Eco-town media links - June 2008

The latest local and national press links to articles and letters about the eco-town proposals - updated 16 June 2008

Ecotowns: for and against by Richard Girling

The Times 15 June 2008

This is how it will be. Across the fair face of Albion, to the ringing of bells and the soft murmur of doves, appears a leafy flush of eco-towns. They are sun-dappled utopias, urban dreamworlds in which no human need is unfulfilled. Wildlife romps through bird-loud glades.

People work at home or in business parks to which they can stroll or cycle. Public transport is swift, efficient and free, so cars are not needed. Community sports hubs, leisure and cultural facilities are so abundant that nobody wants to leave the town anyway.

Children walk safely to schools in which the most popular subject is environmentalism. There are superstores for convenience, and farmers’ markets for friends of the planet. Allotments, too, for those who want to grow their own. Energy is renewable, insulation total and the carbon footprint zero.

Learning from the Germans

BBC News Online 13 June 2008

As the debate over the development of "eco towns" near Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire and Throckmorton in Worcestershire continues, people on both sides of the debate often bring up the German town of Freiburg.

Baking in the heat of the sun on the edge of the Black Forest, it is the original eco town and supporters say it shows the way forward for the UK.

Opponents say it just does not work half as well as is claimed.

A visitor to Freiburg would usually enjoy tea at one of the many attractive cafes and restaurants clustered around the cathedral, maybe a little coffee and cake.

In the Vauban district of Freiburg I was breaking bread with what the planners call "The Alternatives" - a group that had taken over a number of the deserted Army barracks in the '90s.

Eventually after some heated debate with the local government they were allowed to keep four of them and after our late lunch we were invited back to look inside the home of Bobby Glatz, a local architect.

For Bobby reusing "existing buildings is an important part of ecological architecture".

Stratford Observer 12 June 2008

THE FIRMS behind the fiercely fought Middle Quinton eco town have announced a series of public exhibitions in a bid to win support - but they come just days before a three month consultation period ends.

The government shortlisted the plan to build a 6,000 home carbon neutral community on the former MoD base in Long Marston at the start of April, along with 14 others up and down the country. The deadline for responses is June 30 with the final ten eco towns expected to be announced later this year.

So far, public opposition has been vast with thousands signing petitions and attending protests. Heavy weight support for the anti-Middle Quinton movement has also come from MP John Maples, Stratford District Council and Wychavon District Council, all against. High profile figures like Dame Judi Dench have also condemned the development as totally unworkable.

Those behind it, St Modwen and The Bird Group, have now employed a community consultation firm in a bid to find support.

This week they have released details claiming to show backing for Middle Quinton from rail enthusiasts keen to see the Stratford to Honeybourne line, decommissioned in the 1970s, re-instated.
But out of around 3,000 attending a rail show at the eco town site, only 140 signed up to support the plan, any many of those attending were not local.

Cotswold Journal 12 June 2008

A DECOMMISSIONED railway line may reopen if developers succeed in their bid to construct an eco-town that campaigners fear will inflict traffic chaos on the Cotswolds.

The former Stratford-to-Honeybourne line, closed in the 1970s, runs through the former Long Marston Ministry of Defence site where the Government proposes to locate the town that would be built by the St Modwen and Bird Group companies. The aim is to forge a rail link between Long Marston and its surrounding villages with the mainline rail network.

Community consultation group Green Issues Communications quizzed representatives of rail groups about the proposal when the delegates attended a rail show at the site of the proposed new village.

The Bird Group's Tony Bird said: "We are currently looking at all options to develop a clear transport strategy that can really improve the existing situation.

The Sunday Telegraph 8 June 2008

ONE OF Gordon Brown's flagship "eco-towns'' planned for housing minister Caroline Flint's constituency has failed to meet green standards.

Documents seen by The Sunday Telegraph show that the proposed development in Rossington, South Yorkshire, would destroy Green Belt and agricultural land, while 42,000 new residents would have to travel by car because there is no rail link.

The development, three miles south of Doncaster, is the second-largest of the 15 schemes on the eco-town shortlist, with plans for 15,000 new homes. If it goes ahead, its population will more than triple in size.

Documents submitted to the Government show that more than half of the new homes planned for Rossington - up to 9,000 - would be built on Green Belt land despite repeated pledges by Miss Flint and her colleagues that no eco-town will be on the Green Belt.

The Sunday Telegraph 8 June 2008

ABOUT 2,000 protesters marched yesterday against proposals for an eco-town to be built in the West Sussex countryside.

They fear that swathes of greenfield land will be concreted over as part of the plan to build 5,000 environmentally friendly homes at Ford.

Local MPs and protest organisers accused the Government of sleight-of-hand for promoting the scheme as "green''. Ben Fogle, the television presenter and columnist for The Sunday Telegraph, was among the protesters. Others supporting the protest included Gordon Roddick, the widower of the Body Shop tycoon Anita Roddick, and the Duchess of Norfolk, whose family seat is at nearby Arundel Castle.

The demonstration will add to pressure on Gordon Brown over his flagship eco-town scheme, which was announced as a way to promote low-energy, carbon-neutral developments but has been criticised as a means to ease old-fashioned housebuilding schemes through the planning system.

Eco-towns plan may be cut to five

The Daily Telegraph 7 June 2008

ONLY five eco-towns may be built as opposition grows against Gordon Brown's plans to build 10 "green'' settlements across England, a Government minister has admitted.

The admission by Baroness Andrews, a junior housing minister, is deeply embarrassing for the Prime Minister and led the Conservatives to accuse Labour of dithering and backtracking over the projects.

Eco-town plans have proved deeply unpopular, running into fierce protests.

TV presenter joing eco-town protest

Press Association National Newswire 7 June 2008

TV presenter Ben Fogle was among 2,000 protesters who took part in a march against one of the Government's proposed eco-towns today.

They waved banners and posters as they marched three miles along footpaths in countryside surrounding the shortlisted site at Ford, near Arundel, West Sussex.

Many of them were members of local campaign group Communities Against Ford Eco-town (CAFÉ), which was set up in April following Housing Minister Caroline Flint's announcement of 15 possible locations for new environmentally-friendly towns.

If it makes it onto the final shortlist, at least 5,000 homes will be built on the former Ford Airfield site and surrounding farmland, much to the chagrin of local residents who say that more than 87% of the land is greenfield.

They fear the development will engulf the nearby villages of Ford, Climping and Yapton and also say that flooding, which often occurs in the area, will be made much worse by the extra houses.

The protest began with speeches by local MPs, Nick Gibb and Nick Herbert, while a message of support from former local resident and Olympic swimming champion Duncan Goodhew was read out as he was unable to attend.

Other notable figures who lent their support were the Duchess of Norfolk, whose family seat is Arundel Castle, and Gordon Roddick, husband of the late Anita Roddick, who also took part in the march.

CAFE co-chairman and Yapton resident Terry Knott said: "It's not that we disagree with the concept of affordable and eco-friendly housing, far from it.

"It's just that there are so many reasons why such a development should not be sited here, and virtually no arguments in favour of doing so.

"Eco-towns should in theory provide affordable local housing to meet identified needs, however, there is limited demand for affordable housing in this rural part of West Sussex and restricted demand for employment in and around Ford."

Mr Fogle, who attended the march with his father, Ford resident Dr Bruce Fogle, said it was "wrong" to sacrifice arable countryside for urban development.

Housing Minister Caroline Flint said the eco-town schemes have been thought up to tackle the twin challenges of climate change and affordable housing, with the successful proposals having to supply between 30% and 50% affordable homes.

The 15 potential sites for low-carbon, environmentally friendly towns will be whittled down to 10 over the next few months, but many of the areas which have made it on to the shortlist have attracted protests over the damage they could do to existing communities or destruction of greenfield land and natural areas.

Other sites which have sparked controversy include Pennbury in Lincolnshire, Middle Quinton, near Stratford, Warwickshire and Marston Vale and New Marston, Bedfordshire.

Addressing protesters, Mr Fogle said the word "eco" was being used by the Government to make people feel guilty about opposing it.

He said: "I think the idea of an eco-town should be applauded. We need to be working towards self-sustainable communities and developments.

"We need to create more affordable housing in this country. We need to create viable alternative energy sources.

"I am not here campaigning against any of these. I am here to march for our green fields which sadly have no voice."

He continued: "Let them create a sustainable development, let them build on the brownfields of Ford airfield, let them build wind farms, but for heaven's sake don't get rid of some of the most productive arable land in one of the most built-up counties in England.

"At a time when food prices are at an all time high, rationing has been implemented for the first time in US history and we're trying to eat local produce and reduce food's air miles, this Government thinks it prudent to build over these bountiful fields."

He added that bodies such as The Campaign for National Parks and the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England had all voiced their concerns about building an eco-town at Ford.

Nick Herbert, MP for Arundel and South Downs described the proposals as a, "profoundly undemocratic eco-con."

The Department of Communities and Local Government said: "Ford is a strong proposal but there are challenges that developers need to address, as with all locations on the shortlist.

"No decisions have been taken on the bids that will go forward and only the best ones with the highest environmental standards will be in with a chance of making the final shortlist.

"We desperately need more homes in this country for young families and first time buyers, and eco towns are a unique opportunity to provide more affordable housing where it is needed, while pioneering new green ways of living that will act as a showcase for new development everywhere."

MP urges people to attend eco-town meeting

Evesham Journal 6 June 2008

VALE MP Peter Luff is urging people to attend a vital public meeting about the proposed eco-town near Long Marston, which he says could create huge problems for Evesham.

Mr Luff will be speaking at the meeting, which takes place next Friday (13) at Evesham Town Hall at 7.30pm, and warning people about the impact it could have if given the go ahead.

He said: "People in the Vale of Evesham should be really worried about this new town, which could have a detrimental effect on Evesham.

"It is really important that people come to this meeting. Everyone seems to think this huge new town is Stratford's problem but it is almost the same distance from Evesham as it is from Stratford.

"It will have a huge impact on Evesham in terms of our public services, our hospitals, schools, roads, water supplies and sewage. It is huge."

The Spectator, 7 June 2008

When Leo McKinstry objected to his neighbours' plan to build two blocks of flats, he quickly discovered the limits of 'community empowerment' under New Labour

There is an increasingly Orwellian tone about the language of the Labour government. The Ministry of Truth, the state propaganda machine in Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, would have been only too pleased with the doublethink of the fashionable mantra 'together in diversity', endlessly repeated to justify the destructive creed of multiculturalism, or the inanity of the advertising slogan 'the People's Post Office', launched at the very time when a mass cull of local post offices is underway against the wishes of the people. Equally dishonest is Gordon Brown's pledge to support 'British jobs for British workers', when mass immigration actually means that most new jobs in the economy have gone to foreigners.

Flint calls for co-operation

Planning, 6 June 2008

Planning minister Caroline Flint has urged council leaders to forge stronger links between planners and other departments in her first major speech on the sector.

Speaking at a New Local Government Network event, she said: 'We have got to get away from a culture of working that sees planning as a separate and specialist activity.' She added that the police and primary care trusts should be involved in shaping local plans.

Planning, 6 June 2008

It has taken a while, but MPs have finally woken up to the Planning Bill.

Last year, when community and environmental groups complained about it, few showed much interest. More than 60 backbench Labour MPs have now signed early day motions attacking key planks of the legislation covering climate change, the infrastructure planning commission, public involvement and national policy statements. What took them so long?

''Follow China on eco - towns'

Evesham Journal, 5 June 2008

Mid-Worcestershire MP Peter Luff believes that we should follow China's lead on eco-towns after a recent visit to the Orient.

Mr Luff has recently returned to England following a trip to Asia as part of an Industry and Parliament Trust visit.

Birmingham Post, 5 June 2008

Sister Cities Birmingham and Chicago yesterday agreed a Five point accord, which will look at issues from eco towns and 'worklessness' to business incentives and city academies.

The pioneering plan was drawn up after a six-hour Best Practice workshop, one of the events the Birmingham delegation are attending as part of the week long Sister City International Festival.

Stratford Herald, 5 June 2008

Campaigners against the proposed eco-town at Long Marston and the developers who are behind the controversial scheme yesterday (Wednesday) gave vastly differing accounts of discussions they had last week, writes Preston Witts.

Bard, the group set up to fight the proposals for a 6,000-home development on the site, described its talks with St Modwen and The Bird Group as “hugely disappointing.” But a spokesman for the eco-town project team claimed the meeting was “very positive.”

Letter: Why the eco-town won’t work

Stratford Herald, 5 June 2008

Sir: I am writing to state my opposition to the proposed eco-town. I wholly endorse the views expressed by the Bard campaign.

Letter: Clear message to the PM

Stratford Herald, 5 June 2008

Sir: Recently, Gordon Brown has promised to listen to the people. Well, the 120,000 residents of Stratford district have sent him a clear message, via the district councillors, that we do not want or need his new town of 6,000 homes imposed on us.

Stratford Herald, 5 June 2008

Sir: I have been watching and reading with growing disbelief at the arrogance shown by the Bard protesters to anyone who has the nerve to disagree with their ideas. The incident which happened at the meeting on 25th May at Stratford High School and reported by the Herald in which 20-year-old Jamie Francis was laughed at when he suggested maybe we could be more proactive rather than reactive and encompass some of the ideas of the ecotown was the final straw and caused me to put pen to paper.

Evesham Journal, 4 June 2008

Protestors opposed to a 6,000 home eco-town being built at Long Marston are urging Vale residents to attend a public meeting at Evesham Town Hall.

Campaigners against the Middle Quinton bid want people to go to the meeting and hear Better Accessible And Responsible Development campaign's (BARD) objections to the proposed eco-town and put their own views across.

Birmingham Post, 4 June 2008

Dear Editor, I was saddened by the frustrated tone of the sentiments expressed in the letter from Nick and Jenny Walker of Ilmington, near Stratford on Avon, regarding the impact of the proposal for a new "eco" town at Long Marston. The panic for New Labour's eco towns are because of its "out of control" immigration and, as an aside, I have suggested that the town (if built) should be renamed Longski Marstonska!

Birmingham Post, 3 June 2008

Dear Editor, We are writing to express our deep concern at the proposal to build a new town at Long Marston near Stratford-on-Avon. We feel that its approval would be nothing short of disastrous, for the following reasons:

The 6,000 dwellings are unnecessary, since Stratford District has already met its medium-term target for new homes and only needs 300 more in the longer-term.

Eco-town a fraud, claims protest MP

Birmingham Mail, 3 June 2008

HOUSING: Tory steps up war over words over environmental 'benefits'

Eco-arguments for a massive new town near Lichfield have been totally undermined, a Tory MP claimed today.

Michael Fabricant will address protesters at Saturday's rally against the plans for an eco-town at Curborough.

Mortgage Strategy, 2 June 2008

Simon McWhirter is homes campaign manager at WWF-UK Is there a place for eco-towns? Yes - in an ideal world, we'd all be living in them.

But the reality is that millions of us live in homes with huge environmental footprints not just in terms of their carbon emissions but also in their use of water, timber and other materials.

Evesham Journal, 2 June 2008

Prospective residents of the eco-town at Long Marston, should the site make it into the government's shortlist, could pay less than £100 per year in domestic heating bills according to a leading authority on energy conservation.

Ian Ward of SABRE, one of the directors of the joint venture scheme between the University of Sheffield and the Building Research Establishment, points to existing low-energy housing schemes in the UK where annual heating bills of £100 or less are being achieved for specially designed eco-homes.

The Daily Telegraph 2 June 2008

OPPOSITION to the Government's eco-towns project has surged, with protesters signing up at the rate of 2,000 a day to call on the Prime Minister to halt proposals for 10 new towns across England.

Campaigners across the country are working together to fight the plans, which have been criticised by environmental groups, planning authorities and residents. Up to 60,000 protesters have given their signatures to oppose the towns, nicknamed "Gordon's ghettoes'', in one of the biggest grassroots protests for years.

Critics argue that the towns are ill-conceived, environmentally unfriendly and will destroy some of England's most beautiful areas.

Nine local protest groups are presenting a united front to collect fighting funds and lobby the Government. Among their plans is a march on London in the autumn.

The Sunday Telegraph 1 June 2008

LABOUR politicians fear they will suffer an electoral backlash over the Government's eco-town proposals.

They are predicting further punishment at the ballot box as voters blame ministers for pushing ahead with plans for 10 environmentally sustainable new towns.

Campaigners are already mounting protests targeting Labour MPs and councillors who back the schemes, while nine Labour MPs, led by former Europe minister Keith Vaz, have signed a Commons motion warning the Government to listen to residents before ploughing ahead.

The guiding principle of the eco-towns is that they should be low-energy, carbon-neutral and built from recycled materials. But opponents say they will become dormitory towns with few public transport links, forcing residents to drive to work. It is also claimed that fields and woodland will be lost.

Ministers want the first five towns built by 2016, with the others completed by 2020. In at least five areas, planning and early construction work - which are likely to be accompanied by high-profile protests - would take place in the build-up to next year's local elections and to the General Election, expected in 2010.

Goodhew leads Sussex protest

The Sunday Telegraph 1 June 2008

HUNDREDS of campaigners will march this week in protest through countryside they fear will be swallowed up by the eco-town proposed on a disused airfield in Ford, West Sussex.

Olympic swimmer Duncan Goodhew and Ben Fogle, the TV presenter and columnist for The Sunday Telegraph, will be among them.

Mr Goodhew said: "Ford eco-town will engulf the rural villages of Ford, Climping and Yapton and 306 hectares of high-quality farmland. The airfield is only a small fraction of the site. Massive development of this beautiful, sensitive and unique area would be detrimental to the character of this coastal river plain and would mean an irreversible loss to the future of agriculture in the region.''

Also at the march on Saturday will be the local Tory MPs Nick Herbert and Nick Gibb.

Sunday Telegraph 1 June 2008

For centuries, rubbish has been at the very heart of the understood bargain between citizens and their civic authorities. Households generate it, and - suitably compensated by the revenue from local taxation - councils arrange to dispose of it. Recently, however, something has gone horribly awry in that long-standing agreement.

Increasingly, British householders find themselves paying a substantial and perpetually rising sum in council tax in return for a rapidly diminishing service. The most prominent example of decline has been the switch by many councils across Britain to a fortnightly rather than a weekly rubbish collection.

This move is naturally repellent to the vast majority of householders, who protest that it encourages pests, unpleasant smells and associated health risks. Their objections have been repeatedly denied credence by the Government, which stated unequivocally last June that there was "no evidence in published studies" of any increased risk to health.
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As we reveal today, the Government was deliberately concealing the truth. It had itself commissioned a report on rubbish collection from the Central Science Laboratory, at a cost to the taxpayer of £27,000, which concluded that fortnightly collection would "significantly alter the pest infestation rates and hence the disease transmission at source" and would also lead to an increase of "pest species being encouraged into the home".

02/06/08

Press clippings for UK national press in the week commencing 7 April 2008

Eco-town media links - June 2008

The latest local and national press links to articles and letters about the eco-town proposals - updated 16 June 2008

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