Eco-towns (UK)
Encyclopedia
Eco-towns are a government-sponsored programme of new towns to be built in England, which are intended to achieve exemplary standards of sustainability
.
In 2007, the
Department for Communities and Local Government
(CLG) announced a competition to build up to 10 eco-towns. The proposals received support from organisations such as the Town and Country Planning Association
but have also attracted controversy and scepticism (see for example Manns 2008).
Initially over fifty eco-town bids were suggested, many of them modified versions of existing housing scheme proposals. The eco-town concept and initial locations were subject to consultation by Communities and Local Government ending on 30 June 2008.
A new Planning Policy Statement was prepared and published on 16 July 2009, describing the standards that eco-towns will have to meet, after a consultation period that ended on 30 April 2009.
while also maximising the potential for affordable housing
. Some 30% to 40% of housing in each eco-town is to be allocated as affordable, and made available to the thousands currently on the local housing waiting lists.
The largest will provide up to 20,000 new homes, with officials saying the towns should be "zero-carbon" developments and should be exemplary in one area of sustainability, such as energy production or waste disposal. The new environmentally-friendly towns - low-energy, carbon-neutral developments built from recycled materials - are intended to be largely car-free, with pedestrian and cycle-friendly environments.
The towns will need to adhere to strict development criteria which were developed by the Town and Country Planning Association
(TCPA) through 'worksheets' as advice to promoters and planners. The following were published - transport, community development, waste management, green infrastructure and water cycle management, and could be accessed from the TCPA website.
There are further standards on water, biodiversity and other issues.
There is a short video about the standards.
The standards are recently subject to consultation and may therefore change.
The shortlisted sites were:
Proposals for Curborough in Staffordshire, Hanley Grange in
Cambridgeshire, Coltishall in Norfolk and Manby in Lincolnshire were subsequently withdrawn.
It carried forward a piece of research undertaken with Arup looking at the sustainability criteria for new settlement and urban extension options in the Cambridge
and Stansted
sub regions as part of the East of England draft regional spatial strategy
'Examination in Public' process.
Some key terms of reference from this project are taken from the Barker Review. These include the following:
and an expert adviser to the Government has made public that the Government plans to "to force through eco-towns" by "crashing the planning process". However, last but one Government housing minister Caroline Flint
and previous incumbent Margaret Beckett
have repeatedly assured critics that each eco-town proposal will go through the normal planning process. Critics point out however that once the Government has issued a Planning Policy Statement (PPS) designating a site as suitable for Eco Town status, that will then have to be taken into account by local planners and will reduce their ability to reject a scheme for being proposed on green field sites.
Many local residents' groups have argued against the sustainability of locating an eco-town in their proximity, citing poor transport links and building on primarily greenfield and agricultural land. Supporters of proposed eco-towns counter-argue that their districts need more affordable housing and that eco-towns will provide these homes in a comprehensively planned and sustainable way. Population Matters, (formerly known as the Optimum Population Trust), has pointed to a discrepancy between the limited number and size of eco-town schemes and the much larger figure for projected housing need. Supporters counter however that eco-towns will be exemplar settlements, informing future sustainable housing developments for many years.
, Rackheath
(Norfolk) and North West Bicester (Oxfordshire). Housing Minister John Healey announced that developers in the four successful locations will be able to bid for a share of £60 million to support local infrastructure. He said he wanted to see at least six second wave areas identified in 2010 and announced up to £5 million available for councils to conduct further planning work on proposals.
replacing the Labour Party
, against a backdrop of a prolonged economic downturn. As of August 2010 the eco-town plan is still under review, although in July 2010 it was announced by housing minister Grant Shapps
that funding for the financial year 2010/11 was to be cut by 50%.
In April 2011, the coalition government announced that only one of the proposed eco-towns, Northwest Bicester in Oxfordshire, will now actually be built to the originally proposed standards. The other proposed eco-towns, will only need to be built to meet current building requirement, applied to any new build dwelling.
Sustainability
Sustainability is the capacity to endure. For humans, sustainability is the long-term maintenance of well being, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions, and encompasses the concept of union, an interdependent relationship and mutual responsible position with all living and non...
.
In 2007, the
Department for Communities and Local Government
Department for Communities and Local Government
The Department for Communities and Local Government is the UK Government department for communities and local government in England. It was established in May 2006 and is the successor to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, established in 2001...
(CLG) announced a competition to build up to 10 eco-towns. The proposals received support from organisations such as the Town and Country Planning Association
Town and Country Planning Association
The Town and Country Planning Association is England's oldest environmental charity. It was founded as the Garden Cities Association in 1899 by Ebenezer Howard, initially to promote the development of Garden Cities...
but have also attracted controversy and scepticism (see for example Manns 2008).
Initially over fifty eco-town bids were suggested, many of them modified versions of existing housing scheme proposals. The eco-town concept and initial locations were subject to consultation by Communities and Local Government ending on 30 June 2008.
A new Planning Policy Statement was prepared and published on 16 July 2009, describing the standards that eco-towns will have to meet, after a consultation period that ended on 30 April 2009.
Objectives
The eco-towns programme was intended to offer the opportunity to achieve high standards of sustainable livingSustainable living
Sustainable living is a lifestyle that attempts to reduce an individual's or society's use of the Earth's natural resources and his/her own resources. Practitioners of sustainable living often attempt to reduce their carbon footprint by altering methods of transportation, energy consumption and diet...
while also maximising the potential for affordable housing
Affordable housing
Affordable housing is a term used to describe dwelling units whose total housing costs are deemed "affordable" to those that have a median income. Although the term is often applied to rental housing that is within the financial means of those in the lower income ranges of a geographical area, the...
. Some 30% to 40% of housing in each eco-town is to be allocated as affordable, and made available to the thousands currently on the local housing waiting lists.
The largest will provide up to 20,000 new homes, with officials saying the towns should be "zero-carbon" developments and should be exemplary in one area of sustainability, such as energy production or waste disposal. The new environmentally-friendly towns - low-energy, carbon-neutral developments built from recycled materials - are intended to be largely car-free, with pedestrian and cycle-friendly environments.
The towns will need to adhere to strict development criteria which were developed by the Town and Country Planning Association
Town and Country Planning Association
The Town and Country Planning Association is England's oldest environmental charity. It was founded as the Garden Cities Association in 1899 by Ebenezer Howard, initially to promote the development of Garden Cities...
(TCPA) through 'worksheets' as advice to promoters and planners. The following were published - transport, community development, waste management, green infrastructure and water cycle management, and could be accessed from the TCPA website.
Eco-town standards
The standards eco-towns should meet include the following as set out in the 'draft Planning Policy Statement: eco-towns':- Affordable housing: a minimum of 30% affordable housing in each eco-town
- Zero-carbon: eco-towns must be zero-carbon over the course of a year (not including transport emissions)
- Green space: a minimum of 40% of eco-towns must be greenspace.
- Waste and recycling: eco-towns must have higher recycling rates and make use of waste in new ways
- Homes: homes must reach Code for Sustainable HomesCode for Sustainable HomesThe Code for Sustainable Homes is an environmental impact rating system for housing in England and Wales, setting new standards for energy efficiency and sustainability which are not mandatory under current building regulations but represent important developments towards limiting the...
level 4 or higher (surprisingly not the highest standard available, casting doubt on the credibility of these requirements) - Employment: at least one job opportunity per house accessible by public transport, walking or cycling (although the standards are silent on how housing developers might guarantee this and it is largely discredited in the current economic crisis)
- Services: there must be shops and a primary school within easy walk of every single home, and all the services expected from a town of up to 20,000 homes
- Transition/construction: facilities should be in place before and during construction
- Public transport: real-time public transport information in every home, a public transport link within ten minutes walk of every home
- Community: there must be a mixture of housing types and densities, and residents must have a say in how their town is run, by governance in new and innovative ways.
There are further standards on water, biodiversity and other issues.
There is a short video about the standards.
The standards are recently subject to consultation and may therefore change.
Potential sites
On 3 April 2008, the shortlist of fifteen sites for the next phase of public consultations was announced.The shortlisted sites were:
- BordonBordonBordon is a town in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It lies 5.4 miles southeast of Alton and forms a part of the civil parish of Whitehill, the adjoining village. Both settlements are on the A325 road and close to the A3 road between London and Portsmouth...
, Hampshire (Army base and existing town) - ColtishallColtishallColtishall is a village on the River Bure, west of Wroxham, in the English county of Norfolk, within the Norfolk Broads.Coltishall was a place of note even when the Domesday Book was compiled. For 250 years it was a centre of the malting industry...
, Norfolk (RAF ColtishallRAF ColtishallThe former Royal Air Force Station Coltishall, more commonly known as RAF Coltishall , was a Royal Air Force station, a military airbase, North-North-East of Norwich, in the English county of Norfolk, East Anglia, from 1938 to 2006....
airfield) - ElsenhamElsenhamElsenham is a small village in north west Essex in southern England. Its neighbouring towns include Bishop's Stortford, Saffron Walden, and Stansted Mountfitchet.-History:...
, Essex - Ford, West SussexFord, West SussexFord is a village and civil parish in the Arun District of West Sussex, England. It is located 3 km to the south-west of Arundel...
(Grade 1 Agricultural Land) - Hanley GrangeHanley GrangeHanley Grange is the name given to an eco-town planned for land north of Hinxton in South Cambridgeshire. Initial proposals for 8,000 homes rising to 12,800 homes were published....
, Cambridgeshire (near HinxtonHinxtonHinxton is a village in South Cambridgeshire, England. It is the home to the Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, which includes the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and the European Bioinformatics Institute. The 2001 population was 315....
and DuxfordDuxfordDuxford is a village in Cambridgeshire, England, some ten miles south of Cambridge.-History:The village formed on the banks of the River Cam, a little below its emergence from the hills of north Essex...
) - FradleyFradleyFradley is a village and civil parish in Lichfield District, Staffordshire, England, about north-east of the City of Lichfield and 1 mile south-west of Alrewas. Until 1 April 2009 it had been part of the larger parish of Alrewas and Fradley. The parish council is a joint one with Streethay...
, Staffordshire (RAF LichfieldRAF LichfieldRoyal Air Force Station Lichfield also known as Fradley Aerodrome, was an operational training station from 1940 until 1958. It was situated in Fradley, 2 miles north east of Lichfield, Staffordshire, England. The airfield was the busiest airfield in Staffordshire during World War II. The airfield...
) - ImerysImerys, CornwallThe St Austell and Clay Country Eco-town is a plan to build a new town on a cluster of sites owned by mining company Imerys near St Austell, in Cornwall. The plan was given outline outline government approval in July 2009. The plan would need to gain full planning permission before construction...
, near St AustellSt AustellSt Austell is a civil parish and a major town in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated on the south coast approximately ten miles south of Bodmin and 30 miles west of the border with Devon at Saltash...
, Cornwall. (China Clay quarries) - LeedsLeedsLeeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
city region, West Yorkshire (site to be determined) - ManbyManbyManby is a village in the county of Lincolnshire, England. Situated approximately five miles east of Louth, the village had a population of 833 at the 2001 Census....
, Lincolnshire - Marston ValeMarston ValeMarston Vale is an area of Bedfordshire. It lies to the south west of Bedford and Kempston, down towards the M1 motorway. Historically it was one of the main brickmaking districts in England, home of the London Brick Company, now a division of Hanson plc...
, Bedfordshire - Middle QuintonMiddle QuintonMiddle 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, England....
, Warwickshire (army depot) - Pennbury, LeicestershirePennbury, LeicestershirePennbury is the working name given to a proposed eco-town of 15,000 to 20,000 new homes intended to be built on Leicester Airport near Stoughton. The location is between the existing villages of Oadby, Great Glen and Houghton on the Hill in the English county of Leicestershire...
- RossingtonRossingtonRossington is a civil parish and former mining village in the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster in South Yorkshire, England and is surrounded by countryside and the market towns of Bawtry and Tickhill.-Geography:...
, South Yorkshire (colliery) - RushcliffeRushcliffeRushcliffe is a local government district with borough status in Nottinghamshire, England. Its council is based in West Bridgford. It was formed on 1 April 1974 by merging the West Bridgford Urban District, the Bingham Rural District and part of Basford Rural District.-Political representation:The...
, Nottinghamshire (site to be confirmed) - Weston OtmoorWeston OtmoorWeston Otmoor is a proposed new eco-town in the north of Oxfordshire in countryside to the east of the village of Weston-on-the-Green. It would be next to Junction 9 of the M40 motorway and north of Oxford and is one of 15 bids shortlisted by the Department of Communities and Local Government on 3...
, Oxfordshire - RackheathRackheath Eco-townThe Rackheath Eco-town is a proposal for just over 5000 houses to be built in the Rackheath area, in Norfolk, within a mile of The Broads National Park...
, Norfolk. (on outskirts of NorwichNorwichNorwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom...
) - North West Bicester, Oxfordshire (proposed alternative to Weston Otmoor site.
Proposals for Curborough in Staffordshire, Hanley Grange in
Cambridgeshire, Coltishall in Norfolk and Manby in Lincolnshire were subsequently withdrawn.
Evidence-base for Eco-towns as Sustainable New Settlements
As part of the Best Practice in Urban Extensions and New Settlements study in 2007, the TCPA had been looking at several urban extensions and new settlements around the country to identify what has changed since the new towns in terms of planning for large scale growth. This work is to inform local authorities who are contemplating growth and to showcase good practice, with reference to community engagement, design, environmental sustainability and masterplanning.It carried forward a piece of research undertaken with Arup looking at the sustainability criteria for new settlement and urban extension options in the Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
and Stansted
Stansted
Stansted usually refers to London Stansted Airport.Stansted may also refer to other places in England:*Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex*Stansted, Hampshire*Stansted, Kent*Stansted Park, West Sussex...
sub regions as part of the East of England draft regional spatial strategy
Regional Spatial Strategy
Regional spatial strategies provided regional level planning frameworks for the regions of England outside London. They were introduced in 2004...
'Examination in Public' process.
Some key terms of reference from this project are taken from the Barker Review. These include the following:
- Is the site able to support a viable community in terms of facilities and amenities?
- Can it showcase excellent design and sustainable buildings within a good quality environment?
- Is the site linked and supplied with good quality infrastructure – if not what are the transferable lessons to new growth poles?
- What are the linkages to nearby viable settlements and are they appropriate and useful?
Controversy
The plans have proved controversial with campaigners saying the idea is a way to evade normal planning controls and bring forward schemes which have previously been turned down by local authorities as unsuitable. For example the Ford Eco Town site has previously been rejected by Arun District Council twice. Professor David Lock, architect of the Marston Vale "vision plan" and former Chairman of the Town and Country Planning AssociationTown and Country Planning Association
The Town and Country Planning Association is England's oldest environmental charity. It was founded as the Garden Cities Association in 1899 by Ebenezer Howard, initially to promote the development of Garden Cities...
and an expert adviser to the Government has made public that the Government plans to "to force through eco-towns" by "crashing the planning process". However, last but one Government housing minister Caroline Flint
Caroline Flint
Caroline Louise Flint is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Don Valley since 1997. She served as the Minister of State for Housing and Planning in 2008, and later as the Minister for Europe until her resignation in 2009, citing the leadership of Gordon...
and previous incumbent Margaret Beckett
Margaret Beckett
Margaret Mary Beckett is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Derby South since 1983, rising to become the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party under John Smith, from 18 July 1992 to 12 May 1994, and briefly serving as Leader of the Party following Smith's death...
have repeatedly assured critics that each eco-town proposal will go through the normal planning process. Critics point out however that once the Government has issued a Planning Policy Statement (PPS) designating a site as suitable for Eco Town status, that will then have to be taken into account by local planners and will reduce their ability to reject a scheme for being proposed on green field sites.
Many local residents' groups have argued against the sustainability of locating an eco-town in their proximity, citing poor transport links and building on primarily greenfield and agricultural land. Supporters of proposed eco-towns counter-argue that their districts need more affordable housing and that eco-towns will provide these homes in a comprehensively planned and sustainable way. Population Matters, (formerly known as the Optimum Population Trust), has pointed to a discrepancy between the limited number and size of eco-town schemes and the much larger figure for projected housing need. Supporters counter however that eco-towns will be exemplar settlements, informing future sustainable housing developments for many years.
First wave of eco-towns announced
On 16 July 2009, the UK Government announced the four successful eco-town bids: Whitehill-Bordon (Hampshire), St Austell (Cornwall)Imerys, Cornwall
The St Austell and Clay Country Eco-town is a plan to build a new town on a cluster of sites owned by mining company Imerys near St Austell, in Cornwall. The plan was given outline outline government approval in July 2009. The plan would need to gain full planning permission before construction...
, Rackheath
Rackheath Eco-town
The Rackheath Eco-town is a proposal for just over 5000 houses to be built in the Rackheath area, in Norfolk, within a mile of The Broads National Park...
(Norfolk) and North West Bicester (Oxfordshire). Housing Minister John Healey announced that developers in the four successful locations will be able to bid for a share of £60 million to support local infrastructure. He said he wanted to see at least six second wave areas identified in 2010 and announced up to £5 million available for councils to conduct further planning work on proposals.
Change of government
The general election of May 2010 resulted in a change of government, with a Conservative / Liberal coalitionCameron Ministry
David Cameron is Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, after being invited by Queen Elizabeth II to form a new government after the resignation as Prime Minister of Gordon Brown on 11 May 2010. Leading a coalition government formed by the Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats, the coalition...
replacing the Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
, against a backdrop of a prolonged economic downturn. As of August 2010 the eco-town plan is still under review, although in July 2010 it was announced by housing minister Grant Shapps
Grant Shapps
Grant V Shapps MP is the Conservative Member of Parliament for Welwyn Hatfield in the United Kingdom and Minister of State for Housing and Planning...
that funding for the financial year 2010/11 was to be cut by 50%.
In April 2011, the coalition government announced that only one of the proposed eco-towns, Northwest Bicester in Oxfordshire, will now actually be built to the originally proposed standards. The other proposed eco-towns, will only need to be built to meet current building requirement, applied to any new build dwelling.