Conservationists give backing to sustainable communities plan
An influential conservation group has come out strongly in favour of government plans to regenerate the Thames Gateway area as part of its sustainable communities plan.
However, the Campaign to Protect Rural England, also expressed doubt over the scale of house building planned at the other three growth points earmarked for south-east
In letters sent to Tony Blair MP and John Prescott MP, the CPRE has called for urban capacity studies to underpin the plans for the Thames Gateway.
The CPRE claimed these could "provide the basis for setting a target for the area of 100 per cent of new housing and economic development taking place on previously developed urban sites, and a dramatic increase in the average density of housing development".
The letters make it clear that the CPRE is concerned about any bid to increase overall house building numbers in line with the Barker review, given that exercise "did not make any assessment of the environmental implications".
In a related development, the government has endorsed in principle a new Code for Sustainable Buildings that aims to encourage builders and developers to establish higher standards for energy and water efficiency, as well as waste and use of materials.
Ministers have signalled they want new housing in its four growth areas in south-east
The government has signalled that the first draft of the code should be ready in time for the Sustainable Communities Summit planned for January 2005.
Although ministers have not yet committed to the exact standards for energy and water saving that new housing in the growth areas will be expected to meet, Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott insisted that "building better, greener buildings is a key element of our £38bn sustainable communities plan".
Roger Milne
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