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It’s been the big issue for ages and it doesn’t seem to want to stop. The eco-town argument rolls on and on, but this week it has received a major boost when the Queen and Prince Charles got involved. Whilst Communities Secretary Hazel Blears has given the green light for the Ashford site and one developer hits back at MP’s criticisms.

The Queen and the Prince of Wales have joined the race to be part of the government’s controversial eco-town scheme, with the crown estate acting as partner in a consortium that hopes to built a town of 5,000 houses near Nottingham. Prince Charles’s Foundation for the Built Environment has been asked to advise on the scheme’s design and to try to ensure community involvement from the outset for the project.

Read the rest of the article on the Prince Charles ‘eco-town’

Communities Secretary Hazel Blears has given the green light to the first of the government’s hugely controversial eco-towns. According to the developer, the scheme will achieve Level 5 of the Code for Sustainable Homes, with its energy and water consumption reaching the highest Level 6.

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The companies proposing to construct the controversial eco-town near Mickleton have hit back at criticism of the project by the Cotswolds’ MP Geoffrey Clifton-Brown. The St Modwen and Bird Group companies retaliated when Mr Clifton-Brown wrote a letter to the Government’s housing and planning minister, Caroline Flint, detailing his opposition to the controversial eco-town that would be called Middle Quinton and be built at Long Marston, Warwickshire.

Read the rest of the article on the developers retaliation

This week Housing Minister Caroline Flint has announced that her decision could have been delayed by months. However the plans for a 5,000-home eco-town in Lichfield have been withdrawn by it’s developers.

Ms Flint, the government’s housing minister, said the announced deadline of October for the sites to be selected would be slipping until December or even next January.
She also stressed it had never been stated by her there would be exactly ten sites finally selected.

Read the rest of the article on Ms Flint’s Eco Town announcement

The Curborough Consortium has withdrawn its bid following talks with the Department for Communities and Local Government last week.
However, the Consortium said it remained committed to the principles behind the Government’s controversial eco-town agenda and still wants to develop the Fradley Airfield site near Lichfield in Staffordshire.

Read the rest of the article on the withdrawl of the West Midlands Eco Town

An official report says plans for a Cornish new-town have a long way to go before they are viable. Fifteen sustainable communities have been proposed across Britain. The Eco-Towns Challenge Panel report says the sustainable aspects of the Imerys China Clay Community scheme “need further work”.

read the article on the Challenge Panel’s critisms on BBC.co.uk

Housing Minister Caroline Flint today met local councillors, residents, developers and the local MP to discuss the proposed eco-town at the former RAF Coltishall site in Norfolk. As part of her fact-finding mission to discover more about the suggested site for an eco-town, she grilled developers about their plans and talked to local councillors about their concerns for the programme.

read the article on the Housing Minister’s comments on 24dash.com

Councillor Ed Turner - Deputy Leader Labour - Oxford City Council has tried to put forward the ‘pro-eco-town’ argument in the Oxford Mail. However his statements have provoked a quick response from the readers and these are represented on the website article.

read the article on the councillor’s comments

Prospective residents of the proposed eco-town at Long Marston, should the site make it into the government’s shortlist, could pay less than £100 per year in domestic heating bills according to a leading authority on energy conservation.

Ian Ward, one of the directors said “I would go as far as saying that it will be possible to heat a family home for less than £100 per year, perhaps as low as £50 in the best circumstances.”

read the article on the Long Marston site

The first plans for one of Gordon Brown’s flagship eco-town sites have been submitted – but without the environmentally friendly features the Government has promised.
Planning documents seen by The Sunday Telegraph reveal that the proposed 5,000 homes development near Lichfield, Staffordshire, does not include some special measures required to reduce its impact on the environment.

read the article on the Lichfield eco-town here

The eco-town issue is really hotting up, this week in an article on thisisexeter.co.uk we see that the Government is putting up more than £6.5m to support the development of a “prototype eco-town” near Exeter, a minister has announced.

Housing Minister Caroline Flint: “We are obviously working with the local authorities and partners in the Cranbrook area to support the delivery of the housing and of the necessary infrastructure.“To support that, we have provided £1m in 2007-08 and £5.5m for 2008 to 2011.”

read the article on the eco towns article on  this is exeter.co.uk

In an article on www.building.co.uk eco town supporter Wayne Hemingway and eco-town protester Myles Pollock go head-to-head over everything, from the definition of an eco town to what the 12 panelists should be looking at in each bid and, um, where to find Dartford on a map.
read the eco town article

After the short-listing of the Eco-town sites, The Birmingham Post looks at the impact on the local Governemnt and community of one of the proposed sites on the outskirts of Lichfield.

When the local council has already decided that one of the proposed sites was not the right place to construct a new village, it throws up a few issues for the developers and planners.
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