Eco-towns - local campaigns
Eco-town proposal on an old china clay mine, near St Austell, Cornwall. Image: © Imerys.
Eco-towns: branch campaigns
CPRE Bedfordshire
Marston Vale and New Marston
Already the target of enormous numbers of applications from big developers currently being evaluated under the Mid Beds Site Allocations consultation for the emerging new Local Development Framework. An eco-town in addition to many of these other proposed developments would create one massive 'wall to wall' development.
Responding to O&H Properties' decision to withdraw from the eco-towns programme, CPRE Bedfordshire branch said:
"We are very pleased that O&H have decided not to proceed with their eco-town. This means that whereas we started with two proposals for eco-towns in the Marston Vale, both have now withdrawn.
We think all proposals should proceed through normal planning procedures and we understand that O&H intend to reformulate their application to be dealt with in this way.
However, we were unhappy with many aspects of O&H’s plan and we agreed with a recent study by consultants Arup for the East of England Regional Assembly, which suggested that such major development in the Vale would jeopardise the regeneration of Bedford and the planned expansion of Milton Keynes and Luton, because of the difficulty in providing enough new jobs."
> CPRE Bedfordshire website: Eco-town for Bedfordshire?
CPRE Hampshire
Whitehill-Bordon
CPRE Hampshire has given a cautious welcome to these proposals, as there is an opportunity to create a better place to live at Whitehill-Bordon when the Army moves out in 2014. At the same time the branch has reservations about the scale of the development proposed and consequences for the surrounding area, including the protected landscapes which lie adjacent to the town.
CPRE Cornwall
China Clay Community, St Austell
CPRE Cornwall supports the principle of regeneration and rejuvanation of the area with the full engagement of the local community and is considering alternatives to the present proposals.
CPRE Oxfordshire
The proposed eco-town at Weston Otmoor near Bicester received the lowest grading of all shortlisted proposals following the Government's sustainability appraisal of eco-towns. Rated Grade C, the location is only likely to be suitable for an eco-town with ‘substantial and exceptional innovation’. An independent report by Arup Partners into the economic and social impact of creating a 15,000-home settlement near Weston-on-the-Green concluded an eco-town here would harm prospects for neighbouring towns.
Following Ministers' decision not to include Weston Otmoor in the first wave of eco-towns, Helena Whall, Campaign Manager for CPRE Oxfordshire, said:
"We have campaigned very hard on this issue and we are very pleased that the Government has at last seen sense on the total unsuitability of the Weston Otmoor proposals."
As an alternative to Weston Otmoor, Ministers have accepted an alternative proposal put forward by Cherwell District Council for a 5,000 homes scheme at North West Bicester. For CPRE, this is a better site than Weston Otmoor, although there are issues to be resolved. According to Helena Whall:
'North West Bicester urban extension is much more in line with local planning policies as a concept but we are uncomfortable that more green fields will disappear. Before commenting fully on the suitability of the site, we would like to see many more details and look very closely at the eco credentials.'
CPRE Leicestershire
Pennbury, Leicestershire
Reacting to the news that Pennbury is not to be taken forward in the first wave of eco-towns, Graham Stocks said: "We accept this decision with guarded caution, though we are naturally very pleased that a large extent of East Leicestershire's beautiful and agriculturally productive landscape is no longer under immediate threat of rampant development. However, we express caution since there is still the question of where to put tens of thousands of new homes (and accommodate additional employment land) in order to meet the needs of the recently published East Midlands Regional Plan.
> CPRE Leicestershire website: Proposed Pennbury eco-town
CPRE Norfolk
Rackheath
CPRE Norfolk welcomes the statement by the Government that an eco-town at Rackheath should be integrated with local developement, and the recognition that there are significant issues to be resolved as regards transport and water supply and discharges".
Middle Quinton, Warwickshire
The Government’s selection of the former Royal Engineer Depot at Long Marston for an ‘eco-town’ flies in the face of all the local factors that make the site unsuitable for major development and have done for years, says CPRE Warwickshire Branch.
News release | 3 April 2008
> CPRE Warwickshire website: Long Marston eco-town – “wholly damaging to the countryside”
CPRE South Yorkshire
Rossington, South Yorkshire
Although not one of the first four eco-town locations, fifteen thousand houses could be built around Rossington, close to the M18 motorway, if the village is selected as one of the final ten locations. Campaigners are concerned about the impacts of increased traffic and loss of Green Belt.
News release | 3 April 2008
> CPRE South Yorkshire website: Concern over shortlisting of South Yorkshire village as possible new eco-town
