Red faces over green towns

By all accounts, Gordon Brown's eco-towns programme is very sick. But, like a dying Soviet leader, the project is being kept alive for political reasons. It looks as if the government will wait until the spring before announcing formally that only one or two proposed eco-towns are viable. In the meantime, it will go through the motions of a consultation that is at best a shambles, at worst fixed. Click here for more...

Government 'retreats' on eco-town plans

The government has 'retreated' on many of its original eco-town aspirations following the publication of its draft Planning Policy Statement (PPS). That is the view of the chair of the Eco-towns Delivery Consortium and president of the Association of Consultant Architects Brian Waters. Click here for more...

Eco town PPS leaves a question unanswered

A draft Planning Policy Statement for the development of eco towns to be accompanied by a consultation process has been launched by government this week. The PPS says it aims 'to support the delivery of additional housing in new settlements, to contribute to the Government’s ambition for 3m additional houses in England by 2020; and to deliver highly sustainable developments, which are zero carbon and will act as exemplars for development more widely' Click here for more...

Eco-town plan in disarray as sites fail to meet targets

Gordon Brown’s eco-town programme was in disarray last night with only one of 12 shortlisted sites meeting the Government’s criteria.

Rural campaigners and opposition parties demanded a halt to the scheme, which has enraged residents across the country. The policy has been beset with difficulties in the past year as developers and councils have pulled out of the zero-carbon schemes, which are expensive to build and depend on huge infrastructure support. Click here for more...

New eco-town standards raise bar for green builders

Building firms may struggle to meet tough new planning standards for eco-towns set by the government yesterday while remaining in budget, according to experts. The government yesterday announced criteria for potential towns which would require developers to require developers to deliver zero carbon buildings and facilities, and ensure 40 per cent of green space is set aside in the new towns. Click here for more...

England's Seaside Towns - Littlehampton and Bognor Regis

http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/citiesandregions/pdf/englishseasidetowns.pdf

Interesting benchmarking study on Engalnd's deprived seaside towns. Littlehampton is grouped under Greater Worthing, but Bognor Regis is listed as a separate entity.

Lots of data showing the difference between seaside towns and their inland counterparts e.g. seaside likely to have less social housing, lower wages, etc, higher benefit claimants etc.

With the vast majority of Arun's population being in these 2 Seaside towns areas - it's little wonder that FAVG make so much of data on lower earnings etc to strengthen their claims - however there is little in this study that would show ANY advantages to building a new (eco)town between 2 deproved seaside towns on virgin up-populated land.

This from the same Govt. Dept. promoting Eco (sic) Towns!!!!

Joined up thinking?

Bah Humbug!

Plans for proposed eco-towns coming under further scrutiny

A second round of formal consultations has begun into proposed eco-towns, which include Ford in West Sussex and Bordon-Whitehill in Hampshire. The towns are intended to tackle the problems of housing shortages and climate change, have to be carbon zero as a whole, be an 'exemplar' in one area of environmental development and have at least 30 per cent affordable housing. Click here for more...

Only one eco-town site classed as suitable

Fresh doubts were cast on Tuesday over the faltering eco-town initiative as ministers admitted that just one potential site for the 10 towns promised was “generally suitable” for such a development.

The questions over the planning viability of the 12 remaining sites shortlisted adds to difficulties facing ministers as they press ahead with a big housebuilding programme while developers are staring at the worst housing collapse in decades. Click here for more...

Most ecotown sites 'unsuitable', say experts

Just one of the 12 sites competing to become one of Gordon Brown's ecotowns is currently considered suitable by the government's green consultants.

Experts say 10 more might make the grade with further work, but appear to have ruled out one of the most controversial contenders, Weston Otmoor in Oxfordshire. The consultants said the site would need "substantial and exceptional innovation" to make it work. Click here for more...

Eco-towns – a grand idea, or maybe a bit too grand?

When is an eco-town not an eco-town? Will Godfrey, chief executive of East Hampshire District Council, is commit ted to securing the brand for his Whitehill Bordon scheme. But when it comes to the crunch, Godfrey is more pragmatist than purist: "We’re not going to create a 21st century folly. It’s got to be a community, not an environmental experiment." Click here for more...

Only one eco-town is viable, Government finally admits

Government documents published at the start of a consultation into the plans also showed that tens of thousands of new eco-homes planned for the developments will be environmentally out of date by 2016. Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced last year plans for up to 10 eco-towns, each containing between 5,000 and 20,000 environmentally-friendly homes. Click here for more...

A good day to bury bad news!

BBC Report

Good quote from Grant Shapps:

"Shadow housing minister Grant Shapps, said: "It is no wonder that the government has published the long-awaited small print on eco-towns on the day of the US elections. "

Link to the draft Planning Policy Statement (PPS)

http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/planningandbuilding/pdf/ppsecotowns.pdf

This link will take you to the draft PPS - for some light reading!

Nothing on the specific sites in there yet - there will be further publications including Sustainability Assessments which will give more specific information.

A quick read through shows that Ford fails on the aspect on which I have been concentrating; employment. The PPS says that the eco-towns should provide at least one job per household. Even the Ford Airfield Vision Groups unjustifiably optimistic target is only 4,000 jobs. So that's a fail then is it? Let's wait for the FAVG Public Mis-revelations Department to magic up another 1,000 jobs in Father Christmas' grotto!

Beckett concedes eco-town problems

Margaret Beckett has admitted that some of sites shortlisted by the government for potential eco-towns will 'struggle' to win planning approval.

The housing minister, announcing the draft planning policy statement (PPS) for the eco-towns, said she did not expect all of the dozen shortlisted locations to go forward. Click here for more...

Have your say... Or not?

On the Directgov - ecotowns webpage we are now given the opportunity to have our say... Except they have have posted up the wrong link, which sends you to the same page over and over again... duh! [EDIT] link is fixed now... Strange how all the comments made so far have come from charities..?

Public consultation opens on toughest ever green standards for eco-towns

Local communities will get their next chance to have their say on the eco-town proposals as Housing Minister Margaret Beckett today launches the Government's second round of formal consultation on the proposed locations and standards for eco-towns. The draft Eco-towns Planning Policy Statement (PPS) published today for consultation sets out the UK's toughest ever green standards for new development, including achieving zero carbon status across all the buildings in the eco-town and allocating 40 per cent of the area within the town to be green space. The PPS also pledges that individual eco-towns will need to submit planning applications in the same way as any other major development proposal. Click here for more...

New question marks over eco-towns

Nearly all the locations earmarked for new eco-towns have question marks about them, ministers have acknowledged.
Of the 12 sites identified as having development potential, one is currently regarded as "generally suitable". Click here...

CLG finds only one eco-town site is 'suitable'

Another blow for the 'eco-town' project, in a report today only one of the 12 shortlisted bids to build eco-towns is ‘generally suitable’ for the flagship government programme, according to the Communities and Local Government department. A CLG appraisal published today rates 10 of the proposed sites as ‘grade B’. These are locations which ‘might be’ suitable for an eco-town ‘subject to meeting specific planning and design objectives’. Only the proposed site in Rackheath, in greater Norwich, was rated ‘grade A’, or ‘generally suitable for an eco-town’. Click here...