Friday 25 July 2008

Propsals for Ford Eco-Town are a failure

WHEN is the Ford Enterprise Hub going to grasp that their proposal for an Eco-Town at Ford is a failure?

They used the leverage of completion of the A27 in their proposal and it was made clear by the government that the completion of the A27 would have no bearing on a decision to build an Eco-Town at Ford. Read more here...

Thursday 24 July 2008

Green, with hints of Brown

FORD, a one-pub hamlet between the South Downs and the sea, is home to just 1,400 people. They are lucky: with its winding river and views of Arundel castle, the village is beautiful. Soon, many more might enjoy its charms. The settlement has been shortlisted as the site of an “eco-town”, comprising 5,000 homes, shops, schools, offices and a power-plant. Residents are aghast, and have banners in their gardens saying so. Click for more...

Government announces standards for eco-town buildings and green space

The government has set out standards for eco-towns that would require all buildings in an eco-town to be zero carbon and for 40% of land within the town to be designated as green space.

Housing minister Caroline Flint claimed the latest plans were the UK's toughest-ever green standards for new housing.

Under the proposals, homes, commercial and public buildings in eco-towns would be required to achieve zero-carbon status, and at least half of the land assigned for green space would be open to the public as parkland or recreation areas. Click for more...

Wednesday 23 July 2008

Living in an eco-town will cost £500 a year extra

Householders wanting to live in Gordon Brown's pioneering eco-towns face service charges of more than £500 a year on top of their annual council tax bill.

Developers in several of the 13 proposed sites are planning to levy annual charges for subsidised bus travel and management costs to be paid to a local community trust.

The disclosure coincides with government proposals, to be published tomorrow, that only one person per household in eco-towns should drive to work. Developers will be expected to provide trams, buses, trains and jobs in a town to ensure that more than half of all journeys are made by bicycle, foot or public transport. Click for more...

Eco-towns 'unlawful?'

newsThe government's approach to delivering up to 10 eco-towns could be "unlawful", councils have warned.

Ministers are to publish a planning policy statement to set out standards and potential locations in England. But the Local Government Association said the proposals went against the principle of development through plans drawn up by local authorities.

This might show a wish to avoid "proper scrutiny", it added. But the government said it "absolutely" disagreed. Click for more...

Tuesday 22 July 2008

Car stickers

Lovely car stickers are available to one and all - get them from the CAFE office, or drop one of us an email!

Monday 21 July 2008

Putting the record straight?

Here is a condensed transcript of a letter from the Clerk of Aldingbourne Parish Council which was published in this month's "Yapton News and Views."

Putting the record straight

I have been asked by the Parish Council to write to you with regard to the proposals for an Eco-town at Ford ... it would seem evident that many people believe Aldingbourne Parish Council is connected with the proposals for an Eco-town as promoted by Ford Enterprise Hub. You will know the members of Ford Enterprise Hub... Tony Dixon, a resident in Aldingbourne Parish and former District Councillor, Harold Hall, a former County Councillor representing Aldingbourne and John Penfold, the present Chairman of Aldingbourne Parish Council.

The Parish Council would like to make it clear that it is not involved in the proposals for an Eco-town at Ford and Ford Enterprise Hub does not have the support of the Parish Council. At this point in time, the Parish Council still has an open mind and is neither for, nor against, an Eco-town at Ford.

The Council hopes this letter may help dispel the misconceptions which appear to be prevalent at the present time.

Yours etc
Lawrence Tirebuck
Clerk of Aldingbourne Parish Council ... Read the whole letter here.


Maybe I missed a meeting, but I can't see how the statements ... "The Parish Council is not involved in the proposals for an eco-town" and ...
"
John Penfold, the present Chairman of Aldingbourne Parish Council" ... can credibly appear on the same page!

I can foresee the argument that Mr. Penfold is conducting his campaign as a resident, rather than from his platform as Council Chairman, and - like Mr Hall - has no political or financial interest in the eco-town, but it is becoming glaringly obvious to anyone not suffering from terminal naivety that there is a strong case for conflict of interest.

It cannot go unnoticed that despite the District and Parish Councils that are affected by the eco-town proposal being unanimous in their opposition, Aldingbourne Parish Council is still -apparently- sitting on the fence!
While I applaud Mr. Tirebuck's efforts to distance members of his Parish Council from this lamentable proposal, as long as one of the main architects and enthusiastic supporters of the eco-town continues to sit in the 'Chair,' his efforts to "dispel the misconceptions" are severely lacking in credibility.

By chance, there is another letter published in the same issue from an Aldingbourne resident, (who significantly withheld their name and address), stating that ..."You have many supporters in this Parish ... it is my cherished belief that all local parishes should co-operate against the development of all greenfield sites in our neighbourhood; our strength should be in supporting each other."

If this letter demonstrates the sentiments of the majority in the parish, then perhaps it is time for Aldingboune Parish Council to assess the opinions of their local residents, act in their interest and make up its "open mind."
I would submit that, should the general consensus go against the eco-town proposal, then Mr Penfold's position as Chairman is untenable, and he should stand down.

This is probably one of the most important challenges that Arun District has ever had to face. We need to be united and unanimous in our opposition to this proposal. Any suggestion of a conflict of interest should be addressed ... and addressed quickly!

Sunday 20 July 2008

Caroline Flint's amazing memory lapse.

I love a good mystery ... and it's a mystery to me how Ms. Flint, who is - after all - a cabinet minister, can suffer from such severe memory lapses!

The following is a question - along with her response - taken from an interview with Lucy Alexander which appeared in the Sunday times a few weeks back.

(LA)" What about the opponents of eco-towns?"

(CF) "Part of this first stage is myth-busting. Local governments were concerned that eco-towns would be added to existing housing targets. This is not the case: eco-towns will be part of the overall target."

Click here for the whole interview

Poor Caroline, how tedious it must be for her to have to deal with myths, half-truths and misrepresentations in her struggle to sell eco-towns to the nation!

So, where did this myth originate?

After days of painstaking research, secret telephone calls and numerous meetings with "deep throat" in an underground car-park, I can reveal that the source of this myth was, in fact, Ms. Flint's very own "Eco-towns - living a greener future" ...

Section 2. What are eco-towns?

3. Key criteria for eco-towns.

(i) Eco-towns must be new settlements, seperate and distinct from existing towns but well linked to them. They need to be additional to existing plans, with a minimum target of 5,000 homes.

No mystery there!

She didn't read it, she only wrote the foreword.


Ok, I know this is nit-picking, but to me this is a shining example of the double-speak, spin and general lack of credibility that have dogged this sorry government initiative from day one.

When 391,557 hits is really 7,510 visitors

In the Bognor Observer (Page 4, June 26th), there was a paragraph about visitors to the FAVG website - "In addition the website www.fordairfieldecotown.co.uk had received over 300,000 plus visits".

According to the Barton Willmore "There have now been a total of 391,557 hits on the website, which averages at 4,399 hits a day since its launch. This is equivalent to 184 per hour".

Don't be mislead by this figure, because 'hits' are not visitors. If a web page has 10 graphics on a page this would count as 11 hits for each visitor - remember a hit is not a visitor. Barton Willmore goes onto say, "In terms of numbers of individual visitors, there have been a total of 7,510 different visitors to the website, at an average of 84 visitors per day".

I would consider the 7,510 figure to be a true reflection of visitors to the FAVG site since April 23rd. However, to publically sensationalise and inflate this figure as "over 300,000 plus visits" is misleading to say the least!

Download the Barton Willmore details of website usage here (mirror)...

Ministers are told to drop most eco-towns

The number of Gordon Brown's flagship eco-towns should be slashed by two thirds because most of the proposed schemes are not green enough, senior civil servants have warned.

They have advised ministers to cut the number from 10 to only two or three "exemplar" towns, The Sunday Telegraph has learnt.

The civil servants from the Department of Communities and Local Government said that most of the proposals being considered by the Government were not sufficiently environmentally friendly and would be so damaging to the eco-town "brand" that they should not be allowed to go ahead.

One source close to the bidding process said: "You wonder why some of the bids were selected in the first place. Civil servants don't want to advise ministers to go ahead with projects that are going to be a catastrophe. There are two or three in there that could proceed but some of the bids are just suicidal." Click here for more...