Housing Minister Caroline Flint, on 24 July, set out the Government’s latest proposals for the UK’s toughest ever green standards for new housing as she unveiled a progress report on eco-towns. The initiatives include: zero carbon status across all the town’s buildings, including commercial and public buildings as well as homes; 40 per cent of land within the town to be green space; creating more options for travel to enable the majority of journeys to be made by sustainable transport; raising the threshold for individual homes so that they must all achieve at least level 4 of the Code for Sustainable Homes, which includes standards for household waste recycling, construction waste, water efficiency measures and reduced pollution.
Even as Flint outlined the proposals a challenge to the very legality of the Government’s approach to delivering the 10 eco-towns has been mounted. Lawyers John Steel QC and James Strachan, representing the Local Government Association (LGA), have said the proposals, such as eco-town homes having to be within 10 minutes of frequent public transport, is not only unnecessary but could also be illegal, as it would lead to the Government bypassing planning procedures run by councils. The LGA said the legal advice showed the government’s approach to eco-towns was “deeply flawed”. Flint, in response, said: “Myself and government lawyers completely disagree with the LGA’s claims and planning applications for eco-towns would go through the full process.”
So who to believe? If you live close to one of the proposed new eco-towns it’s understandable that you may be concerned about the disruption of up to 20,000 new homes being built and the impact up to 50,000 new residents would have on the local infrastructure and services. But new towns have been built before – more than 20 since WWII - and while not all would be considered to be unqualified successes neither have they all been disastrous examples of modern planning. Significantly, to our mind, the homes and communities being proposed now will be the best designed and specified and most sustainably built ever. While that doesn’t guarantee social cohesion, creating homes of which owners (and renters) can be proud and comfortable in will go a long way towards doing so.
Whether the utopian vision is realised is another matter, of course. A final decision on up to ten potential locations will be made in early 2009, after which the individual schemes will each have to submit planning applications. Elsewhere, in virtual land, the Government has launched yet another ‘global warming inspired’ website – this one’s named Adapting to climate change. Forgive our cynicism but is there really a need for another Government website? Already we have The Carbon Trust, The Energy Saving Trust, Act on C02. These sites cost vast sums to set up and call on enormous resources in man hours – we at whatgreenhome.com know just how much time and effort is required to initiate and run one, believe us. Surely, the money (and time) could be better spent elsewhere.
