What is an eco-town?

Archive - April 2008

Eco-towns are special because they will be designed from scratch, to the highest standards, with a particular emphasis on environmental issues: conserving energy and water, reducing waste and limiting carbon emissions.  They will act as a catalyst for social and economic improvements and will create affordable homes for future generations that are sustainable to live in.  As well as homes, they will have their own public transport, healthcare, shops, schools, leisure facilities, places to work, public squares and parks.

The Government’s invitation to create an eco-town was set out in the Eco-town Prospectus, which describes the key features of an eco-town and the criteria by which proposals will be assessed by Government.

The UK is facing some serious challenges over the coming decade - not least the need for more homes and the need to reduce carbon emissions.  Addressing housing supply and tackling climate change are two key priorities set out by the Government.  
 
Eighty thousand additional homes are required for Leicestershire.  The Eco-town for Leicestershire would go towards meeting this regional housing need, ensuring less piecemeal and ad hoc development in the surrounding villages.

The Government has asked the Co-operative Group & English Partnerships to think further about how an Eco-town in Leicestershire will work – what it might look like and how it would interface with its surrounding neighbourhoods.  

Our ideas and initiatives for the eco-town are well developed.  The Co-operative Group’s masterplanning team is now looking at how they all come together in a cohesive plan for the eco-town site. However, our vision of what we think the eco-town might include is neither fixed nor finalised and we certainly have no blueprint.

We are starting with a set of values, a vision and ideas and initiatives that we are confident will work.  Consultation and engagement with local communities will be fundamental to the development of our proposals – together we need to start talking about what the eco-town will look like. Working together we believe an optimum proposal will be developed.

Our consultation will explore all of the Government’s essential requirements for an eco-town and consider the seven key issues, explored in more detail on the linked pages (left), that were identified in the Eco-town Prospectus.

The aim is at least to meet, and in many instances to exceed, the Government’s criteria.

 

 

Lynda Shillaw
Managing Director
of The Co-operative Estates

“The Co-operative Group is in a unique position to deliver a successful eco-town which will mark a step change to the country’s approach to community design and the way we live together.  Something has to be done and we are proud to take a lead in addressing the very real issues of housing availability and climate change, issues which affect us all.

“We believe passionately in the eco-town project and we are confident that once people understand the concepts behind eco-towns they, like us, will recognise the benefits and feel this is the right decision for the future.”

 

Graham Ramsbottom
Head of Land Development and Ventures
for The Co-operative Estates

“This is a major investment in sustainability by the Co-operative Group and we believe that, by working with our partners and the community, we can develop proposals for a truly standard-setting development.  Our background, principles and business structure give us the opportunity to approach this venture like no other developer.  We are looking at this for the long-term and are committed to achieving the very best possible proposals.

“We are at an early stage in what we think will be a very exciting journey.  We hope that, as we work with people to develop our ideas, we can achieve something to be proud of.  This could be the first and best eco-town in the country.”

 

Robert Napier
Chairman of English Partnerships

“We need more homes in England and we need to tackle climate change. It’s as simple as that, and far from being incompatible, the twin aims can, and should, be tackled together. The eco-town guiding principles embed environmental sustainability as an integral part of a major national building programme, and that is exactly the route I believe we should be taking.

”However, identifying 15 potential sites is no more than the beginning. Selection of the final sites must be based on the practicalities of delivery, rigorous excellence in design and planning, and must involve local communities at every stage. I am looking forward to working with Government to help achieve this, building on our experience through the Carbon Challenge and at Northstowe, for example, which is already recognised as an exemplar development; an eco-town in all but name.”

“I am also delighted that the quality of the proposal has been recognised and that the eco-town in Leicestershire, has made the shortlist. The eco-town approach is good for the planet, good for creating new homes and communities, and good for demonstrating new ways of living in them.”