New question marks over eco-towns

Proposed eco-towns have raised strong feelings in some communities

Nearly all the locations earmarked for new eco-towns have question marks about them, ministers have acknowledged.

Of the 12 sites identified as having development potential, only one - Rackheath near Norwich - is currently regarded as "generally suitable".

The site in Weston Otmoor, Oxfordshire, is the most unlikely to proceed.

Ministers say every town must have at least 40% of its area as "green space". The Tories say they are "an eco-con". The Lib Dems call it an "eco-gimmick".

The government intends to build up to ten eco-towns in England, which it says will be subject to the "toughest ever green standards".

Its shortlist has been reduced to 12 sites after plans for a town at the former RAF airfield at Coltishall in Norwich, which had been opposed locally, were dropped.

Instead Norwich authorities proposed the Rackheath scheme, which, following a study into their likely impact on the environment and local community, is the only site to have won an "A" rating, meaning it faces fewer potential obstacles than any other location.

Western Otmoor was given the lowest "C" rating, described as only suitable if there is "substantial and exceptional innovation".

The remaining ten schemes were all rated "B" which denotes areas which "might be a suitable location subject to meeting specific planning and design objectives".

They are:

• Middle Quinton, Warwickshire/Worcestershire


• Newton-Bingham, Nottinghamshire


• Ford, West Sussex


• Bordon-Whitehill, Hampshire


• St Austell, Cornwall


• Rossington, South Yorkshire


• North East Elsenham, Essex


• Pennbury, Leicestershire


• Marston Vale, Bedfordshire


• North West Bicester, Oxfordshire

The final shortlist is expected in the New Year, although the government says they will still have to go through the normal planning process.

I do not expect all of these locations to go forward Margaret Beckett

The ratings were published as the government announced the second phase of its public consultation on Tuesday.

A proposed site in Leeds has also been dropped from the list and housing minister Margaret Beckett has said others will follow.

"I believe it is vital we get the locations for these eco-towns right and the shortlist has been refined to reflect the results of the most detailed assessment to date on these potential locations," she said.

"I do not expect all of these locations to go forward - the eco-town standards are tough and I think some of these shortlisted schemes could struggle to meet them."

'Zero carbon'

Eco-towns, expected to sustain between 5,000 and 20,000 homes, will be required to go through the same planning processes as other major developments, says the government.

It also published on Tuesday a draft planning policy statement, which sets out the standards expected of eco-towns, including that they will achieve "zero carbon status" across all buildings and that 40% of the area will be green space.

Local democracy has been consigned to the scrapheap and the voice of local residents will be ignored Grant Shapps Shadow housing minister

But the Conservatives say the statement would allow eco-towns applications to be pushed through the usual planning process.

Shadow housing minister Grant Shapps said: "The government is now intending to fiddle the whole planning process, by imposing Whitehall diktats on local councils, forcing them to accept these unsustainable new developments.

"Local democracy has been consigned to the scrapheap and the voice of local residents will be ignored, just to satisfy Gordon Brown's arbitrary targets to build these new towns."

The Local Government Association says the government should not "force through" eco-towns against local wishes.

Chairman Margaret Eaton said: "Using a national planning policy statement isn't just ill-advised, according to our lawyers it may be unlawful."

Lib Dem housing spokeswoman Sarah Teather said: "Ministers are using their eco-towns policy to hide their failure to demand proper environmental standards from all new developments.

"The government must abandon this eco-gimmick and set tough environmental standards for all new homes and developments."

But the latest stage of the process was welcomed by the housing charity Shelter, which said they would play "a vital part in delivering desperately needed housing".