Campaigners have lost the latest stage in their battle against the construction of up to 10 'eco-towns' that the Government claims will provide tens of thousands of environmentally sustainable new homes - but which protesters argue will blight some of England's most attractive countryside.
New town for Stratford
A legal challenge by campaigners opposed to the Middle Quinton eco-town, six miles from Statford-on-Avon, was rejected by Mr Justice Walker in the High Court. He dismissed claims from protesters that the Government had breached its legal duty on consulting local residents.
The case had been brought by a group calling itself Better Accessible Responsible Development (BARD), which boasts support from Dame Judy Dench, novelist Jilly Cooper and actor John Nettles. BARD argues that the Middle Quinton development of 6,000 homes will "devastate" Stratford, through the formation of a new town that would be two-thirds of the size of the existing Stratford.
Their legal action was backed by opponents of other eco-town developments, including the Weston Front Protest Group, which is against proposals for 15,000 new homes at Weston Otmoor near Bicester.
Council opposition
In several areas, local authorities object to proposals for the eco-towns. In recent days, Leicestershire County Council has stated its concern about proposals for the Pennbury eco-town, which has been put forward by the main owners of the site, the Co-operative Group. The county council believes the new town would create extra road traffic, would become a suburb of two existing towns, that there is not a proven need for the additional homes, it could undermine the regeneration of nearby urban centres and that the developers' claims of economic sustainability have not been demonstrated.
Planning guidance for the eco-towns is supposed to ensure that they are sustainable and do not generate carbon emissions, in net terms. As part of this objective, schemes are to include environmentally friendly energy production, such as photo-voltaic panels, district heating schemes and small wind turbines. They will also be required to have viable retail areas. Roads are to have 15 mph limits and every home is to be within 400 metres of a public transport link.
Ministerial relief
Housing minister Margaret Beckett welcomed the judge's decision. "Eco-towns are a unique opportunity to deliver much needed affordable housing, built in a way which, by incorporating the very latest energy saving techniques, benefits both residents and the wider community," she said. "I am pleased the judge has recognised the Government has acted properly and dismissed the review on all grounds.
"Several local authorities are working with us on potential eco-towns and our second consultation, on both the shortlist of locations and our proposed standards, remains open. Once we have identified a final shortlist of potential locations, developers will need to go through the local planning process - giving people a third opportunity to have their say."
The fight continues
Campaigners indicated they may continue to pursue legal objections against the proposals. David Bliss, chairman of the BARD campaign, explained: "We are disappointed, but this is by no means the end of the road for BARD's challenges to the Middle Quinton proposal.... No less than 47 national, regional and local representative bodies agree that poorly sited new towns will neither meet their promised eco-agenda nor provide affordable housing in places where people want to live.
"Our principle remains compelling: local people deserve to be properly consulted on government policies that directly impact them. Experience from Europe suggests that the way to success is developing eco-quarters as part of urban extensions rather than building new towns in isolated rural spots and expecting them to be environmentally friendly solutions to national housing demand. In short, poorly-sited eco-towns will lead to soulless commuter-based dormitory towns becoming expensive white elephants of the future."
A long war
Tony Henman, spokesman for the Weston Front campaign, agreed that further legal action is likely. "This is just another battle in a long war," he said. He added that his group hopes "that the government will accept the overwhelming evidence that the Weston Otmoor development is a bad idea after the independent report - by Arup - demonstrated that the site is a manifestly bad site."
Henman added that if Weston Otmoor is shortlisted local opponents will use the planning process to pursue their objections.
Between a rock and a hard place
The Government is now caught in an uncomfortable position. There has been substantial opposition to most of the 10 sites proposed for eco-towns and obtaining private finance for the developments has become extremely difficult in the current economic circumstances. But proceeding with the eco-town proposals - for the first new towns since the 1960s - is regarded as essential if it is to make progress towards its targets of reducing carbon emissions and building new homes. It has pledged to build an extra two million homes by 2016 and three million by 2020. It is currently falling badly behind these targets.
There is also growing political unhappiness about the eco-town developments. A recent House of Commons Environmental Audit Select Committee report argued that it would be wrong to try to meet existing housebuilding targets at a time when it is so difficult for homebuyers to obtain mortgages. It recommended greater use of brownfield land for new homes and suggested re-examining eco-town proposals to ensure they have good transport links with minimal pressure on roads by choosing locations that are close to existing commercial centres and places of work.
It is intended that the first five eco-towns will be completed and occupied by 2016. Yet it seems likely that a final go-ahead will not be given until after the next General Election. By then, the decision may well be for a different set of ministers.
A shortlist of 12 sites for possible eco-towns has been published by the Government. Up to 10 of these will become newly built eco-towns. The shortlisted 12 sites are:
- St Austell, Cornwall
- Ford, Sussex
- Bordon-Whitehill, Hampshire
- North-East Elsenham, Essex
- Weston Otmoor, near Bicester
- North-West Bicester
- Marston, Bedfordshire
- Middle Quinton, near Stratford
- Pennbury, near Leicester
- Rackheath, Norfolk
- Rushcliffe, near Nottingham
- Rossington, Yorkshire