John Healey unveils proposals for second wave of eco-towns

In July, Mr Healey announced that four locations had met the tough standards to become eco-towns. Today, the Housing Minister announced that a further nine local authorities are considering plans to develop new communities to eco-town standards.

These major new developments will need to meet the pioneering green standards set out in the eco-towns planning policy statement published in July. Proposals for sustainable developments need to include 5,000 homes and demonstrate innovative ideas for how jobs, schools and services are delivered in low carbon ways that will help in the UK respond to climate change.

Healey is backing the expressions of interest from nine local authorities with up to £10m. The potential second wave eco-town proposals are:

• Schemes at Shoreham Harbour in West Sussex and Northstowe in Cambridgeshire, where there is an opportunity to redesign elements of the existing projects to meet even higher sustainability standards
• Five authorities and partnerships, covering ten locations in Taunton (Monkton Heathfield and Corneytrowe), Yeovil, Leeds City Region (Aire Valley, York North West, North Kirklees and Bradford-Shipley canal corridor), Lincoln (Lincoln Area and Gainsborough) and Coventry. In these locations, the concepts are still at an early stage but development work under the eco-towns PPS offers the possibility of creating an outstanding new community providing it is feasible and deliverable
• Councils in Cornwall and the Sheffield City Region (Dearne Valley, South Yorkshire) want to use the eco-towns concept to carry out a broader survey of potential, test alternative options for development and then use the eco-town concept and standards to apply across their area.

Mr Healey said that the new proposals signalled "real and radical momentum to change and to re-think how we design our towns and homes for the future", ahead of the climate change talks in Copenhagen.

In July, he said that £5m would be made available to help councils develop a second wave of proposals. Today, he gave another boost to councils and announced that a further £5m is available to fund low carbon demonstrator projects. He also announced a new 'Eco Town Network' would be set up in conjunction with the Town and Country Planning Association, acting as an eco workshop for councils to come together and share ideas.

Possible second wave bids are still at an early stage and will be subject to further, widespread consultation on proposals, before public consultation and local planning approval.

Housing and Planning Minister, John Healey, 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.

"We must push for international change at Copenhagen, but also act locally here in Britain too. 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.

"I welcome the interest of these nine authorities. They have recognised that eco-towns in the future will not be exceptional and the standards we are setting now will spread like an eco-echo for all new development. We said we wanted to see up to ten eco-towns by 2020, so we will now work closely with these councils and communities to develop their bids and ensure that the public can have their say at every stage.

"We are leading the world with these developments which combine affordable housing with new green infrastructures and an exceptional quality of life."

The second wave of eco towns are in addition to the four sites announced in July, which met tough government standards. Those sites in Hampshire, Norfolk, Cornwall and Oxfordshire are currently developing revolutionary 'masterplans' for local planning approval. Whitehill-Bordon in Hampshire was the first to publish its draft masterplan for public consultation last month.

All proposals will have to meet the high standards of sustainability that we set out in July. Reheated or 'greenwashed' proposals will not make it through the planning process. All locations have submitted promising ideas so far for meeting these standards. Including:

• the toughest standards for sustainability, with smart meters to track energy use, community heat sources and charging points for electric cars
• smart, efficient, homes - at least 30 per cent of the homes must be affordable - taking their energy from the sun, wind and earth. The possibility of being able to control the heat and ventilation of their homes at the touch of a button; and sell their surplus energy into the grid
• all homes located within ten minutes' walk of frequent public transport and everyday neighbourhood services
• Greenspace, including parks, playgrounds and gardens making up two fifths of the towns. Children will attend local zero carbon schools, making use of the paths and cycle ways
• zero carbon developments, not just homes, including shops, restaurants and public buildings. Car journeys should make up less than half of all journeys. And all the homes will reach at least level 4 of the Code for Sustainable Homes- including higher standards for energy efficiency, and water efficiency. These measures, including those for recycling and waste could save a typical home £200-500 a year in energy bills.

This announcement comes days after Mr Healey announced the toughest ever standards for greener buildings, including the future zero carbon standards of new non-domestic buildings, such as offices, shops, hotels and warehouses, and the energy efficiency levels for new homes from 2016. He also pledged £3.2m to boost research into energy efficient homes.

Notes to editors

1. There is widespread interest from authorities about bidding for funding to test their developments against the Planning Policy Statement, published in July this year when the first four Eco-towns were announced.

2. In all cases these proposals are part of the local plan work being led by the authority. CLG will now be taking these proposals forward in more detailed discussions with the authorities, with a view to providing funding support for more detailed design and to test feasibility, in line with the statement of July.

3. The approaches to these developments fall into three categories:

• applying the Eco-towns PPS standards to raise the quality and improve deliverability of major existing proposals to meet even higher standards
• applying the Eco-towns PPS standards to concepts that are at an early stage of development, offering the possibility to create an outstanding new community, providing it is feasible and deliverable
• applying the Eco-towns concept to carry out a broader survey of potential, test alternative options for development and to help identify the best way forward.

4. On July 16, John Healey announced the first four sites with the potential for an eco-town, and go through to the local planning process which will involve further local public consultation. They are Whitehill-Bordon in Hampshire, St Austell (China Clay) in Cornwall, Rackheath in Norfolk and North West Bicester in Oxfordshire. Councils have submitted their funding plans to Government and are developing detailed plans for local consultation. An announcement on funding will be made around the end of the year. Further details from the July announcement can be seen here: www.communities.gov.uk/news/planningandbuilding/1289884.

5. The PPS standards say that an eco town is made up of at least 5,000 homes and needs to provide the scope for innovation. There is no requirement to provide detached, entirely new development - the four locations identified in the PPS and announced in July reflect a range of situations. There is an encouraging level of interest from local authorities who are keen to follow eco-town standards in taking forward future development. They comprise:

• places with a large and well developed proposal, where additional work would accelerate both the planning process and design/masterplanning of the development (example Taunton- north eastern extension)
• places with emerging proposals where the eco-town standards could raise quality, help address problems, but also provide a better basis for comparing alternatives (such as Lincoln)
• places where concepts are still at an early stage but eco-development ideas would better engage community and stakeholders (examples include West Cornwall, reflecting a positive experience from their first wave eco-town and Leeds City Region).

6. CLG will now support further planning and feasibility work which will test whether potential development in the following areas, which could meet the very high environmental standards set out in the PPS - the highest sustainability standards ever required for new development.

7. One of their key components is to exploit low carbon innovation at community scale. It is the ability of a new community or communities to create the opportunity for real innovation in how jobs, schools and services are delivered in low carbon ways that will help us pilot new approaches in responding to climate change. The locations and places announced today show how Local Authorities want to use this approach in a variety of ways.

• Two of the projects- Shoreham Harbour and Northstowe are existing schemes where there is an opportunity to redesign elements of the project to meet even higher sustainability standards
• In the case of four locations- Taunton, Yeovil, Leeds City Region and Lincoln - the concepts are still at an early stage but the Eco-towns PPS offers the possibility of creating an outstanding new community providing it is feasible and deliverable
• Others wish to use the Eco-towns concept, such as Dearne Valley, South Yorkshire and Cornwall, to carry out a broader survey of potential, test alternative options for development and to help them identify the best way forward. Authorities are keen to use the eco-town principles and standards to see whether a much more sustainable approach can be created.

In all cases these proposals are or are intended to become part of the local plan work being led by the authority and will be subject to the full local planning process. We will now be taking these proposals forward in more detailed discussion with the authority with a view to providing funding support for more detailed design and to test feasibility working with partners across Government and the Agencies. CLG will also help these communities see some of the potential by funding demonstrator and exemplar schemes to show the type of development that will be possible.

8. Northstowe, Shoreham Harbour, Taunton, Yeovil, Leeds City Region, Central Lincolnshire, Sheffield City Region, Cornwall Council, and Coventry have put forward proposals to build Eco Towns as part of their planned town expansion. Further details below:

Proposals for updating existing plans:

Northstowe, Cambridgeshire

Northstowe is a flagship project within the Cambridgeshire sub-regional growth area and is strongly supported by the local authorities, regional partners and the Homes and Communities Agency which acquired just under half of the site from Defence Estates in 2007. The project is intended to create around 9,500 homes with up to 9,000 new jobs and benefits from over £100m of up front transport investment in the form of the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway which will serve the new community and provide an attractive alternative to the car. Northstowe was highlighted as an early prototype in the Eco-towns Prospectus, and the plans have always envisaged the town reaching very high standards of quality and environmental sustainability. However market and investment factors have held back progress with detailed planning and there is an opportunity now to re-assess the designs and concepts to see if the PPS standards can be achieved on all or part of the site.

Shoreham Harbour

Shoreham Harbour is a large scale strategic regeneration and growth project being taken forward by Adur, Brighton and Hove and West Sussex Councils, with the support of SEEDA, HCA and Shoreham Port Authority. The partners are keen to achieve an international exemplar in sustainable development and the objectives for the development have a good fit with the Eco-towns PPS standards. It could contain around 5,000 homes and a similar level of jobs with higher levels of development being tested in preparatory work for the Adur and Brighton and Hove Core Strategies. Funding from the eco-town programme would support more detailed feasibility studies to achieve higher sustainability standards in relation to water, waste, innovative options for renewable energy generation and to create a more detailed planning framework on these and other issues including economic development and urban design.

Proposals at concept phase:

Taunton

Somerset County Council and Taunton Deane Borough Council are proposing detailed studies of potential eco-town development at Monkton Heathfield, a development area with capacity for 5,000 homes to the NE of Taunton. This is a proposal in the emerging local core strategy and the draft Regional Spatial Strategy driven by high levels of need and demand for housing. It will be a self-contained community, including employment, services and community facilities, well linked to Taunton by public transport and sustainable travel option. The local authorities are committed to achieving the UK carbon reduction targets and funding from this programme could support more detailed feasibility and development work to prepare detailed proposals in areas such as sustainable transport, renewable energy, green infrastructure and masterplanning of development areas.
Looking further ahead, lessons learned from these studies will be applied to the strategic urban extension at Taunton-Corneytrowe (SW of Taunton) which has capacity for 6-8,000 homes.

Yeovil

South Somerset District council is interested in assessing the potential of achieving eco-town standard in a possible eco-extension on the edge of Yeovil, consistent with the draft Regional Spatial Strategy and the Council's work on a draft core strategy which is due for public consultation next year. Funding from this programme would support more detailed studies of this option and potentially a masterplanning exercise.

Leeds City Region

Leeds City Region has developed an Urban eco-settlement programme, with the aim of delivering Eco-towns PPS standards in 4 key housing growth and regeneration areas (Leeds Aire Valley, York North West, North Kirklees and Bradford-Shipley canal corridor) within the City region. The approach will be to integrate these within the existing built environment of major urban areas, which will provide challenging but valuable experience in testing/applying the eco-town standards. This programme would also take forward the city region commitments on CO2 reduction, development of a low carbon economy and development and testing of the PPS standards in an urban setting. Funding from this programme would enable additional work on masterplanning and detailed design and on energy, environmental infrastructure and transport aspects of the proposals.

The Central Lincolnshire councils

City of Lincoln Council, North Kesteven District Council, West Lindsey District Council, Lincolnshire County Council have established a joint planning committee and are in the early stages of preparing a Joint Core Strategy with public consultation on issues and options planned for 2010. The authorities wish to achieve zero carbon development that is highly adaptive to climate change and to use the Eco-towns PPS as a framework within which to assess and develop the sustainability of alternative urban extension development options around Lincoln and at Gainsborough. These potential urban extensions are mainly in single ownerships which would help to secure eco-town concepts and a high standard of sustainability. Funding from this programme would allow a detailed assessment of the feasibility of meeting high environmental standards and a better comparative assessment on sustainability factors.

Coventry

As part of its published Core Strategy (which is presently subject to public examination under the appointed Planning Inspector) has emphasised its aspirations to adopt eco-community principles to major new development particularly that proposed for the north of the City. Funding from this programme would enable the Council and its partners to undertake a more detailed assessment of the potential for delivering development in specific areas to eco-towns concepts and standards as set out in the PPS. This would inform development proposals and underpin the preparation of masterplans and Area Action Plans.

Councils conducting broader surveys for potential:

Sheffield City Region

The vision developed for the Dearne Valley aims to create a low carbon community by grasping the opportunities and applying the solutions needed to address climate change. The plan is to apply the principles of eco-towns to existing communities in the Dearne Valley to provide a showcase for sustainable living across a range of issues such as housing, transport, economic development and the environment. The Dearne Valley threads through three local authority areas - Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham - so the partners are looking to create a master plan for the Dearne Valley as a whole to provide a coherent and consistent approach to delivery in what is already a well defined geographical and social area. This will be supported by governance structures which will enhance collaborative working and will accelerate the realisation of the vision that will see the Dearne Valley become the lowest carbon community of its type in the country within ten years

Cornwall Council

Cornwall Council is supporting one of the first 4 eco-towns around St Austell - Clay Country and is keen to test the feasibility of applying the eco-towns/eco-communities concept as it addresses the growth and housing needs of other parts of the county. The Council's emerging vision is based on a Green Cornwall and the Council's own CO2 commitments. Funding from this programme would enable Cornwall to test the feasibility of a range of options based on the PPS standards and eco-towns concept particularly looking at areas of search with very strong strategic transport (eg. rail) advantages. This work will then help determine the County's new Core Strategy Issues and Options consultation later in 2010.

9. Whitehill-Bordon in Hampshire, St Austell (China Clay) in Cornwall, Rackheath in Norfolk and North West Bicester in Oxfordshire will be showcasing to local communities what the benefits of the proposed eco-town will be, and how it could also benefit existing, neighbouring communities. Proposed 'demonstrator schemes' so far include retrofitting existing homes, building new low and zero carbon affordable homes for local people to live in (not just show homes), reducing waste and introducing electric bus routes and cycle hire schemes.

10. All four locations announced in the summer have also submitted their bids for a share of the £60m growth funding pot - setting out to government what wider infrastructure (including, for example, transport) could be needed to support the town, and a decision will be announced around the end of the year.

11. Examples of innovative ideas so far include:

• Green transport hubs - linking up local and regional transport and providing sustainable travel options like electric bus networks, rapid bus lanes, frequent services into nearby towns, and walking and cycle paths
• Encouraging walking and cycling as a main means of transport- through community bicycle schemes and bike hire
• Car sharing schemes and the provision of electric cars and bikes, and charging points
• Clean energy schemes- community-wide heat and power sources like biomass boilers, solar panels and wind turbines.

12. The Eco-towns PPS provided significantly greater planning support for this type of development. A timescale for these is likely to be: