Planners urge eco-town standards for all new housing

The Royal Town Planning Institute has argued that the "green standards" required for new housing in the Government’s proposed eco-towns programme should be the norm for all new residential development.

That call came in the wake of housing and planning minister Caroline Flint's announcement that eco-town buildings must achieve zero carbon status and tough new requirements in respect of sustainable transport.

RTPI policy director Rynd Smith argued that the standards proposed for eco-towns "should apply to all new housing. Carbon neutral homes, ready access to public transport and the provision of plenty of green space shouldn’t be aims unique to eco-towns. They are the minimum standard that should be demanded of any new development".

The Government is already committed to ensuring all homes built from 2016 will be zero carbon.
This timescale, which the Government says is "the most ambitious in the world", targets a 25 per cent improvement in energy efficiency compared to 2006 by 2010 and a 44 per cent improvement by 2013.

The Government's latest proposals for green standards for its eco-town initiative have been broadly welcomed by environmental campaigners.
During visits to some of the shortlisted eco-town sites the minister has stressed that none of the candidate schemes are "done deals". She insisted that once the final list of ten projects is announced early next year "developers will still need to go through the planning process and will be subject to full public consultation".

Since publication of the shortlisted schemes in April the promoters for two locations have pulled out - Manby in Lincolnshire and Curborough in Staffordshire. The New Marston proposal in Bedfordshire has also been withdrawn but the rival Marston Vale proposal remains on the shortlist.

In addition the Rossington proposal has been significantly modified while two new proposals for an eco-town at Rushcliffe in Nottinghamshire have emerged.

Meanwhile the medical charity, the Wellcome Trust, has so far refused to sell land it owns to the developer promoting the Hanley Grange eco-town.

Read the RTPI press release.

Roger Milne

31 July 2008