy to develop are bus park and rides. A new railway station would again be very costly and difficult to implement and would only provide a small proportion of the required transport, especially as services continue to be driven down at smaller stations across the rail network.

There is no real prospect of affordable or convenient public transport at any time in the near future.

Flooding and pollution

Dr Graham Jones is Senior Research Associate of the University of Oxford Centre for the Environment and Heritage Warden for Great Glen. His article discusses pollution and flooding problems that would be created by the development. It also includes social impacts.

It is predicted that the eco-town would produce increased flood risk to 4 separate drainage networks, as shown on this 3D perspective and Landsat image, provided by the Department of Geology at the University of Leicester.

Negative impact on Leicester’s Regeneration

It is argued that a town this close to Leicester would severely impact the city’s regeneration by drawing away businesses and home buyers. In a housing strategy currently defined in the Draft Regional Plan, City and County planners are meeting Government previous requirements for 85,000 new homes in the county by 2026, whilst maintaining Leicester’s current growth. Report in the Leicester Mercury.

Nicholas Falk, founder director of not-for-profit urban regeneration consultancy Urbed, looks at the problems of bypassing the usual local planning process.

Destruction of Natural and Cultural heritage

The area contains much of historical importance. The Gartree Road forms a part of the old Roman road stretching from Leicester to Colchester. There have been numerous archaeological discoveries along this route, including a hoard of silver coins and a silver helmet in 2001. Three ancient monuments lie within the eco-town site and there are a number of other recorded archaeological sites in the vicinity.

The area is also important to wildlife, included species protected under Schedule 5 of the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981. There are 42 known badger sets on the estate, with great crested newts, various bats, sparrow hawks, sky larks, grey partridge, red kite and barn owls to name a few.

Leicester Airport - is it brownfield?

The Co-op argues that a large brownfield site is to be developed as part of their plans. However this satellite map shows that the Leicester Airport is mostly made up of arable (grass) land. The government’s reclassification of brownfield sites simply doesn’t hold water here.

In fact the airport is popular with Leicestershire residents and is known around the world. It forms a part of our region’s character and history, and has seen World War 2 service and numerous of air shows. Today the airport still provides much interest to our region, and would be missed by many.

The Co-op is ignoring local concerns

There is speculation that this is already a done deal. The Co-Operative Group has been in private talks, and details are being withheld from the public at least until the shortlist is announced.

A full public consultation has been promised by the Co-Op, however this will very likely be a PR exercise rather than an opportunity for local people and councils to influence the proposals.

Despite the angry reaction in recent months, and the overwhelming argument against the proposal, the Co-op is still keen to press ahead. Elsewhere, an eco town proposal has been pulled by Pochin’s PLC, due the strong opposition from residents.

Will the Co-op put profit before people? Or will they stand by the values set out in their own corporate message.

THE NATIONAL ARGUMENTS

Britain can’t feed itself

The UK now imports 40% of its food, a proportion which is growing. This in itself is not sustainable. Global warming and the rise of bio-fuel are reducing the amount of arable land available for feeding human populations, and rising stars China and India are rapidly increasing their demands on foreign food. This all means higher food prices for Britain, and of course this hits the poorest the hardest.

Importing food also increases our carbon footprint.

Farmland needs to be preserved as much as possible if Britain is to have a sustainable future.

Immigration - who are these houses for?

The Government has yet to control immigration. Bizarrely they have demonstrated very little concern. The UK is the only country in Europe to freely admit any number of people from the new EU member countries. No other country has taken this stance. Despite surprise and warnings from other European leaders our Government have pressed ahead with a disastrous policy, subjecting us to a level of immigration never seen before.

Why should we build ever more houses, and concrete over yet more of our diminishing countryside and farmland, when we have no sensible immigration controls in place?

The “Eco” Town competition is undemocratic

The Government has refused to disclose locations of the 58 or more proposed sites, claiming it is commercially sensitive information.

It has been easy for opponents to argue that the Government is delaying public disclosure to reduce the amount of organised opposition. The short list of 18 is likely to provide some real shocks around the country.

THE BRITISH PUBLIC SHOULD HAVE BEEN FULLY INFORMED FROM THE START. Instead it is likely that the Freedom of Information Act will have to be used to release crucial information into the public domain.

Courtesy of Rob Parker

Middle Quinton Warwickshire Eco-Town

Here is the latest entry on Wiki about this monstrosity.......

Middle Quinton is the name given by the developers' St. Modwen Properties and The Bird Group to a proposed new Eco-town near Long Marston in Warwickshire, UK.
On 3 April 2008 the UK government announced the proposal had been shortlisted along with 14 other locations. 10 proposals are expected to be built by 2020.

Eco-town proposal
The proposed eco-town would be six miles south-west of Stratford-upon-Avon. The majority of the 240ha site is the former Long Marston Royal Engineers depot which is now owned by St Modwen. The remainder is land owned by the Bird Group which is currently used as a business park.
The plans are for at least 6,000 zero carbon homes including 2,000 affordable houses and community infrastructure including up to four schools, health care and retail facilities.
About two-thirds of the site is in Warwickshire and one-third in Worcestershire and lies in both the parliamentary constituencies of Stratford-upon-Avon and Mid-Worcestershire, represented by John Maples MP and Peter Luff MP respectively.

Opposition to the town
The proposed town is opposed by a group of local residents named the BARD (Better Accessible Responsible Development) campaign. The BARD campaign is backed by Dame Judi Dench and John Nettles. Previous to the date of being shortlisted 1,206 names had been added to the 10 Downing Street E-petition entitled:

'We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Stop consideration of possible Eco-town at Long Marston near Stratford-upon-Avon'.

As of 22 May 2008, signatures on online and written petitions numbered more than 7,000. On 12 May 2008 Stratford-on-Avon District Council voted unanimously to oppose Middle Quinton but developers announced that they would continue with their plans.
As part of their campaign, BARD has launched a judicial review into the eco-town consultation process.

Marston Vale and New Marston Bedfordshire Eco-Town

Under construction.