‘Second wave’ eco-town proposals unveiled
A further nine eco-town proposals will share £5m of government funding, the housing minister John Healey revealed today.
The funds will be used to help two existing housing schemes boost their sustainability standards and allow seven new areas to develop eco-town concepts.
Mr Healey also announced a new £5m fund for low carbon demonstrator projects and said that an ‘eco-town network’ will be set up to help councils share learning on sustainable housing.
In July this year Mr. Healey announced the four areas which will become eco-towns.
Today’s funding will help a further nine areas develop eco-town standards. Five local authorities in Taunton, Yeovil, Leeds city-region, Lincoln and Coventry will use the funds to develop eco-town proposals that are currently at concept phase.
Councils in Cornwall and Sheffield will test the potential for an eco-town in their area, while schemes in west Sussex and Cambridgeshire will redesign elements of their schemes to meet higher sustainability standards.
Mr Healey said: ‘I welcome the interest of these nine authorities. They have recognized that eco-towns in the future will not be exceptional and the standards we are setting now will spread like an eco-echo for all new development.’
Further details on the low carbon demonstrator project will be announced shortly. A spokesperson for DCLG said that the £5m funding will be available to projects demonstrating high quality green building standards.
The eco-town network will be launched in association with the Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA) and will replace TCPA’s expert group.
At its annual conference today the TCPA today called for climate change to be put at the heart of planning.
TCPA chief planner Dr Hugh Ellis said: ‘The floods in Cockermouth illustrate the social and economic impacts of this urgent threat, particularly on the most vulnerable in our society. Planning can, and must, address the critical need to reshape our society and economy into a positive low carbon future before it is too late.’
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