Eco-towns should be designed so that homes will be within four hundred metres of public transport 'nodes' and within 800m of local shops and services, according to detailed guidance published by the Town and Country Planning Association in collaboration with the Government.
Professor David Lock CBE MRTPI was recently commissioned by Communities and Local Government (CLG) to provide practical advice to help potential bidders, local authorities and others on how the eco-towns initiative can be taken forward.
This is part of the drive to create more affordable homes set in communities that are sustainable in environmental, social and economic terms.
The scoping report published this week is the first publication by TCPA and David Lock on eco-towns.
It is distinct from CLG’s Eco-towns Prospectus, published 23 July 2007; this report provides more in-depth preliminary ideas on criteria and other independent practitioner advice on the first stage of the eco-towns programme.
Drawing on practical experience, the TCPA recently carried out, on behalf of CLG, a review of emerging good practice in urban extensions and new settlements.
This drew a number of conclusions:
• the need for regional and sub-regional planning;
• longer-term time horizons;
• linked new settlements;
• comprehensive land assembly;
• the need for a specialised team;
• the need for consensus; and
• the importance of upfront investment.
Gideon Amos of the TCPA said: 'The primary opportunity presented by the development of an eco-town as a form of new settlement is cost efficiency in putting in place new infrastructure at the outset through initial planning. Laying down entirely new, rather than relying on old, infrastructure – whether it be physical, social or environmental – is much more cost effective than in existingurban locations.'
Applying these lessons to eco-towns, this report starts with an understanding of sustainability as a ‘three legged stool’ encompassing environmental, social and economic criteria.
- Environmental Consideration must be be given to energy and CO2, water, materials, waste, transport and access, health and wellbeing, ecology and green infrastructure, food and urban form and land use.
- Economic As much employment as possible should be within, or accessible from, the community. Consideration will need to be given to how the community is networked, and how employment will be supported and sustained.
- Social Sustainable communities should be of a scale and mix to at least be able to support a secondary school (at least 4,000 to 5,000 homes) and should form clusters of places that together can support a higher order of social and economic activity.
Along with public transport nodes, also highlighted by the TCPA advice is the need for car-free areas, 15mph speed limits, generous provision of public open space and allotments and a call that new homes should be fitted with rainwater harvesting.
The association has suggested that eco-towns which want to be 'exemplars' in terms of transport should aim that no more than 25 per cent of all journeys should be by private car.
These recommendations are set out in a series of eco-town worksheets just published which cover issues surrounding transport, water cycle management and community.
A number of the principles echo best practice in new development planning in Australia, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden.
TCPA chief executive Gideon Amos said: 'Eco-towns, because they are new settlements, present opportunities to create a different kind of town from scratch, meeting the highest standards in terms of sustainable development and minimising carbon footprints, social justice and inclusive communities.'
Other work sheets will be published shortly on green infrastructure, housing and inclusive design, waste and recycling, energy and 'green collar' jobs.
The worksheets
Creating car-free areas, designing open spaces and allotments, forming community trusts, and rainwater harvesting are a few of the radical recommendations in the first eco-town worksheets on transport , community development and water cycle management.
The worksheets aim to highlight the ways in which eco-towns are different from, and can achieve higher levels of sustainability, than, other development carried out on the edge of, or within, existing towns. In turn the existing housing stock in future will then be able to exploit the techniques that can be developed in eco-towns.
The transport, community development and water cycle management Worksheets are the first of many – other worksheet topics currently being developed include green infrastructure, housing & inclusive design, waste & recycling, energy and the economy & ‘green collar’ jobs.
These worksheets will guide the further masterplanning of eco towns and can be used by planners and developers to achieve the level of ambition everybody wishes to see coming from this initiative.'
The worksheets, produced by the TCPA in collaboration with Communities and Local Government (CLG) and developed through a series of expert panel seminars, set out recommendations for planners and developers of eco-towns in both public and private sectors.
The issues covered in the worksheets need to be taken into account as masterplans for eco-towns are developed and assessed under the planning process. The TCPA believes that only eco-town proposals that have the potential to meet the highest standards demanded should be given the go-ahead.
Once they are all published, the worksheets will together represent a comprehensive set of policy and planning guidance on the range of subject areas to be addressed and the standards to be met when planning an eco-town.
Synopses of the transport, community development and water cycle management worksheets (click to download):
Design to delivery: eco-town transport worksheet
Creating a new community provides a unique opportunity to plan and implement transport systems in a radically different way. Conventional approaches will need to be turned on their head in order to create lifetime places that prioritise people over vehicles.
Key points and processes:
- Outcomes and benchmarks
- Design principles
- Specific context
- Travel planning
- Travel plan pyramid
- Evaluation criteria
- Funding mechanisms
Towards sustainable communities: eco-towns community worksheet
The formation of sustainable communities within an eco-town is as vital to its success as its physical infrastructure. Different people will identify with different sections of the eco-town community. Building social capital by supporting interaction and involving local people in planning, as well as in running services, are crucial themes that promoters of eco-towns must plan for. Community development measures are neither short term nor cheap.
Key points and processes:
- Build a central resource centre for the community
- Map existing community and faith organisations in the locality
- Community development workers
- Community infrastructure delivered early and on time
- Formation of a community trust
- Open space and allotments
Sustainable water management: eco-towns water cycle worksheet
Eco-towns provide a tremendous opportunity to think creatively about water and our relationship to it and to make significant progress towards sustainable water management.
Key recommendations:
- Flood risk management
- Sustainable drainage
- Water efficiency
- Water quality
- Water services infrastructure planning
A resource webpage dedicated to the TCPA’s involvement in researching the criteria for new eco-towns, featuring the TCPA’s eco-towns scoping report, project contacts and news related items can be accessed on theTCPA website
Sustainable transport for eco towns
The report Building Sustainable Transport into New Developments: A Menu of Options for Growth Points and Eco-towns forms part of the Government’s advice on transport within eco towns and New Growth Points, is aimed at all those involved in the planning, design and construction of new housing developments. It sets out advice on how to build an effective sustainable transport system in new developments, from the planning to the implementation stage.
It recommends a variety of transport options to integrate and adopt according to the location and needs of the individual development. The TCPA Eco-towns Transport Worksheet, commissioned by CLG, supplements this initial guidance and concentrates on a route map for Eco-town developers. It provides a ‘how to’ guide to steer developers and others engaged in planning, delivering and managing eco-towns through the planning process. Both documents should be referred to in conjunction with each other.
TCPA: eco towns and the next 60 years of planning (download pdf here)
The planning system put in place in 1947 is continually having to evolve to address new challenges. Today, the demands on planning have never been greater as we seek to deal with household growth and climate change. Whether planning and planners can rise to the challenges presented depends on many factors, some of which are within the control of planners while others will be more dependent on how planning is perceived and treated by other bodies and agencies.
To be successful in dealing with the challenges of housing growth and climate change, planning must attract and retain high-calibre people not just with appropriate skills but also with an ability to look beyond the bounds of planning as an individual discipline. They must be able to see planning as an activity at the heart of delivering a sustainable future, and they must be able to inspire others to view it in the same way.
Eco towns seminar series
The TCPA and Communities and Local Government (CLG), in partnership with the Academy for Sustainable Communities (AS C) are currently running a regional housing growth and eco-towns seminar series.
The seminar programme aims to assist professionals working in delivery agencies, local authorities, development agencies and professional consultancies, as well as elected members and community groups, in the delivery of eco-towns and more widely in the delivery of new zero-carbon housing growth.
For further information about the TCPA/ CLG regional seminars on housing growth and eco-towns please download the brochure.
Press and media representatives are welcome to attend the seminars for free. In a related development the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) has voiced reservations about some aspects of the master plan for the Northstowe settlement in Cambridgeshire which is expected to be a prototype eco-town.
CABE on Northstowe, the 'prototype eco town '
In a related developmen,t the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) has voiced reservations about some aspects of the master plan for the Northstowe settlement in Cambridgeshire which is expected to be a prototype eco-town.
The master plan has been subject to a design review by CABE which is critical of the uniformity of the residential blocks, the highway layout and the lack of planning for a district heating system using a combined heat and power plant.The Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA) and
Further work will be carried out in due course to provide advice on different aspects of development, criteria and good practice.
FromThe Guardian:
If reports of the 60-something submissions for the government's eco-towns proposals are true, then Hampshire isn't alone in facing destruction. All too predictably, Britain's leading developers are using the eco-town template to dust off long-rejected proposals and re-submit shoddy housing schemes. It is up to housing minister Caroline Flint to save this Brownite policy from descending into another predictable fight between Nimbys and developers.
Eco-towns - settlements of between 5,000 and 20,000 homes designed to be carbon neutral - are an excellent policy for meeting the target of 3m new houses without exacerbating greenhouse gas emissions. They are an exciting planning proposition to prevent another generation of out-of-town estates.
Unfortunately, the response of the housebuilding industry has been a series of cunning attempts to revive planning permission for previously rejected projects. In Micheldever, Eagle Star Insurance has been trying to develop a London-Basingstoke commuter settlement since the mid-1970s. But with a sprinkling of 'sustainable development; and 'carbon-neutral' buzzwords, the bog-standard scheme for 12,500 homes on a pristine, greenfield site has magically transformed itself into an 'eco-town. Read the full article
From The Observer, Sian Berry, Green Party
...building brand new ‘eco-towns’ outside existing towns and cities is a really bad idea. When there are 700,000 homes in England alone sitting empty, all ripe for refitting with green technologies (and far more brownfield sites in towns than councils are currently estimating) plonking a load of new houses out in the countryside, even if you do use ‘previously developed’ sites such as old military bases, is just wrong.
How green are these new towns going to be in transport terms? Is the government going to provide them with new railway lines? Of course not. Only a handful of miles of new railway have been built in the UK since privatisation. No, a new eco-town can only be another car-based satellite suburb. Even with car clubs, cycle lanes and a top-notch bus service, these places are going to be packed out with new roads and, as we all know, new roads lead to more car use – and more carbon emissions. Read the full article
From the Independent:The Wintles, the UK's happiest eco town
..eco-thinking runs deeper than the inclusion of solar panels and windmills strapped to chimneys. For a start, there's all that wood, which isn't just there to create a groovy rustic vibe. Many eco-developments, once closely examined, prove to be little more than houses with concrete-riddled designs, higher levels of insulation than normal and a token cycle park. And that's really not in the spirit of things – the concrete industry accounts for 5 per cent of total global carbon dioxide emissions (that's even more than aviation).
But more than just selecting the right materials, a sense of healthy community is one key feature Tomlinson tried to build into The Wintles. Tomlinson feels that modern estate housing does not encourage people to put down roots and create good communities. The modern habit of moving home, on average, every seven years comes at a huge cost to the environment. Not only does it damage human relationships, but a huge amount of waste is created in the constant redecorating and refurnishing generated by this housing carousel. Read the full article
