Charley in New Town

This is a charming propaganda film from 1948 - yes 1948!!! I'm surprised it wasn't adapted into "Charlie in New Eco-Town" Enjoy, and Merry Christmas everyone!

Proposals for a second wave of eco-towns.

The government has announced proposals for a second wave of eco-towns. Housing minister John Healey said today that a further nine local authorities were considering plans to develop new communities to eco-town standards. This could bring the number of new eco-settlements - “sustainable” developments of at least 5,000 homes - to more than 13 after four locations were given the green light in July.

The new schemes include reviving eco-town proposals at Shoreham Harbour in West Sussex and Northstowe in Cambridgeshire, where the department for communities said there was “an opportunity to redesign elements of existing projects to meet even higher sustainability standards”.

Five authorities and partnerships, covering ten locations in Taunton , Yeovil, Leeds, Lincoln and Coventry are using eco-town planning rules to decide whether an eco-town is “feasible and deliverable”. And councils in Cornwall and the Sheffield City Region are using the concept to carry out a broader survey of potential sites.

Healey said the expressions of interest would be backed with up to £10m to help develop the schemes. He said: “The further nine areas are looking at proposals to design and develop to the tough new eco-town standards. "This signals real and radical momentum to change and to re-think how we design our towns and homes for the future.

"In July, I encouraged councils to be at the forefront of Britain 's green revolution and use government backing to investigate eco-town potential for mainstream developments." Healy added that the announcement put government back on course to encourage the development of up to ten eco-towns by 2020.

The first wave of sites, in Hampshire, Norfolk , Cornwall and Oxfordshire, are currently developing masterplans for local planning approval. Whitehill-Bordon in Hampshire was the first to publish its draft masterplan for public consultation last month.

Empty homes back in use

Hello again - long time no blog, so lets have some good news...

HOMES which have stood empty for more than 40 years are among dozens of vacant properties now giving families a roof over their head once more, thanks to a council campaign. Read more here...

Housebuilders look to raise cash

Two of the UK's largest housebuilders have announced plans to bolster their finances by raising cash through selling more shares. Barratt Developments wants to raise £720.5m through a rights issue, while Redrow is aiming for £150m. Click here for more...

I took note of this sentence, 'Mr Clare added that the cash from the rights issue would also be used to develop a number of existing sites and to buy land if opportunities arose'.

Friday September 4th - Yapton & Ford Village Hall

Unfortunately its not my Scarecrowday... But you are invited to a gathering at Yapton & Ford Village Hall where there will be a few speeches, some music and a chance wind down after the last 18 months... The format is bring a bottle and glass - there may be nibbles... We start at 6.30 - hope to see you there...

Have a great August... Mr G and the team...

Make every town an eco-town

Jonathan Glancey architecture critic for the Guardian... There’s no point bulding tokenistic, half-baked fake communities for New Labour clones while we’re still wedded to motorways, airports and superstores. Read more here...

Words of Thanks...

Dear Susan,
 
Yes, a great day indeed! I'm only sorry I could not be more active myself. Too busy here in Brighton, I'm afraid, but you've been fortunate having Ben Fogle campaigning with you, such is his high public profile. I always like reading his column in the newspaper.
 

Michael Bishop

----

Well done to the organising team WE couldn't have done it without YOU !!

Gigi

----

Hi Susan

Just to congratulate you and everyone concerned with the campaign which was
fought with such wonderful tenacity and eloquence.  Thank you for all the
hard work and commitment which was without equal.

I'm sure that another planning application will be waiting in the wings but
that is another day, another dollar.


Regards

Mary Rivett

----

Hi Susan,
Yes absolutely fantastic news!!
Well done to you Vicky and all the team -we certainly could not done it without an organised CAFE. Let the voice of the people be heard-and eventually it was.(Including Parliament square!!!) Kind regards and well done to all the team,
Cynthia

----

Hi Susan.
Well done to you and the team. Democracy rules (at least I hope
so).

Thanks again for all your effort. There should be many people who are
grateful to you all.

Kind regards


Neil

Yes what good new re decision on Eco Town and mainly to all Cafe's hard work and time given to the protest.  It is much appreciated. 
Thank you all.
B & D Wilgoss Climping

----

Great news - well done! We just moved here from the congestion of Kingston
on Thames, to escape to the country, let's keep it a rural paradise.

Regards
Jane and Chris Weymouth

----

Congratulations - an enormous relief.

 Thank you for all your hard work, organisational skills and persistence in
the face of government obtuseness!


With best wishes

Quentin Daniel

----

Well done and thank YOU!
 

Katherine
 

----


Many congratulations Delighted with the result which is of course the 
correct one!


Christine and Stephen Brocklebank
----

Thank you all for your efforts!  We look forward to the party!

-----

Hi to all the Cafe team and many, many, many thanks for your hard work and the eloquent way you were able to put our case forward. I cannot begin to imagine how much time this has taken for all of you - your well researched arguments were certainly very important - as were the protests you organised. We owe you a large debt of gratitude. I just wanted to let you know your efforts have been very much appreciated - thank you for saving our way of life.
Regards
Jan Crockett
----

Huge congratulations to you all. We consider ourselves very lucky to have 
had such a dedicated and knowledgeable committee to lead us and spur us on 
at any sign of flagging....you did a brilliant job and we are very grateful
. Best wishes
Jocelyne and Clive Newman

----

Well done everybody - what a result!
 Many thanks for keeping me posted
Jan Moore

----

It is a terrific result and says huge amounts for the power of local people
 when they organise and work together.  Congratulations especially to Vicky 
(and Terry Knott before her) for leading such a team and to Susan and all 
the people who quietly kept the communication going and shouldered a lot of
 the unseen work.


Nancy Brinton

----

CONGRATULATIONS  to you all and thank you for all your hard work.


Peter and Sue Trumble, Yapton.

----

Nice one Susan,
 And thank you for all YOUR hard work, when you could have been forgiven for concentrating upon finding gainful employment! 
And a big thanks to Brian too.
 Great job both of you!
 As ever,

Terry

 Terence Phayre KNOTT MC FRSM

----

Well done all of you who worked so hard,we owe you a large debt of
gratitude. Thank you. A very relieved resident of Yapton
Laurie Slater

----

Delighted to hear the good news.  I read the Ben Fogle article also today,
which waas very good.  I had feared that the govt juggernaut would win.

 Well done, and very best wishes


Anne

Dear all at CAFE
Fantastic news today !! 
Congratulations to all of you for the strenuous, informed and wonderful effort you all made to achieve this great success. We are very thrilled ... for ourselves and for all of you. Marvellous !!! Best regards
Derek and Jacquie Whitby 

Congratulations,all your hard work has paid off.
From Reginald Barrett and 
Sheila Holub

----

Brilliant result!!

----
 
We would like to congratulate the campaign team . If you had not been there , we are sure the result would have been very different. We really appreciate all your hard work and expertise.
 
Thank you all very much.
Dave and Jeanette Underwood   

----

Dear Vicky
We are so pleased at the decision to abandon this misguided development.
You have done so much hard work and the organisation of the whole campaign was textbook stuff.
A sincere thank you from us and hundreds of others who will also be breathing a sigh of relief.

Best wishes
Christine and Ian Llewellyn

-----

We wanted to send an immediate and hearfelt 'HUGE THANK YOU' to all of you who have worked so hard on this campaign which has resulted in yesterday's good news.
 
We believe all the effort has made a difference - and hope and trust this really is the end of the matter for Ford.  We shall no doubt have to continue to be on our guard!
 
regards and best wishes
Michael and Judy Simmonds

-----

Congratulations on all your hard work - wonderful result and everybody concerned should be proud of what they have achieved!
 sally godfrey

-----

Hello Vicky and All,
Many congratulations and thanks for all your hard work in defeating the Ford Eco-town proposals. However, FAVG's reaction (that they will continue to try to build on Ford) means that we cannot relax our vigilance. Nevertheless, you have defined the criteria that they will have to meet before any building can be contemplated.

Regards,
Ray Penny

-----

To Vicky Newman and all the CAFE committee (including Terry Knott!)
I'm sure that this will be only one of hundreds of communications of congratulation you will be receiving. The whole locality owes you a huge debt of gratitude for your unstinting effort over the last 18 months to preserve the heritage of our three villages. You must take great satisfaction from the news today that the Ford site is not included in the four nominated by this government. Both MP's have quite rightly given the CAFE group great credit, both in the House of Commons and on TV/radio and we as a community can only echo this! Enjoy all the plaudits and the champagne - they are richly deserved!!

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for working so hard on our behalf -
Margaret

Dear Susan,

Congratulations on your leadership of this important campaign. For your
interest, attached a copy of my letter, sent today.
Best wishes,

Tim Simpson

More to come...

A Great Day!

Now I can walk my dog through our lovely countryside without having to be constantly thinking to myself "Will this all be going under concrete soon?"

I would also like to offer my thanks and great appreciation to the CAFE team, who have given so much of their time, effort and expertise to make this day possible. I'm sure that all local residents will join me in wishing a thousand blessings on you all!

Now I'm going dog-walking with a lighter heart, then come home and pop a bottle of something fizzy.

Hooyah!!

News and reaction...

Worthing Herald
THE Government's decision to leave Ford off the final shortlist of Eco-Towns has been hailed as a "victory for people power" by Arundel and South Downs MP Nick Herbert. More here...

Littlehampton Gazette
FORD has been left out of the Government's list of Eco-Towns, announced today. Housing Minister John Healey named four sites which he said had passed the Government's tough standards to go through to the next planning phase, full public consultation and local planning approval. More here...

Littlehampton Gazette
ARUN District Council is "delighted" that Ford eco-town will not go ahead. Councillor Graham Tyler was chairman of a select committee established by Arun to look in to bid, which found that Ford was not a suitable location for an eco-town; a decision that was endorsed the full council. More here...

www.clickgreen.org.uk
The Government has today given the green light for four eco-towns, despite strong opposition to the controversial plans. The plans have come in for strong criticism from people who oppose taking the planning process out of the scope of local authorities and the potential reduction in nearby countryside to make way for thousands of new homes. More here...

Telegraph
For a greener Britain, we should build jails, not eco-towns
I know who I'd like to stick in one!

Times Online
Eco towns get green light despite local opposition
&
Analysis: eco towns may not be very green

The Gaurdian
Ecotowns given the go-ahead

Country Life
Government names four eco-town sites

Christian Science Monitor
Britain’s ecotown program runs into NIMBY

We did it!!!

http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/planningandbuilding/pdf/pps-ecotowns.pdf

Have read it through very, very quickly and there is no mention I can spot of a 'B list' attached to the Planning Policy Statement. Just Appendix A with the four sites.

I think we can chalk this up as a victory for local protests, marches, meetings, dropping leaflets round in the rain, putting all that effort in to countermand the developers' claims and the government spin.

Well done to everyone involved.

Ford Eco Town abandoned!

Rackheath, Norfolk; north west Bicester, Oxfordshire; Whitehill Bordon, East Hants; and the China Clay Community near St Austell, Cornwall are the only Eco Towns to be built out of a shortlist of 15.

Ford is not on the list - more to come...

Locations of eco-towns to be named

The Government is due to announce the locations of a series of environmentally-friendly new towns, with just a few of the shortlisted "eco-town" sites expected to get the go-ahead.

The once-flagship project was intended to meet housing needs and tackle climate change, with as many as 10 settlements built by 2020.

But the scheme has been dogged by controversy and opposition from the Tories, countryside campaigners and local communities, with opponents mounting legal challenges to the selection process. Read more here...

Eco town plan 'to be scaled down'

The government is expected to announce a scaled-down version of its grand plan to create up to 10 "eco towns".

Gordon Brown set out in 2007 to create hundreds of thousands of homes in "carbon neutral" communities as he campaigned to succeed Tony Blair. Read more here...

£13,000 to park in an Eco Town

Drivers who want to live in an environmentally friendly "eco-town" will have to pay £13,000 for a parking space, Government documents reveal. The news comes as ministers prepare to unveil the sites for the first ever eco-towns.

Four sites in southern and central England which have received backing from their local councils are likely to go ahead to the planning stage - less than half the 10 eco-towns which were first mooted by Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, nearly two years ago. Click for more...

Sites of first eco-towns to be named as campaigners warn of protest

Rural campaigners have warned of local protests throughout the country after Gordon Brown announces this week that he is to press ahead with his eco-towns project.

On Thursday the Government will finally name three or four sites in the South and South West that have been chosen to proceed in the first tranche of zero-carbon developments.

The Times has learnt that the front-runners are located in four Conservative councils: Whitehill-Bordon, East Hampshire; China Clay Community, St Austell, Cornwall; North Bicester, Cherwell District Council; and Rackheath, Greater Norwich. Each is said to have local authority backing and will therefore have an easier route through the formal planning consultation. Click for more...

Sunday's Observer - announcement this week?

Sunday Observer, 12th July, 2009
Ecotowns to get go-ahead despite local opposition
The projects in Norfolk and Cornwall are part of a green package to tackle the climate change threat

An abandoned Norfolk airfield and a cluster of Cornish china claypit villages are to become the first of a controversial new breed of "ecotowns", offering thousands of new homes built within a cutting-edge eco-friendly community.

The decision will be a blow to villagers who have campaigned against new developments at Rackheath, just outside Norwich, and St Austell in Cornwall. Only Rackheath got a top rating from an independent panel set up to judge the green credentials of the plans, yet it is one of three projects expected to be taken forward by ministers this week.

The ecotowns will form part of a package of green announcements this week which Gordon Brown will argue can help Britain climb out of recession and reduce the threat from climate change. A white paper will propose major changes to the way Britons travel, work and consume in order to meet targets to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050. Ministers will also set out plans to reduce pollution by investing in rail electrification - leading to faster trains - and in electric cars, as well as exploring new sources of fuel.

Households, however, may face increases of up to £200 a year in energy bills to help fund investment in renewable sources. An overhaul of the social tariff scheme that reduces fuel bills for the poorest is also expected, with an emphasis on spreading the costs of beating global warming so that those on low incomes do not bear an unfair burden.

Writing in the Observer today, Brown admits that adapting to climate change will not be painless but insists it is both necessary and potentially beneficial, by creating jobs in green industries. Ministers will argue that ecotowns offer test-beds for green ideas, from cutting back on car use to growing our own food, that could become standard in all new communities.

However, householders have voiced fears that nearby villages will be swamped and traffic increased: 71% of villagers polled by Rackheath parish council were against an ecotown. The site lies just outside the Norwich North parliamentary seat, where a byelection, triggered by the resignation of Labour MP Ian Gibson, will be held on 23 July. The Green candidate, Rupert Read, has warned that any carbon savings may be wiped out by plans to build a major road through the countryside north of the city to Norwich airport - funded by cash raised from the Rackheath project.

The St Austell site, where the ecohouses would mostly be tacked on to existing villages, has backing from local politicians but the Council for the Protection of Rural England in Cornwall has argued that the plans are "inappropriate". It argues that transport links are sparse and warns the project will be "doomed to failure" unless jobs are created for thousands of new inhabitants.
Brown originally promised to build 10 ecotowns with up to 200,000 carbon-neutral homes, but the 15-strong shortlist has been repeatedly whittled down as several projects withdrew or were hit by the housing slump: the Norfolk site was a late entry last year and not even on the original list for consideration.

Some of the sites have triggered furious local protests, with celebrities from Dame Judi Dench (campaigning against a proposed site in Middle Quinton, Warwickshire) to tennis player Tim Henman's father Anthony (opposing Weston Otmoor in Oxfordshire) spearheading opposition. The project was dealt a further blow by the Department for Communities and Local Government last year in a report that raised serious doubts over the financial viability of several of the shortlisted sites.

In a sign of the government's determination to salvage the scheme, John Healey, the housing minister, will insist that three projects have made the grade and that others could do so in future with more work on their proposals. The first ecotowns are due to be built by 2016 with the rest completed by 2020.

Tomorrow Ed Miliband, the energy and climate change secretary, will officially open south-east England's biggest onshore wind farm, Little Cheyne Court, near Lydd in Kent. Its 26 turbines have a total generating capacity of 60 megawatts, enough to power 30,000 homes.

High Court challenge to eco-town plans... With fairy cakes?

The controversial bid to build a 5,000-home eco-town on a former airfield is to be challenged in court. Arun District Council is concerned about the Government’s plans for the Ford Airfield site near Arundel.

Chief executive Ian Sumnall has lodged a legal challenge against the plans in the High Court. Arun has already earmarked £20,000 to pay for the legal fees.

The challenge centres around a single word change to the South East Plan where the word “test” was substituted for the word “facilitate” – changing the meaning of the document.

The council is worried that the change, which it says was made without “consultation, explanation or justification”, could mean that eco-towns could be forced on to local authorities without previous testing that has taken place through the council’s own planning document, the Local Development Framework.

The Government’s proposed ecotown scheme would see ten of the new communities built before 2020. The aim is to champion environmentally-friendly lifestyles, carbon-neutrality and energy efficiency. But the councils in each area where the towns have been proposed have objected to the plans.

Now skip jaygee's comments...

MP's pour cold water on the Eco Town plan - press release

Just got this...

West Sussex MPs Nick Herbert (Arundel & South Downs) and Nick Gibb (Bognor Regis & Littlehampton) have raised new doubts about plans to build an eco-town at Ford in the light of proposals to weaken the area’s flood defences.

Last month, the Environment Agency launched a public consultation on plans to reduce the standard of flood defences to the immediate south and east of the eco-town site, saying that current measures are unaffordable.

With an increased risk of flooding on the greenfield site, earmarked for at least 5,000 new houses, the MPs believe that the Environment Agency report further undermines the financial viability of the whole scheme.

The report will come as yet another blow to the Ford Airfield Vision Group (FAVG) who published their final proposals for an eco-town at Ford, including a flood defence plan, back in August 2008.

The FAVG assumed that the flood defences to the south and east of the proposed eco-town would provide protection against at least a 1-in-200 year event. However, the Environment Agency is now proposing to abandon the 1-in-200 year level of protection, a move that will significantly increase the risk of flooding.

On the west bank of the River Arun between the A259 and the Ford railway bridge the protection will be reduced to a 1-in-66 year level, and at Climping there is to be no formal flood defence protection at all. The Environment Agency says it can no longer afford the high cost of maintaining the defences.

Nick Herbert commented: “It can’t make sense for a Government department to be proposing to build a new town on a floodplain while, at the same time, a Government agency is planning to pare back on the flood defences. The financial viability of this scheme was already in considerable doubt before this report was published, and will be even worse if there are now to be additional flood defence costs.

“The case for the eco-town continues to fall apart. The Government should drop Ford from the shortlist and allow Arun District Council to pursue its own plans for meeting the housing needs of local people in the district.”

Nick Gibb commented: “This is a classic case of bureaucratic confusion. One part of the Government is recommending abandoning a crucial part of the Sussex coastline, which we have to fight against. Another part of this Government is proposing to build 5,000 houses in the area that would be more liable to flooding as a result of abandoning the coastline. We have to fight that too. Perhaps Ministers and their quangos should talk to one another.”

The Government is expected to make an announcement on the final shortlist of potential eco-towns before Parliament rises for the summer recess on 21 July.

Eco-town-ology

The Homes and Communities Agency Academy publishes a lovely expensive looking proposal to establish what looks to me like a new academic discipline of Eco Town Studies. The proposal for an "Eco-towns learning capacity building programme" to "build skills amongst those professionals that are necessary for the sucessful development of eco-towns" looks like a lovely future career path for people currently working at the Homes and Communities Agency Academy.

http://showcase.hcaacademy.co.uk/files/general/eco-town-report.pdf

At a time when both main political parties are promising a 'bonfire of the Qangos', it seems extraordinary to me that one such unelected body should come out and stake a claim to forge yet more links, Qangos, study groups, stakeholder groups, learning agents, seminar programmes - and of course some lovely publically funded study trips to attractive European destinations. And all based on building stupid new towns on green fields.

And of course they will see themselves as the future - lumping us together as sceptics who are insufficiently committed to change!

Heading for a showdown

Grant Shapps telling the Commons that the whole programme should be scrapped, and that Developers are 'running scared'.

John Healey saying that he will make an announcement on the remainng sites before the Summer recess.

But what on earth does he mean when he says:

"The links that any developer or company may have with any of these eco-town proposals, with any political party are simply not a material consideration for the decision I take and won't be."

http://www.24dash.com/news/Housing/2009-07-07-Shapps-Developers-running-scared-from-eco-towns

Ford Eco-Town to be discussed

A public meeting will be held at 7pm on Monday July 6th at the St Philip Howard Catholic School, Elm Grove, Barnham. The Joint Downland Area Committee will also look at flooding, health issues and how the new National Park will affect the area. Be there if you care...

An ill wind blows no good

Question marks over their viability threaten to make eco-towns undeliverable. Ahead of a government announcement on their future next month, Chris Ames investigates. Click here...

Ghost Towns?

Housing tops Gordon Brown's Policy plans ... and not an eco-mention in sight!

Read more here.

Eco-town policy slip sparks court action

The government is being taken to court over the eco-towns policy in the South East Plan. Arun District Council has lodged a legal challenge to the policy, which states that councils should "facilitate" proposals agreed for growth points and eco-towns. It previously said they should merely "test" eco-town proposals,...

Subscriber content only - want to read on?

We'll have more on this later today...

Is this the first Eco Town Scheme Obituary?

http://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/whatever-happened-to-eco-towns/5204103.article

This is a fantastic article by Damian Arnold - the quotations from sources close to the DCLG simply echo what we have been saying all along.

Even the Chief Exec of the Town and Country Planning Association is now hoping for just 5 towns to be announced. But the article suggests (in what sounds like a preparatory leak of policy to me) that the Homes and Communities Agency will assume responsibility for the whole programme and then quietly substitute existing urban extensions for the greenfield sites on the current list.

Not quite time to pop the champagne, but is it worth popping a couple of bottles in the chiller to be ready?

Seems to be a vote on the West Sussex Gazette's pages today

http://www.westsussextoday.co.uk/ws/West-Sussex-MPs39-expenses-revealed.5380693.jp

Can they just call this one an eco town and leave the rest of us alone?

http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/cn_news_home/displayarticle.asp?id=424458

"In a debate on housing, South Cambridgeshire MP Andrew Lansley urged the new housing minister, John Healey, to make the 9,500-home settlement "the first exemplary eco-town".If it secures that designation, it will qualify for extra funding, including cash to make homes more energy-efficient."

Maybe they can save some face by having one 'eco town' to their name - and quietly let us get on with our lives?

Speak for yourself, mate!

http://www.insidehousing.co.uk/story.aspx?storycode=6504927

Some Planning Lawyer claiming that even the protesters want an announcement on the eco towns soon; "He added that the desire for a prompt decision was a ‘practicality point’, even for those in opposition to the development."

Don't know what you think, but the way I see it, I'm quite happy for the Government to announce nothing until there's a general election and the country can decide on it for them.

‘Delays kill projects,’ he said. In this case, it'd be a mercy killing.

Goodnight and thank you whoever...*

http://www.insidehousing.co.uk/story.aspx?storycode=6504925

A quick update - Caroline Flint went (after nine months!), Margaret Beckett went (eight months!) - next it's some chap called John Healey as Housing Minister! Any bets on how long he will last...?

Oh, and his boss is another newbie - John Denham has been appointed communities and local government secretary to replace the - frankly weird - Hazel Blears!


* That tune from Evita where the revolving door sees off a succession of used and abused lovers seems an appropriate soundtrack for this tragedy

Wish us luck as you wave us goodbye...!

We wave goodbye to Ms Flint - http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/jun/05/caroline-flint-window-dressing, the only member of the government to have taken the time to come on down to Sussex and have a a bit of a look at the villages these people want to concrete over!

And she heads towards the sunset accompanied by Margaret Beckett - the Beeb website says:

1550 Margaret Beckett is no longer housing minister, the BBC understands.

Sign for change - or not?

Now here's an opportunity to dump Eco-Towns, Gordzilla and all those expenses diddlers.

Captain Cameron has launched a webpage - SIGN FOR CHANGE... It sez, 'We want everyone - whether they support Labour, the LibDems, or the Nationalists, or no party - to join in. Through the power of our collective pressure, we can force Gordon Brown to act'.

A far easier option would be to send Patsy round to give Gordo his P45!

Margaret Backett's latest press conference

From the Building News website....

Housing minister Margaret Beckett said today it was possible that no eco-towns will end up being built if the government decides not to take forward any proposals.

At a joint press conference this morning with Yvette Cooper, chief secretary of the Treasury, Beckett said that work on eco-towns was progressing, with an announcement expected by the summer.

She would not say how many she expected there to be, but said: “I will say this: that if no schemes meet the standards required then there will not be any names coming forward.

“But, I would be very disappointed, and somewhat surprised, if that was the case.”

She said they had deliberately slowed down the consultation due to the court challenge that was brought by opponents to the scheme, and that “much had been read into that”.

However, Beckett said: “I am sorry in one sense that there are some proposals that have already been judged to be unlikely to reach the standards that we expect.

“But it’s got to meet high environmental standards, and I don’t regret the process.”

The two ministers said they believed the gap between the economic policies of the two parties was “bigger now than at any point since before the Thatcher years”.

Beckett said the Homes and Communities Agency was in the process of deciding which regeneration schemes would receive funding from the £400m Kickstart Housing Delivery Programme announced in the Budget in April.

Bids will be accepted until 8 June, with the successful bidders announced in July.

More than 30,000 people have registered their interest in the government’s HomeBuy Direct scheme, which aims to help first-time buyers by giving them an equity loan of 30% of the purchase price, which is funded between the government and the developer.

Speaking ahead of this week’s European elections, the pair said the measures taken by Labour to kickstart stalled regeneration schemes, boost the economy and help stave off repossessions would help Britain come through the recession “sooner and stronger”.

Cooper accused the Conservative approach to the credit crunch as being “Thatcherism with a smoother sales pitch”.

Ford eco town protestors on the DCLG's website

http://ecotownsyoursay.direct.gov.uk/have-your-say/latest-feedback/video/17/

Good to see that the DCLG had the guts to put the videos that Vicky, myself and others recorded at their roadshow last year.

Let's hope that they watched and took note as well!

ECO-TOWN ADVERT JUDGED MISLEADING BY WATCHDOG

A victory for the eco town protesters at Stratford on Avon fighting the Long Marston eco town proposals.

It's interesting to read the details and compare the kind of claims that the developers there make and realise how similar they are to those made by the businesses promoting Ford eco town!

Here is their Press Release:

The credibility of plans to build an ‘eco-town’ at Long Marston have today been delivered another blow. The Advertising Standards Authority has ruled that an advertisement from the developers setting out the case was misleading on four separate counts on grounds of “truthfulness” and “substantiation”.

The ASA’s ruling comes after a complaint lodged by Mid Worcestershire MP Peter Luff about an advert taken out in a local newspaper by the developers St. Modwen and Bird Group. The advert attempted to promote the arguments for the construction of the proposed 6,000 home new town on the Worcestershire/Warwickshire border.

Peter condemned the advert as “both factually wrong and materially misleading” and highlighted the false claims, including one that the site is unused brownfield land, where in reality around two-thirds of the Worcestershire land ear-marked for development is greenfield and open countryside. In his complaint, Peter went on to challeng claims that the new town will create 4700 new jobs. He also complained about claims for the town relating to transport provision and meeting local housing need.

In its ruling, published today, the ASA upholds each of Peter’s four complaints, concluding that:

“The ad must not appear again in its current form. The claims must not be repeated unless St Modwen and The Bird Group have evidence that supports them.”

Commenting Peter said:

“I welcome the ASA’s ruling. It is of fundamental importance that the public know the truth about the impact of the proposed ‘eco-town’ at Long Marston. I am delighted that the ASA has exposed the serious shortcomings of the claims.

“An ‘eco-town’ at Long Marston would be an economic, social and environmental disaster – it must not be allowed to go ahead.

“Surely ministers will soon realise that enough is enough. I still hope that the Long Marston site will be ditched eventually, but the Government seems determined to squander more money and resources in vain attempts to keep it alive.

Eco towns to be ruled by the Bin Bullies

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/5379041/Householders-in-eco-towns-face-charges-for-rubbish-collection.html

The Town and Country Planning Association are encouraging eco town developers to charge people for their rubbish by weight and type. So it'll be the Ford eco town and surrounding fly tipping site!

Nice.

Inside an Eco Home...

An interesting clip on the BBC about the eco-pod home designed by www.ecohab.co.uk. Imagine Ford filled with these - invasion of the mole hills! Of course we have all seen the eco house plans from our friends proposing an Eco town at Ford haven't we?

MPs urge Housing Minister to reject Ford eco-town

Just got this press release from the MP Nick's!

West Sussex MPs Nick Herbert (Arundel & South Downs) and Nick Gibb (Bognor Regis & Littlehampton) met with Housing Minister Margaret Beckett last week (28 April) to restate their opposition to an ‘eco-town’ at Ford.

The Government is still considering proposals to build at least 5,000 houses at Ford, despite overwhelming opposition from local residents, councils, businesses and MPs.

At the meeting, Mrs Beckett said that she was unable to comment in detail about the proposals for Ford in advance of a decision on the final shortlist of eco-towns, expected later this summer.

The Minister said there were "no numbers in [her] head as to what would be a politically acceptable" number of eco-towns to announce. The criterion was whether a site met the required standard. While Ford was a candidate, Mrs Beckett conceded that there were issues which needed to be addressed, including transport which was “particularly difficult”.

Mrs Beckett rejected Mr Herbert and Mr Gibb’s contention that the planned number of 11,300 houses for Arun was too high, but she confirmed that, if the eco-town at Ford were to go ahead, the 5,000 houses could be subtracted from the overall target.

There was some debate as to whether an eco-town would go ahead if it made the final list but Arun District Council nevertheless decided to allocate housing elsewhere in the District. The Minister suggested that it might not, saying that this was subject to local decision-making. However, the MPs queried this, since a go-ahead for an eco-town would be a green light to developers, and said that they would write to Mrs Beckett for formal clarification of the position.

Nick Herbert commented: “Even though the Minister was unable to respond in any detail, we at least had the opportunity to set out the strong case against the eco-town once again. We are all desperately hoping that Ford will be knocked off the final list when it is published later this summer.”

Mr Herbert added: “The Government don’t seem to be able to answer the point that if they would allow the 5,000 houses to come off Arun’s housing target anyway, there’s absolutely no reason why they should dictate where this housing should go. The decisions about where to build houses are bound to be difficult ones and they should be left to the elected local authority to take.”

Nick Gibb commented: “After more than a year of uncertainty and worry for the communities and villages of Yapton, Ford and Climping about whether their beautiful environment will be concreted over by a so-called eco-town, I hope the end of the consultation process will also mark the end of this uncertainty.

“An insane policy dreamt up by Gordon Brown for a speech, carried out by a succession of hapless ministers and promoted by property developers, it is now time to bring the matter to a close and rule out Ford as a site for an eco-town once and for all.”

The meeting with Mrs Beckett took place just before the Government’s public consultation on eco-towns closed on Thursday (30 April). Mr Herbert and Mr Gibb have presented a joint submission to the Government in which they have reiterated their strong objection to an eco-town at Ford.

Henry Cleary's acknowledgement

By e-mail
Mrs V C Newman
Chairman
Communities Against Ford Eco-town
PO Box 123
Arundel
West Sussex BN18 8BF
1 May 2009

Dear Mrs Newman

Eco-towns consultation

I wanted to write to you to acknowledge receipt of the consultation response that you e-mailed and sent us on behalf of Communities Against Ford Eco-town (CAFÉ) on 27 April, and also the postcards that CAFÉ supporters sent to us around the end of last year.

The consultation response and all the postcards that we received are being included as part of the consultation. Unfortunately it was not possible for us to acknowledge each postcard individually at the time, but I did want to provide you with assurance that they were received, and the views they set out will be taken into consideration.

As you know the consultation came to an end on 30 April and we will now consider all the responses to the consultation along with the findings of the assessment work that has been undertaken. After the final Eco-towns Planning Policy Statement is issued any location which is identified as having potential will still need to go through the planning process and will need to submit a planning application, which will be for local authorities to determine, and this will provide further opportunity for local consultation.

I would be grateful if you could share this letter with members and supporters of CAFÉ.

Yours sincerely
HENRY CLEARY

Here comes the Eco Quarter!

Received an interesting email this morning with this letter attached. Its being delivered to residents in Bognor and surrounding areas. As you can see the letter has a nice green logo to emphasise the "greenness"of bulldozing more countryside to build some more familiar "eco houses" - this time an "eco" quarter instead of an Eco-Town!
 
It has a familiar ring about it - paragraph two has those old chestnuts "sustainable development", "associated employment" "community facilities" and no, I can't stand it "40% landscaped open space" where there is at present 100% open countryside planned by Mother Nature! You will see at the bottom of the page a familiar name - Langmead.  Say no more...

We're all invited to an exhibition on May 8th and 9th.
Friday May 8th
Bersted Parish Council Community Centre,
Chalcraft Lane, North Bersted, Bognor Regis
The exhibition runs from 5.30pm - 8.00pm.

Saturday May 9th
The Regis Centre, The Gallery Room
The exhibition runs from 11.00am - 4.00pm.

Here is a link to a rather swanky brochure (4.3MB PDF document)

Green Issues Communications is a specialist consultation company that is facilitating open engagement with the community and its representatives on this scheme. There is a very basic unprofessional website here www.greenissues.com/breq/

Thanks to the nice lady who sent this...

We have a Widget!

The nice Mr G has been knee deep developing stuff... During a mammoth code marathon spectacular I came up with a widget for all my friendly Mac users against Ford Eco-Town to stick on their desktops - keeping them up to date via RSS... Download the widget here (MAC ONLY)

Any windows widget developers out there who want to make code love for Vista then lets get it on... Haha... silly...

Middle Quinton decision put off until 'the end of the year'

http://www.birminghammail.net/news/top-stories/2009/04/20/controversial-eco-town-decision-delayed-again-97319-23424394/

I have no problem with the campaigners against the Middle Quinton Eco Town - the BARD campaign have been very succesful in getting the issues into the media, and into the Courts.

But if the Government are going to put off a decision for them until the end of the year, perhaps they could also do the same for us?

UKIP Eco-Town Meeting 17 April 2009

The UK Independence Party of Bognor Regis & Littlehampton are holding a public meeting regarding the proposed Eco-Town at Ford Airfield. Speakers are Douglas Denny, local prospective Parliamentary candidate for UKIP, Tam Large, John Wallace and Phil Lee.

The meeting takes place on Friday 17 April 2009 7.30pm at Climping Village Hall.

Click for more UKIP...

Aldingbourne in outright rejection of housing proposals as unsustainable

A firm 'no' to thousands of homes has been given by Aldingbourne councillors. They have formally told Arun District Council about their opposition to its proposal to earmark land around the Westergate, Barnham and Eastergate area for 2,500 homes.

The idea is one of three options for new housing before 2026 which Arun District Council had issued for consultation. It has alarmed villagers and Aldingbourne Parish Council reflected that opposition in its formal comments to the district council.

John Penfold, (pictured), the parish council's chairman, said: "It has taken nearly 1,000 years for Aldingbourne to reach its current size. Click here to read the dull story in full...

Thousands comment on Arun's large-scale housing plans

Thousands of residents have commented on Arun's proposals for major housing developments and plans for new jobs, community facilities and better transport links. The seven-week consultation on the blueprint which could shape the district up to 2026 drew responses from more than 3,000 people. Click here for more...

Local Government Association Warns that Eco Towns may be illegal

More from the Telegraph today - and a nicely chosen photgraph on the link below!

"New legal advice the Local Government Association (LGA) has commissioned suggests eco-towns could be illegal because of a failure to consult properly.

The LGA said the towns should be reconsidered in areas where there was strong local opposition."


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/5114784/Eco-towns-cannot-go-ahead-without-support-of-local-community-say-townhalls.html

South Downs National Park

http://www.defra.gov.uk/news/latest/2009/country-0331.htm

So we have a National Park announcement at last!

They are excluding Arundel for some reason, but including the castle.

From an eco-town point of view the boundary is close to the proposed new rail station and the eco-town would very much be in the sight-lines of the National Park so it is one more reason to say No to the new town.

That said, the excluded area might accommodate an it's necessary/no it isn't/yes it is by-pass at some stage but still leaves issues relating to how/where a by-pass reconnects to the A27 in the West which could again impact any development in this area if the by-pass remains a pre-requisite

More Hypocrisy from our Caravanning Minister

http://www.communities.gov.uk/speeches/corporate/bitsbetweenbuildings

This link takes you to Margaret Beckett's fascinating speech about "Why the bits between the buildings matter".

I happen to thinlk the bits between Ford, Clymping, Yapton and Arundel are pretty important - they matter a lot to me in terms of their beauty, amenity value, their agricultural value, because they allecviate flood risk along the coast and Arun valley, and because this is the only coastal plain "GAP" between Newhaven and the New Forest.

She want's to dump an eco-town there - on this majority greenfield site - only thejn to make it 40% green space (after years fo building upheaval and desecration).

It's a no brainer Margaret - No eco town here please!

Bognor Observer this week

Have just been told that Iain Wright (junior Government Minister) has successfully managed to avoid answering the questions put to him about the eco town - all much as you'd expect, but worth spending a few pence on the Bognor Observer to watch him wriggle out of the questions!

http://www.chichester.co.uk/news/FORD-ECOTOWN-Housing-minister-put.5108406.jp

Eco-towns plan undermined by official report

The news for the proposers of the Eco Towns is making grim reading at the moment - and this time it is the Government's financial advisers saying that only three of the sites are in line to make a profit - For Ford they say that it could end up with potential losses requiring serious public subsidy.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/176f2688-18d2-11de-bec8-0000779fd2ac.html?nclick_check=1

Council Leader highlights flaws in the Eco Town transport plans

The Highways Agency having now said that the so-called transport plans for the Ford Eco Sham are unacceptable - and it's good to see the Argus picking up on this story on a weekly basis now!

http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/4225315.Eco_town_scheme_at_Ford_has__major_flaws_/

Minister agrees to meet with MPs to discuss eco-town proposal

Press release from Nick Herbert!

West Sussex MPs Nick Herbert (Arundel & South Downs) and Nick Gibb (Bognor Regis & Littlehampton) will meet with Housing Minister Margaret Beckett to discuss the Government’s proposal to build an ‘eco-town’ at Ford.

Mrs Beckett’s pledge to meet with the MPs came during a Commons debate on Wednesday last week (18 March) called by Mr Herbert.

During the debate, Mr Herbert said that an eco-town of 5,000 houses would dwarf any of the existing settlements in his rural constituency and expressed concern about its impact on the countryside. He said that it would be built on a greenfield site, destroying an area of high-grade agricultural land and creating an urban sprawl that would join up the villages of Ford, Yapton and Climping.

Mr Herbert highlighted a promise made by the promoters early last year to spend £200 million on the local infrastructure, but said there was already an infrastructure deficit in the area and that 5,000 new houses would present a “huge challenge” to the already-congested local road network.

Mr Herbert drew attention to the conflict between the Government’s advisers, the Eco-Town Challenge Panel, who said that a new bypass for the A27 at Arundel should be dropped because it would not be compatible with a “green” development, and the promoters who agreed that a bypass was essential and promised a financial contribution towards the cost. The promoters now say that an eco-town “is in no way dependent upon the bypass being in place”.

Mr Herbert questioned the proposal from developers that a waste facility would be provided for the eco-town. He said it was out of kilter with measures already taken by the County Council and would rely on importing enormous quantities of waste from other counties, posing “a significant challenge to the concept of an environmentally friendly development”.

Going on to examine the issues around local democracy, Mr Herbert said that it should be the local authority who decides where new houses are located, not the Government, and asked the Minister to confirm whether 5,000 houses at Ford would be additional to the housing targets set by the Government.

In his concluding remarks, Mr Herbert requested a meeting with the Minister and added: “I hope that she (Mrs Beckett) will understand that the local concern about the issue is very great indeed. I fear that a significant part of my constituency is about to be irrevocably transformed, and I cannot overestimate to the right honourable Lady the seriousness of the issue or how it is regarded locally.”

Contributing to the debate, Mr Gibb expressed doubt over the viability of the scheme, saying: “Clearly some people will make money by turning agricultural land worth £4,000 an acre into building land worth £1 million an acre. As my honourable Friend said, 87 per cent of the land is pristine, high-quality agricultural land.

“Even with that cash, however, we do not believe that it will be possible to deliver the three new schools, the social housing, the water recycling, the energy system, the new roads, the new bypass or the bunding for the river to protect against flooding that appear to have been promised at one time or another in this process.”

Mr Gibb also pointed out that in Arun, 1,350 houses are waiting to be built, of which 40 per cent will be social housing. He said that these new homes will make “a significant contribution to people in the A, B and C categories on the Arun district housing waiting list”.

Replying to the debate, Housing Minister Margaret Beckett agreed to meet with Mr Herbert and Mr Gibb to discuss the eco-town proposal for Ford. She also confirmed that 5,000 houses at Ford could be subtracted from the overall housing target of 11,300 for Arun District over the next 20 years.

But the Minister did not answer Mr Herbert’s key question about the Arundel Bypass, and she said that the eco-towns programme was “an exciting opportunity” with “tremendous potential”.

Mrs Beckett also said that the Government’s intention was “that the first eco-towns will be taken from drawing board to development over the next couple of years, with more to follow and up to 10 under development by 2020” – implying that only a few eco-town proposals might receive early approval.

The BARD campaign, fighting plans for an eco-town at Long Marston in Warwickshire, announced last week (Wednesday 18 March) that it has sought permission to appeal against last month’s High Court decision denying them a judicial review into the Government’s policy on eco-towns. If leave for appeal were granted, it would be likely to delay for several further weeks the Government’s announcement on a final shortlist, which had been widely anticipated for June.

Eco-town debate transcript

For those who didn't see the debate attached is the transcript below are some links

Download: Word.doc

or download: PDF.doc

Both Nicks did a great job and hopefully MB will give Ford the proper consideration it is due.

Thanks Vicky.

BARD's legal challenge - new appeal

Just got this from the BARD Campaign, fighting the proposed eco town at MIddle Quinton, but doing so by fighting the whole eco town policy! Which definitely helps us!

"The BARD Campaign today lodged an application with the Court of Appeal, seeking permission to appeal the ruling by Mr Justice Walker dated 27 January 2009 that the Government’s consultation on its April 2008 shortlist document: “Eco-towns Living a Greener Future” was lawful.
In summary, BARD’s application contends that:
1. the principle of eco-towns was not properly and lawfully consulted upon in the Housing Green Paper. There was no genuine consultation on the eco-town policy since the policy had already been determined;
2. the Government pledged there would be a consultation on the eco-towns principle and broke this promise;
3. the key criteria for eco-towns were not properly and lawfully consulted on;
4. the errors in the early consultation stages cannot be rectified by any improvement to future consultation that would be based on a pre-determined principle.
5. the failure to consult on the 42 sites rejected from the April 2008 shortlist was unlawful;
6. the Government has not provided adequate information to enable intelligent consultation on the proposed locations;
7. the eco-towns policies are subject to the requirements of the Strategic Environmental Assessment Directive and the Environmental Assessment of Plans and Programmes Regulations 2004;
8. the Strategic Environmental Assessment should have begun by the “Eco-towns - Living a Greener Future” stage;
9. BARD’s application for disclosure should have been considered before the hearing of their substantial complaint since the materials requested were clearly relevant and could have helped BARD’s case.

This application will impact the eco-town programme timeframe as the Government has given BARD an undertaking that consultation on ‘Middle Quinton’ would close no sooner than six weeks after the outcome of the proceedings. The current consultation end date is 30 April 2009 (six weeks tomorrow) yet a decision from the Court of Appeal as to whether to grant leave to appeal could take several weeks.

David Bliss, Chairman of the BARD Campaign said:
“We were disappointed with Mr Justice Walker’s ruling. It can surely be beyond doubt that the information provided by the Government on eco-towns has been confused, flawed and inadequate, thereby making it impossible for ordinary members of the public to engage in serious consultation.
“It is regrettable that we now rely on the Court of Appeal for us to be given an opportunity to consult on the principle and key criteria for new environmentally-friendly affordable settlements. Local opinions should be heard.”

Parking Policy for new homes - reality revealed by Essex CC

Interesting reading about the lead being taken by Essex County Council here:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/driving/article5920679.ece

"The council found that planning guidance issued between 1998 and 2001 had created a severe shortage of spaces in many developments. Families had responded not by giving up their second car but by parking on narrow residential roads, blocking access for emergency services and refuse collection lorries.

There are more than 1.5 cars per home in 35 per cent of council wards in Essex. Nationally, there are more homes with two or more cars than there are homes without a car. "

When will the proposers of these eco towns realise that people are not going to be pushed around, and will continue to live the lives they choose. Building 'eco towns' with next to no parking will result in the surrounding areas, the pavements and the roads a congested mess as people refuse to line up and be limited by the strictures of the politicans and the lies of the developers.

"Rationing parking spaces doesn’t stop people owning cars, it just means they park where it is most inconvenient for everyone else."

Local needs first means no Eco-Town at Ford

Darrell Gale from Arundel writes - in all of the lies, misrepresentations, u-turns, and, of course, the "visions" and greenwash spread by the proposers of the new town at Ford – both the endless paid consultants and the sad, self-interested councillors and former councillors for Aldingbourne – I never thought that I would actually agree with anything they said. Click for more...

Damage warning over eco-town plan

Building an eco-town at Ford will damage the South Downs, an environmental group has warned. The South Downs Society said the intended 5,000 home development at the former airfield site would have a major damaging impact. It would cause the loss of high quality farmland, lead to an increased flood risk, damage existing villages and negatively affect efforts to regenerate Bognor and Littlehampton. Click for more...

Study finds just two eco-towns are viable

he financial viability of the government’s planned eco-town programme has been called into question by a new report which gave only two of the proposals a glowing bill of health. Research, commissioned and published by the Communities and Local Government department, found significant question marks remained in six out of the eight schemes examined. Click for more...

A better way to treat our aviation heritage

A friend has pointed me to the following link http://www.stowmaries.com/about.html

It is good to see that some farming families who own old RAF airfields have found better things to do with them. In this case, the airfield is being restored and a museum built to celebrate its part in WWI. The workshops are going to be restored and used again for high tech engineering - all done in a sympathetic way. The new owners are working in conjunction with local wildlife charities to encourage even greater diversity on the restored land.

If only the owners of Ford had felt a greater respect for the land they own and the communities who surround it.

Ford (prison) in the news for the wrong reasons

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/sussex/7939048.stm

No eco town news I can find, so here's a link to the neighbours!

FInancially viable - I don't think so!

Let's face it, our politicians do not have a good record of financial judgement recently. So taking time off from failing to regulate the banks, they have now published a Financial Viability assessment of the proposed eco town sites.

For Ford they say "The promoter is also yet to fully develop their rail strategy for the project; but initial proposals suggest the provision of a new station or loop, and an adjacent parking facility of 500 spaces" Now like me you are probably struggling with this - I thought they said there'd be community transport and cycling - now there are 500 cars! How eco is that! "The proposer has costed this at £2.5 million." The document then goes on to say that they think this figure is too little, and that more money should be provided for the station and EVEN MORE PARKING!

Revealing yet more of the eco fakery going on here, and the inconsistencies within the swathes of documentation coming out of the DCLG and the Ford Airfield Vision Group, in this particular report the ROADS ARE BACK!

"At the time of writing the promoter has not proposed a transport solution for addressing the impact the development could have on local roads and the strategic network that is acceptable to the Department for Transport/Highways Agency" - yes we've been saying that for nearly a year now!! However they are proposing to spend £41 million on roads! That link to the A27 is back - in this document at least! Oh, and the one to the A259!

http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/housing/pdf/1165892.pdf

Honestly - this is farcical! And at the end of this, incredibly, they conclude that the scheme has the potential to be financially viable! Presumably, these are the same people who thought that our financial system was in a robust health not many months ago!

Rise of the NIMBY!

I'm going to make a t-shirt for this story in the FT today... Attitudes have hardened against new property development despite the promise of new jobs that could be created in the recession. The study says that Nimbyism - the acronym of Not In My Back Yard used to describe opposition by local residents - is on the rise across the country.

Some 85 per cent of respondents say they would oppose development in their local area, broadly the same level as last year's survey, but active Nimbyism has almost doubled in the past two years. Clicke here for more glorious NIMBYism!

MPs criticise housing department

A major Whitehall department lacks the skills needed to put vital policies into operation, MPs have said. The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) had taken only "the first steps" towards a reasonable performance for taxpayers, they added. Ecotowns, home sellers' packs, and regional fire control centres had suffered as a result, the communities and local government committee said. Click here for more...

HOOORAY!!! Eco-town could be scrapped

The Government last night appeared to prepare the ground for a humiliating retreat from controversial proposals to build thousands of ecohomes in Sussex and across the country. Housing Minister Margaret Beckett downgraded the prospects of the flagship ecotown programme as she extended the deadline for the latest public consultation. Click here for more...

Public consultation extended... Again...

News just in... Local residents are to be given more time to respond to the Government’s second eco-towns public consultation after Housing Minister Margaret Beckett today extended the deadline for responses.

The consultation on the draft Planning Policy Statement (PPS) and Sustainability Appraisal on eco-towns has now been extended to Thursday 30 April, meaning it will run for more than five months. There will be a further opportunity for the public to have a say once planning applications are submitted for eco-towns.

Housing Minister Margaret Beckett said: “Eco-towns present a superb opportunity to provide more affordable housing which is built to the UK’s toughest ever green standards, and we cannot afford to miss it. But it is vital we identify the right locations for these eco-towns and I will not support any proposal that our assessment and consultation concludes is unsuitable.

“I know this is an issue that raises a lot of strong opinion on all sides. I have extended the deadline to ensure that all parties, irrespective of their views, are given the full opportunity to have their say, and I urge everyone to respond to this consultation.”

The consultation extension has been announced following yesterday’s release of the full High Court written judgement on the Judicial Review on eco-towns, which the Government has won on all grounds.

A viability study on the proposals submitted by developers will also be published shortly and will provide more information to people looking to respond to the consultation. Ministers will carefully consider all consultation responses before coming to final decisions on the PPS.

3.7 BILLION! That's the expected deficit from 10 Eco Towns!

An independent assessment of the viability of the Middle Quinton Eco-town proposal has concluded that the proposed development is unviable with a deficit of £373m. The six local authorities directly affected by the Middle Quinton proposal commissioned CBRE Consultants to undertake the assessment. CBRE have prepared a detailed construction cost estimate and a detailed property market review which has informed their financial appraisal of the proposed development.

Given the scale of the deficit identified, the report concludes that the development is unlikely to support the level of contributions which the local authorities would expect to secure in order to deliver essential infrastructure and services. This means that alternative ways of funding requirements such as public transport, highway infrastructure and education would have to be found, as the development itself could not fund them.

Commenting on the report Councillor Charles Gillams, Chair of the Councils’ Eco-Town Joint Working Group said: ‘The independent assessment confirms our long held doubts about the viability of an Eco-town in this location. It would appear that the development could not proceed without massive public subsidy. Such public expenditure would be better directed to sustainable urban locations where needs can be matched with opportunities and existing infrastructure can be utilised more effectively.’

www.stratford.gov.uk/files/seealsodocs/9380/Middle%20Quinton%20Financial%20Assessment%20%2D%20Feb%202009.pdf

It seems fair to assume that Middle Quinton is pretty average as an eco town site - so mutiply that deficit by 10 Eco Towns and you get an overall cost to the tax payer of over 10 billion quid!

Misery for Redrow?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7909459.stm

Perhaps if they worked a bit harder on developing housing schemes that met with local agreement, not local disgust, people might be happier to buy their new houses?

Personally I will never buy anything built by Redrow or Wates as I think they are completely unethical companies.

CAFE for the Top 40

Yes its true we have a song, and a very unique song at that!

Come to its launch at the Lamb Pub, Bilsham Road, Yapton Friday 27th February 8pm meet the producer and have a drink and a dance and catch up with the CAFE news.

In the summer, New York singer / song writer David Francis visited friend, John Mono, in Yapton and was horrified at the Government’s proposal to build and destroy the greenfields of Ford for an eco-town. The plight of Yapton, Ford and Clymping inspired David, in collaboration with John Mono, to compose and record the song in John's Yapton bedroom recording studio!

John already had a lot of interest in our eco-town fight from other musician friends from around the World so decided to get them all to contribute making the recording of the song totally unique by being Global and recorded via the internet.

Come and hear our song 'Anthem For Green England', or better still buy a copy! If the musicians around the World can see the folly of the eco-towns let's see if our song can get the Government to finally listen.

See you on the Friday 27th at the Lamb for a truly unique and fun event. The Government won't read our letters, listen to our protests, look at our petition so let's get them to hear our song!

Letter to Mr M Watson

Good Grief! Is M Watson, Babsham Lane living on a different planet to the rest of us, is he plain naive or just very good mates with the FAVG (landowners/developer consortium)? The Government are not leading the way – they are in fact 2 year’s out of date with their housing figures which have gone down considerably, neither have they considered the obvious which would be to bring back into use the million properties in this country standing empty.

But let us look at his “stunning” “brilliant” eco towns point by point.
No, the “eco” town homes will not be zero carbon. Code Level 6 has mysteriously been reduced to code level 4 so the “eco” homes will be exactly the same as the requirement for any new building in the next year or two.

Could he enlarge upon the “multitude of other progressive environmental features” please? I’m afraid I can’t think of one!

By transport links I presume he means the bus that is proposed to be circulating round the site, a screen in each house flashing its impending approach, along with some cycle lanes? Could he explain what on earth would be the point of moving the station from the middle of the “eco” site to the west end of it?

Could he enlarge on the “high grade employment” proposed please? What are the proposed 4,000 jobs going to be?

The “affordable housing element” seems to have been left out of the latest plan. Land is going to be set aside for some other developers to provide that. I wonder if anyone will?

M. Watson must have been asleep when the proposed plans to provide energy from wind turbines and the River Arun were thrown out of the mix as not only unworkable but positively dangerous. Using rubbish has also been found to be unworkable as this would entail a HGV bringing waste to the site from all over southern England every 12 minutes day and night! Wake up M Watson. This is not “eco”!

But most importantly, M. Watson, if such an outrageous proposal should ever go ahead our descendants would look on us with disgust not at “failing to grasp realities”. They would look on us with disgust for concreting over fields that could have been used to grow crops so that they would not be dependent on other countries for their very food! They would look at old photos of the beautiful countryside, the meadows and wild-life, the ancient trees and hedgedrows, hear stories about quiet village life and birdsong and look on us with disgust at not trying hard enough to stop the destruction of all that beauty for no good reason, just so a few greedy and selfish individuals can line their own pockets. Who’ll then they’ll be off leaving the rest of us in the complete and utter concrete, gridlocked mess they will have created.

P.Wales,
North End Road,
Yapton

Yet another evasive non-answer from the No 10 Petition Website

http://www.number10.gov.uk/Page18287

The petition asked the the Prime Minister to "abandon plans to build
Eco Towns on Greenfield sites."

Guess which words did not appear in Gordon "I saved the world" Brown's answer?

Ok - he does use the word Green, but only in his usual spinning way of "exemplar green developments" - I wondered momentarily if they were being ironic - but that is beyond this lot!

Not once does he address the actual petition, which tells Gordon that by definition a town built on a green field cannot claim to be green. In the same way that upholstering your Toyota Prius with fur from tiger skin and endangered bats means that you cannot claim it to be an 'eco' car - however big its electric motor!

Mobile consultation on Arun's housing future

ARUN District Council is taking to the streets, to get residents' views on major development. A public consultation on the council's blueprint, setting out where 6,000 new homes will be built in the next 20 years, will include a website, a display at Arun Civic Centre and a mobile unit, fitted out with maps, plans and laptops.

Leader of the council, Gill Brown said: "We have some tough decisions to make in Arun over the next few months, and the input of local residents is absolutely integral to this process. Click here for more...

Scroungebites

I read this letter tonight and I nearly laughed the straw out my socks!

Just another desperate mishmash of soundbites... "It seems to me that the government has, for once, shown the sort of leadership that is required in these extremely challenging times", erm - is this the government who have spectaclulary failed on social housing?

"People must be educated to accept that the times of profligate waste and excessive use of fossil fuels must end. The stunning idea of planned Eco-Towns is a positive step in the right direction". Building on GRADE A farmland is the way forward then?

"There is very little time to rescue this nation from the approaching calamity of severe fuel shortages, and the global warming threat". I'm shitting my pants now!!! Is this person person for real? Either he knows something we don't or is an expert in fear mongering maybe?

Mr Gummidge loves these soundshites... "There would be high-grade employment virtually on-site". Mr G - guffaw guffaw, show me the proof..! "The houses are planned as affordable homes, not just fancy, executive ones". Mr G, Aaaah ha ha ha ha ha, show me the proof..! "There is planned to be considerable capture of energy from re-cycling of waste products on-site, and even if not completely self-sufficient, at least a good percentage could be recaptured and re-used. There will no doubt be several wind turbines and a possibility of some energy from the flow of the River Arun". GLOMPS! Why didn't I think of that instead of wasting my life chasing crows?

Mr G thinks these minority pro Ford Eco-Town soundbites are becoming desperate scroungebites... Please invite me round for a cup of tea and a nice slice of cake Mr Watson? After all I live up the road from your calamity of fuel shortages and global warming threat...

Your views are important

Arun District Council wish to hear the views of members of the public on the Core Strategy ’Options for Growth’ and Initial Sustainability Commentary published by Arun District Council as part of the progress of the Local Development Framework. Arun District Council has published detail of three preferred options for the location of strategic development in the Arun District in the future. The consultation period runs from 12th February 2009 to 2nd April 2009.

You can visit the ADC page here

Here is the important bit, we've got to get as many people as possible to answer the online questionnaire as it will effect all of us whether the eco-town gets the go ahead or not. If ADC get Ford as the preferred growth Option it won't matter if we beat FAVG Ford will be open season to any developer forever and we will have little grounds to stop any development. This really is our future and we must say NO more housing on such large scales.

You can download a PDF of the Core Strategy and questionnaire.

Your chance to grill Government on eco-town

THE West Sussex Gazette is giving readers the chance to grill a Government minister over the proposals for an eco-town at Ford. The Department for Communities and Local Government says it is keen to tackle some of the myths that have come up regarding the plans.

People who want to have their say should write to the West Sussex Gazette with their questions for Iain Wright, who is a parliamentary under-secretary of state at the department, by Wednesday, February 18.

West Sussex Gazette
Cannon House
Chatworth Road
Worthing
BN11 1NA

Email: david.white@westsussextoday.co.uk

Apologies for publishing the wrong address - thanks to all who pointed this out...

Another one bites the dust

One of our eagle-eyed sources spotted this in Saturday's Telegraph:

"BUILDER PULLS OUT OF ECO-TOWN PLAN

Gordon Brown's eco-town policy has suffered another blow after a developer pulled out of building one of the controversial settlements. O&H Properties withdrew from the scheme for 20,000 homes in Marston Vale, Beds, because of the time constraints and requirements for an eco-town. Of the government's original shortlist of 15 sites there are 11 remaining. Up to 10 are proposed, with five due to be built by 2016".

Good news or bad for our CAFE campaign - who knows!

Council house tenants offered £30,000 bribes to move out

Millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money is being spent encouraging people in social housing to move to the private sector — either as home-buyers or tenants. Those in larger council homes are also being offered cash payments of up to £3,000 per bedroom if they agree to downsize to a smaller social house or apartment. Click here for more...

Help bring empty homes back into use...

I've just heard from the CPRE that there is an Early Day Motion tabled in the House of Commons (and with cross-party support too) calling for a reduction in the rate of VAT on building repairs and improvement work to existing buildings.

This has to be a better and more sustainable way to provide housing than building new houses on our fields - helping protect the countryside and our heritage.

http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=36999&SESSION=899

If you agree, please ask your MP to sign EDM 7: VAT on repairs and maintenance to existing buildings.

http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/

Poor Mr Gummidge

It hasn't been an easy start to 2009 for Mr G... My Father died January 4th after a five year battle against cancer... Sorting out the numerous complications that relate to such an event can then take away a month of your life, hence me being away from the fray...

So, I welcomed the first day of February with the customary 'pinch punch' that Mrs G and I have become accustomed to... However, just as your straw filled friend is starting to get some renewed perspective on life - the credit crunch spangs me full on!

Mr G's employers, a global publishing company based in Sussex decides I am no longer needed and gives me the elbow!

Hmmm... I wonder what I will do with all this time... I feel a book coming on... Eco Towns for Dummies?

CAFÉ NEWSLETTER January 2009

Dear Friends and Supporters

A belated Happy New Year!

I have to say it, seems as if we are already half way through the year with so much happening in just the last few weeks.

Hopefully you have all sent your CAFÉ Xmas card to the DCLG. If you haven’t please do, it will help remind the Government’s eco-town team that Ford must be dropped from their list.

The Shadow Housing Minister, Grant Shapps MP, visited the area on January 19th. This was an extremely positive and useful day for everyone. Grant toured the entire Ford site. He then held an informal meeting with CAFÉ, Ford PC, Climping PC, Yapton PC, Walberton PC, Barnham PC, Arundel TC and Littlehampton TC, to listen to each community’s express concerns.

Grant used this opportunity to stress that the Tory policy will be a return to local communities deciding on their future, not Central Government. If there is a change in Government, the eco-town process would be scrapped, provided schemes were not in build.

You will have probably heard that the legal challenge, Judicial Review, on the eco-town process was dismissed. This is a great shame but not a set back. It simply means that we haven’t managed to cut short the eco-town process, we will simply have to keep on fighting and send our message even more vigorously and loudly to the Government’s eco-town team leaving them in no doubt that Ford must be removed from their list. The fight must go on so keep on writing to the DCLG, the local papers and this blog.

Finally, CAFÉ have been busy working up our response to Arun District Council for the Select Committee process on Ford. The Committee has met once and reconvenes on February 5th. The recommendations of this Committee will form Arun’s response to the DCLG on the 2nd Phase consultation process for the eco-town process.

Along with writing papers for Arun, CAFÉ are also putting together our final response to the Government’s eco-town team which you will soon be able to find on the CAFÉ website

Thank you for your continued support. Keep fighting and we will win!

Vicky

Press release from Nick Herbert MP

Given that the news from the High Court was a bit of a downer - I thought I'd put a press release I just got on here to show that the fight continues!

For me - it's not just about Ford Eco Town, it's also about any kind of unsustainable development, wherever it is!

Housing targets for Arun are “unsustainable”

Arundel & South Downs MP Nick Herbert has said that the Government-imposed targets for house-building in Arun over the next 20 years are unsustainable and threaten the character of our villages and countryside.

Mr Herbert raised particular concerns about the proposed additional housing in the Five Villages area and at Angmering.

The MP was speaking at public meetings in Aldingbourne on Friday evening (23 January) and Angmering on Saturday morning (24 January) following the publication of a report by Arun District Council which sets out options for building thousands of new homes in the district by 2026.

The report, entitled ‘Arun Core Strategy – Options for Growth’, has already been considered by the Council’s Local Development Framework (LDF) Sub-Committee and will be issued for public consultation from 12 February to 26 March.

The report sets out the following options for development in Arun:

1) Sustainable urban extensions, with 2,500 homes to the north-west of Bognor Regis, 2,000 north of Littlehampton and 500 at Angmering, with a further 400-900 on greenfield sites on the edge of existing inland settlements;

2) An ‘eco-town’ of 5,000 homes at Ford, with a further 400-900 on greenfield sites elsewhere in the district;

3) Expansion of inland villages – 2,500 around Barnham, Eastergate and Westergate, 1,500 at Angmering and 1,500 north of Littlehampton, with a further 400-900 on greenfield sites elsewhere in the district.

The Council will choose one, or a combination, of the three options and produce a draft Core Strategy which will be subject to a further round of public consultation, before a final version is submitted to the Secretary of State. The Council has already indicated that it has a preference for Option 1, believing it to be more sustainable than Options 2 and 3.

The LDF process will help Arun to meet its obligation to build 11,300 new houses by 2026. This figure represents an increase of 2,000 on the original target of 9,300 set out in the draft South East Plan, prepared by the South East England Regional Assembly (SEERA).

Mr Herbert said: “We all know that there is a problem for young people who cannot get a foot on the property ladder, and think we accept that there will have to be some increase in housing. The debate will be about how much housing there should be and then about where you put it. But I think the overall levels of housing which are being proposed for the South East, for West Sussex and for Arun, are unsustainably high.

“We’ve already seen a situation in which the number of houses proposed for West Sussex over the next two decades has increased from 58,000 to more than 74,000. 10,000 of those have been absorbed in Shoreham but a significant amount of the extra housing that has been allocated through the Regional Assembly, and in the Government demanding that there should be more, will be built in Arun where the allocation has gone up from 9,300 to 11,300. And that puts our own local authority in a very difficult position. Extremely difficult decisions will have to be taken about where to allocate that housing.

“I think we all have to decide, as a West Sussex community, whether we want to turn our rural villages into a kind of suburban conurbation, because that could happen over the next 20 years if these decisions are got wrong. We will find that our villages lose their individual identities and developments will run into each other, much as they have done around Worthing. I suspect that local people don’t want to see that. I think it will irrevocably change the character of this area.

“There are, of course, very serious arguments about sustainability of development, both of the eco-town and of development that may affect our villages. Have we got the infrastructure to sustain development on the scale proposed? We all know about the problems on the A27, the need for a new Arundel bypass, pressures on our public services, pressures on water supplies in this part of the world, and so on.

“Additional housing must be sustainable, added without causing the kind of wreckage to our countryside and to our villages that we’ve all seen elsewhere.”

Mr Herbert added that the proposed eco-town at Ford would not help the situation or the development pressure on villages because the housing numbers might add to Arun’s target. He strongly criticised some promoters of the eco-town who mistakenly believed that new housing at Ford would prevent development at Aldingbourne.

The MP said: “This kind of beggar-my-neighbour approach is deeply unfriendly and unfair to neighbouring communities. We should all share a common concern to protect the rural character of our villages.”

Hmmmmm - not such good news from the BARD judicial review

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7852546.stm

Not such happy news - we'll have to wait until we get to see the reasons behind this - but the judicial review was never going to be the end of the line.

Anyone got any more information on this?

Judicial Review - Still waiting for that decision...!

Just heard from the Weston Front campaign

"The process is taking far longer than originally thought. Most of tomorrow (Tuesday) will be spent with the various QCs summing up their position. This may extend into Wednesday with the judge giving his oral opinion on Wednesday afternoon.

It is impossible to say which way it will go!"

Will put something here when we know!

Question Time

Just been watching failed Housing Minister, Caroline Flint on BBC Question Time - she came across as extremely inarticulate stealthy and bitch!

Shadow minister praises efforts to halt eco-town

Shadow housing minister Grant Shapps has backed residents in their fight against a Ford eco-town. Mr Shapps spent three hours talking to villagers about their campaign to stop the 5,000 home development.

He described the work of the Communities Against Ford Eco-Town group, parish councils and their MPs as extremely well organised. Click here for more...

Court challenge over eco-towns plan

Campaigners from the Shires are launching a High Court challenge over the Government's eco-towns project. They argue that there was a lack of proper consultation and the policy to build "environmentally-friendly" towns to meet housing needs is legally flawed.

The two-day challenge at London's High Court is being led by the Better Accessible Responsible Development (BARD) Campaign, which is opposed to 6,000 new homes being built near Long Marston, Warwickshire. Click here for more...