Tomorrow, (Thursday 22nd January 2009), the BARD Campaign’s Judicial Review of the Government’s consultation on eco-town policy and programme is to be heard in the Royal Courts of Justice before Mr Justice Walker at 10.30am. It is scheduled to last 2 days.

The BARD Campaign seeks a judicial ruling that the Government’s eco-towns policy and programme as set out in the ‘Living a Greener Future’ document in April 2008, is unlawful and should be quashed.

The government’s publication of its Sustainability Appraisal of the subsequent draft eco-towns Planning Policy Statement has done little to improve its credibility over the policy.  The work was recently branded “exceptionally poor” by a leading expert, William Sheate, Reader of Environmental Assessment at Imperial College London.

David Bliss, Chair of BARD Campaign said:

“Our legal challenge is quite simple.  The Government should have consulted properly before shortlisting its potential eco-town sites, should have been clear as to the criteria it was applying and should have complied with European legal requirements with regard to strategic environmental assessment. BARD’s view is that pre-determining eco-town status and sites by way of developer competition rather than through the plan-led system is undemocratic and no way to manage large scale development. ”