UPDATE:

Eco-town Update

04 August 2009

On July 16th the Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) published its Planning Policy Statement (PPS) on Eco Towns and named four schemes in the first phase that will go forward to the next stage of planning. Formal consultation on the first wave of eco-town proposals has now been concluded.

Our 'Pennbury' proposal was not one of the sites named for the first phase of eco-towns but remains on the shortlist as a second phase scheme. As a new scheme, developed from initial ideas to Masterplan vision through consultation we are not ready to prepare and submit a planning application on our site in contrast to the first phase schemes.

As part of the PPS announcement, the Government recognised the ability of our plans to benefit the local community in Leicestershire by creating affordable housing in the area, but identified transport and employment creation issues that needed further consideration. The site remains a ‘B’ in terms of the Government’s sustainability grading which is the same level as three of the four schemes given immediate backing to proceed.

Our intention remains as previously outlined and reflects our commitment to the plan-led process. We will continue to move forward with our existing dialogue with local councils and communities to reach agreement on how best to develop the site to create environmentally sustainable and affordable housing. This is important given the need for thousands of new homes in the region and locally where our site remains a leading option, giving choice to people between planned development supported by a sound business case and infrastructure versus unrestricted growth and pressure on dozens of towns and villages across the sub-region.

Once more, thank you to those that have so far taken the opportunity to engage constructively in the eco-town process. We look forward to working with you as we take our scheme forward.

Our Vision

Eco-towns are part of the Government’s response to the twin challenges of climate change and the drastic housing shortage we face in the UK. They are a small part of the solution to building the 3m homes that the Government estimates are needed in the UK by 2020. They are also, critically an opportunity to challenge traditional thinking and raise the bar for developers, local authorities and local politicians alike; to ensure that communities are developed where people want to live; where they can enjoy a high quality of life in an attractive environment; and to address the wider issues of housing need, affordability, transport and the environment.

The eco-town process has ensured that sites such as the Eco-town for Leicestershire are brought forward by landowners for consideration as strategic solutions - big opportunities to get it right, rather than piecemeal developments which often do not provide an holistic solution to the issues the UK faces in creating the thriving communities of the future.

The Co-operative Group is not a traditional developer - to even consider participating in this process we had to fundamentally believe that the cause is not only worthwhile but that we can create an eco-town, which sets the benchmark for the development of sustainable communities.

We are uniquely placed to deliver the eco-town vision. We are a community based and community owned organisation and will bring our experience to bear on new forms of governance which will give residents direct influence over the way the eco-town develops.

We are a leading farmer and will use the eco-town to pioneer new methods of local food supply and agricultural energy production which will be needed to meet the challenges of climate change.

We are already a producer of sustainable energy with plans to make the eco-town “energy positive”, producing surplus electricity which can be supplied to nearby communities.

Our land at Stoughton, with its proximity to the City of Leicester, provides a unique opportunity to both create an eco-town and enhance the rural landscape.

We propose to do this by creating a Masterplan for our landholding, designating and protecting the farmland and open spaces within a Great Park as part of the planning process. This is a legacy and a commitment that only a landholder such as The Co-operative Group could consider creating for the people of Leicestershire.

Situated within the Great Park the town will be at the centre of our landholding, concentrated on previously developed land and its surrounds. More than two thirds of our landholding will remain in farming and countryside uses – a commitment we have enhanced further since the beginning of the process and one which underpins some of the key health and wellbeing benefits of the town through access to extensive open spaces, countryside and local food production.

As the threat posed by climate change has emerged, so has the realisation that we can’t go on living the way we have done. We have to find ways of reducing our impact on the environment and the way we design and build our communities can make a big difference.

The ability to develop sustainable cities and towns – ones which generate their own essentials such as food and energy while keeping their environmental and ecological “footprint” as small as possible - has never been more urgent. We believe that eco-towns are a fundamental part of the solution and a way of raising the bar for new developments, focussing on the development of sustainable communities by creating places where people want to live, in places they want to live in and where it’s easy to pursue a sustainable lifestyle.

It is almost a year since The Co-operative Group, working together with English Partnerships, decided to submit proposals for an eco-town on its land near Leicester. The time, effort and resources we have put into this project are considerable and through extensive consultation to date, we believe we now have a design for a sustainable community which both exceeds the Government’s criteria set out for eco-town development, and is capable of being a world class, exemplar development.

The Eco-town for Leicestershire will be very different to any other town in the UK.

It will be different at the outset in the way that it is designed. Residents will be directly involved in the town’s design and development through a panel which we will establish before construction work begins.
It will be different in the way that it is run, giving residents a share in and democratic control over the nature and provision of local services.
We will ensure that there is a fast, safe and efficient public transport service available for the first occupants of the town so that they are encouraged to make a step change in the transport choices that they make.
We will ensure that the right range of living accommodation from starter homes through to sheltered accommodation is provided so that people don’t have to move out of the community at key stages of their lives. It will be a genuinely mixed community, with people from all backgrounds living side-by-side.
We will ensure that the health and well being of the residents of the town is central to its design, focussing on the creation of a place which works well for its residents on all levels.
We will ensure that the town is designed to foster social and economic sustainability, providing education and employment and boosting the regeneration of the city region.

Whatever the final shape of the development, the same principles will apply – give people who may live or work there, a real sense of place, of ownership and a high quality of life in an attractive environment, making sustainable choices the easy and enjoyable option.

I hope that you find the new pages on the website informative and stimulating. Your views continue to be vital for the development of an Eco-town for Leicestershire.

Lynda Shillaw
Managing Director Co-operative Estates

An Eco-town for Leicestershire - A Community for the Future

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The Co-operative Group is working on a proposal to build an eco-town on land they own with their land partners, English Partnerships, to the south east of Leicester.

The Government is proposing up to ten new eco-towns across the UK to help meet the national demand for new homes. The final selection is expected to be made later this year.

We, The Co-operative Group, with English Partnerships, have a dynamic vision for Leicestershire’s eco-town - a community in which we will retain a long term involvement and which will bring long-lasting and wide-ranging benefits to the county. We're well advanced in our thinking but this is a major development - we need constructive views and ideas from local people on how these ideas can be put into practice for everyone's benefit.

This new website holds the most up to date details we have, to be shared with the public, and will be updated on a regular basis. We need your input on how the community can be put together to bring maximum benefit to the area.

As plans continue to develop through further consultation, we will continue to undertake and fund research into the impact and potential benefits of an eco-town on our land.

The purpose of this website is to explain more about our vision for the eco-town and to bring forward the ideas from our proposals and studies, but most importantly, it has been set up as one means by which as wide a variety of people as possible can contribute to the debate – tell us what you think so we can deliver an eco-town the people of Leicestershire will be proud of. Our plans for this town are still developing and your views count.

On this site you will find our vision for an Eco-town in Leicestershire and how we believe it can be achieved. Also contained within this site is information about The Co-operative Group and what it stands for, as well as details on English Partnerships.

Pennbury was the working title of our bid when first submitted to Government in October 2007. It continues to be the shorthand reference to our bid in the Government's consultation document.