Minister insists: no done deal on eco-town locations

The Government has insisted that none of the shortlisted eco-town locations will definitely "host" one of the administration's promised programme of ten projects.

That reassurance came from planning and housing minister Caroline Flint when she contributed to a debate on eco-towns in the Commons. She made it clear that any scheme which made it to a final shortlist later this year would have to be considered by the planning system.

The Government is expecting to publish both a draft sustainability appraisal of the locations and a draft planning policy statement (PPS) in July

"There are no done deals on any of these sites," she told MPs during a debate which saw MPs queuing up to raise concern about individual proposals.

The minister has stressed that the administration will only decide on which sites have potential to be an eco-town and which schemes will be supported by the Government "later in the year" as they "go forward into the local planning process".

During the debate she stressed that the up-coming PPS on eco-towns "will help to ensure that eco-towns are benchmarked against very high standards and it will also help local authorities that may be receiving submissions from developers who put 'green' or 'eco' in front of their applications to assess them".

Flint's comments came as countryside campaigners urged the Government to scale-back and re-think the eco-town programme.

The Government’s own Eco-towns Challenge Panel has just published a series of recommendations for potential eco-town developers following an assessment of the shortlisted bids.

The proposals have drawn a mixed response from the panel. While some schemes have been praised, a significant number have been criticised for lack of ambition and demonstrable green credentials.

The panel has voiced concern over the location of some of the schemes, a number of which have been panned over design and public transport issues.

Flint commented that some of the developers involved in the eco-town initiative "need to up their game and the ball is now in their court".

The Town and Country Planning Association, which has been acting as an adviser to the initiative, has argued that once ministers have decided which schemes meet its criteria the successful bids should be subject to a planning inquiry.

Meanwhile a new report by the Local Government Association has warned that the Government plans for eco-towns were "significantly flawed". The report stressed that the developments risked becoming "eco-slums" of the future without more input from councils.

But Housing Minister Caroline Flint said: "It's disappointing to see that the LGA are perpetuating myths and scare-mongering around the eco-towns programme. We had hoped they would contribute in a more informed way to this important debate on how we can build more homes and develop a greener future.

"Local authorities have and will continue to have a vital role in scrutinising the proposed eco-towns. Two eco-towns are being proposed by local authorities, all the councils involved are helping us to assess the shortlisted eco-towns, and I am meeting them all to discuss their concerns.

"We agree that eco-towns must have the best public transport links and strong employment opportunities. Only the best bids will go forward and next month we will set out the highest standards they must meet.

"And as I have said throughout, those schemes that do make our final shortlist of potential sites will then have to submit planning applications to be considered by local authorities."

In a related development campaigners against the proposed Middle Quinton eco-town outside Stratford-upon-Avon have formally lodged an application in the High Court for judicial review of the Government’s eco-town process.

Read the eco-town debate report in Commons Hansard (19 June, column 1095).

Roger Milne

26 June 2008