Friends of the Earth: England: News: Eco Towns

“Eco-towns” – green housing or greenhouse gases?

Rolling hills in the Devonshire countryside, of England's Exmoor National Park
Many of the proposed Ecotowns are in open countryside

The Government is planning to build up-to 200,000 new houses in the form of so-called eco-towns.

Eco-towns in brief

The Government claim that these eco-towns will:

Be distinct communities well linked to existing towns
Achieve zero-carbon standards
Provide up to half the homes as affordable housing

But some of these eco-towns:

Will bring more road traffic to congested areas.
Will give developers a way of bypassing local decision makers.
Could add to pressure on key wildlife sites

Some eco towns will help mainstream environmental design, building and planning of communities.

At the same time as the Government is proposing eco-towns, it is removing people’s say in the shape of their local community.

Planning reforms are being pushed through that will impose developments on communities whether they want them or not.

Friends of the Earth says:

We need affordable, low carbon homes.
These should have good public transport links and access to jobs and services.
People should keep their right to have their say on local developments.

Resources

Building Site Britain

Ecotowns - Sustainable solution or too good to be true?
(PDF† - 103K) March 2008

Planning Bill
(PDF† - 103K) December 2007

†To view PDF files you will need to download Adobe Acrobat Reader. Visually impaired users can get extra help with these documents from access.adobe.com.

Last modified:
Menu: June 2008
Content: Mar 2008