Opposition grows to eco towns proposals: Stratford-on-Avon District Council says no to Long Marsh

Stratford-on-Avon District Council has decided not to support the proposed Eco Town development at Long Marston, Warwickshire, based on the information currently available.

After a recorded vote, Stratford-on-Avon District Council has unanimously decided that the District Council will write to the Government asking for the development to be removed from the shortlist and will work across all parties to achieve this.  

'This is only the first stage for the Council in this process.The District Council has made its intentions clear not to support the proposed development and the District Council is very unhappy to have developments like these imposed on us from Government.' says Cllr Les Topham, Leader.   

A webcast of the meeting is available online

In a Notice of Motion proposed by Cllr John Appleton and seconded by Cllr Bob Stevens the Council decided the following: 

• This Council regrets the government's intention to impose a new Eco Town development on the residents of south Warwickshire, and urges the Minister of Housing to remove the Middle Quinton proposal from any further consideration.  
• The proposal generates sustainability issues that cannot be addressed without levels of investment disproportionate to the town's size, and an impact on the valued landscape of south Warwickshire, which would be unwelcome to residents and visitors alike.  
• The proposal conflicts with the Planning Authority's approved Local Plan, the allocations contained within the Regional Spatial strategy, and the moratorium on further development currently in force in Stratford-on-Avon District.  
• The Council instructs the Chief Executive to write to the Minister of Housing expressing in the strongest terms the Council's objection to an Eco Town at Long Marston, referred to as Middle Quinton.  

In addition, speaking at a London conference this qweek, two leading regeneration specialists have claimed that the government's sustainable building policy will fail to meet housing targets and will 'stifle development'.

British Urban Regeneration Association chief executive Michael Ward argued that eco-towns are an attempt by government to 'get new towns on the cheap'. He warned that high environmental standards will have a negative impact on regeneration. 'The end result is that some of the developments that may have been viable previously will now not be. We may not have development on the scale we want,' he argued.

The government intends to build five eco-towns by 2016 and a further five by 2020. Centre for Cities director Dermot Finch agreed: 'Eco-towns are marginal. They will provide only five per cent of the three million new homes by 2020 and they will not significantly reduce overall carbon emissions.'