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An
eco-con?
Eco-Towns are a
Red Herring, Says Federation of Master Builders
New
homes in every village, town, and city built to a high quality and sensitive
to the local environment, would offer a more sustainable long term approach
to our housing needs than the Government's top down housing policy which has
been dressed up as eco-towns says the Federation of Master Builders.
Commenting on today's Government announcement short listing 15 locations for
the 10
eco-towns, Brian Berry, Director External Affairs, says: "Eco-towns sound
lovely but are really a red herring to give the Government's housing plans a
stamp of green credibility. The truth is we already know how to create
sustainable homes as demonstrated by the BedZed affordable
eco-homes in south London and the renewable energy theme park developed by
Kiklees Borough Council in Yorkshire"
Berry
continued:"Building brand new eco-towns outside existing settlements is
really bad idea when there are 675,000 empty homes in England alone sitting
empty, all ripe for refitting with green technologies. Given that demand for
housing covers the whole of the UK it makes sense for every village and town
to have new housing rather creating brand new settlements."
Berry
concluded:"If the Government is really serious about sustainable settlements
the better solution would be to develop a patchwork of hundreds of smaller
eco-projects, with contracts awarded by local regions for both new homes and
refurbishment of old buildings with green measures spread across arrange of
proven technologies. Now that really would be a revolution in turning
Britain into a more sustainable place to live but the Government seems to
think it always know best!"
03
April 2008
www.fmb.org.uk/press/fmbnews
 Eco-towns:
right idea, wrong place - CPRE
3 April
2008
Countryside campaigners CPRE [1] expressed deep disappointment at the
Government’s shortlist of proposed eco town schemes.
CPRE senior planner Kate Gordon said:
‘Our main worry is the
proposed location of many of these schemes. We fully support the
Government’s aspirations for achieving the highest standards in terms of
sustainability and affordability. But achieving high environmental standards
on site is not enough if the development is in the wrong place to begin
with.'
‘For settlements to be genuinely "eco" they must be based around walking,
cycling and public transport with a range of facilities available locally.
They should enhance, not spoil, the surrounding area and landscape, and win
the support of the local community. For this to happen, schemes must be
agreed via the local planning process rather than attempt to circumvent
this.'
CPRE is calling on the Government to rigorously assess and drop proposals
which would not achieve these benefits in the light of our ten tests .
http://www.cpre.org.uk/news/view/485
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