Saturday 28 February 2009
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...
Thursday 26 February 2009
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.
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!
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!
Wednesday 25 February 2009
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.
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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)