Eco-towns bill soars to more than £3m before a house is built

The Daily Telegraph
By Christopher Hope, Whitehall Editor

The cost of the Government's controversial eco-towns programme has risen to more than £3million before even one home is built, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.

Figures show that the Government has spent £3.1million on proposals to build tens of thousands of environmentally-friendly homes in England.

One third of the cash - £960,700 - was spent on PR and communications alone.

A further £820,000 was spent on local authority assessments and £720,000 on "financial assessments".

The Government also spent nearly £80,000 on developing website about eco-towns.

The news comes after the Government said it was delaying the ending of a consultation on the plans from next week to the end of April.

Gordon Brown originally announced that 10 eco-towns would be built. However those plans have since been scaled back as the scale of the opposition became clear.

Last year protesters were signing up at the rate of 2,000 a day to call on the Prime Minister to halt plans for the new towns which were dubbed "Gordon's ghettoes".

Up to 60,000 protesters have given their signatures to oppose the towns, which were opposed by environmental groups, planning authorities and residents.

Celebrities who opposed the plans included Ben Fogle and Duncan Goodhew, the Olympic gold medallist, Dame Judi Dench and John Nettles, the actor.

Grant Shapps, the Conservatives' housing spokesman, said: "This discredited scheme has cost the tax-payer over £3million at a time when thousands of families are facing repossession."

"This is the latest in a long line of set-backs for Brown's eco-town programme which always seemed to be more about grabbing headlines than building the kind of environmentally-friendly housing that this country needs."

A Communities and Local Government spokesman defended the spending: "This expenditure has ensured the potential eco-town locations undergo a rigorous assessment process.

"[There is an] extensive public consultation before any decisions are made, and demonstrates the transparent approach we have taken throughout this process."

The spokesman defended spending nearly £1million on communications, he said: "The Government has a duty to inform people of initiatives which could impact on them and their communities, and to give them the opportunity to have their say.

"Our spending on communications has been designed to give people the chance to voice their views during two stages of public consultation, including through a series of road shows in all the proposed eco-town locations as well as media and on-line activities."