Eco town
On 16 July 2009, John Healey MP, Minister for Housing and Planning, published Planning Policy Statement: eco-towns, A supplement to Planning Policy Statement 1 (PPS1 Delivering Sustainable Development).
He also announced the sites of four demonstration ‘eco towns’ intended to stimulate environmentally sustainable house building. These were; Whitehill-Bordon, St. Austell, Rackheath and NW Bicester. These locations were to receive continuing Government support including a share of a £60 million growth fund to support local infrastructure.
In addition he announced that he wanted to see up to ten eco-towns by 2020, and a number of additional towns were proposed for consideration in December 2009.
The Planning Policy Statement stated, ‘The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone has access to a decent home at a price they can afford, in a place where they want to live and work. The Government has set a target to build 240,000 new homes per annum by 2016 and to reduce CO2 emissions by 80 per cent below 1990 levels by 2050. Plans for eco-towns should make a significant contribution to these targets and help address the serious threat of climate change.’
It was considered that by developing entire towns (of around 5,000 homes), rather than smaller neighbourhoods, it would be possible to support a secondary school and develop strategies for transport, employment and local services.
Eco-town developments were required to achieve the highest levels of sustainability, ensuring:
- Zero-carbon status for all the town’s buildings.
- 40% of the area within the town to be green space, at least half of which should be open to the public as parks or recreation areas.
- A minimum of one job per house which can be reached by walking, cycling or public transport.
- All homes to be within a ten-minute walk of frequent public transport and everyday neighbourhood services.
- Smart, efficient, affordable homes taking their energy from the sun, wind and earth.
However, the initiative was not universally welcomed. It was noted that 20,000 homes was a tiny proportion of the overall requirement for new homes, and that rather than new independent, greenfield towns, proposals were largely for extensions to existing towns.
In July 2010, the Coalition Government announced it would audit the eco town projects before providing any more funding, and it was widely expected that the Planning Policy Statement would be revoked when the National Planning Policy Framework was published in March 2012.
However, the policy was not revoked, as confirmation was required that a full Strategic Environmental Assessment was not necessary. In March 2015, the eco-towns Planning Policy Statement was finally cancelled for everywhere other than North West Bicester (the only eco town that was continuing to move forwards), and there, only until Cherwell District Council had an up-to-date local plan in place.
Then-Housing and Planning Minister Brandon Lewis said: "Despite a pledge of 10 new towns by the last government, the eco-towns programme built nothing but resentment. The initiative was a total shambles, with developers abandoning the process, application for judicial review, the timetable being extended over and over, and local opposition growing to the then government’s unsustainable and environmentally damaging proposals." (Ref. Written statement to Parliament, Planning update, 5 March 2015.)
However, Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA) Chief executive Kate Henderson said, ‘The eco-towns PPS set out an ambitious framework for truly sustainable low carbon places. The eco-towns standards kept alive aspirations for well-planned housing growth, which promoted people’s well-being while enhancing and protecting the natural environment.’ (Ref. TCPA Cancellation of Eco-towns policy is bad news for the green economy, 6 March 2015.)
In April 2014, the government published the Locally-led Garden Cities prospectus which set out a broad support package for local authorities to develop locally-led garden cities, which it described as ‘…liveable, viable, modern communities with the resident at the centre of planning’.
See Garden cities and Garden towns for more information.
[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings Wiki.
- BRE congratulates Home of 2030 winners.
- BREEAM.
- BREEAM communities.
- Carbon ratings for buildings.
- Code for sustainable homes.
- Compact sustainable city.
- Dwelling Emission Rates.
- Eco houses for environment-friendly architecture.
- Energy certificates.
- Five building blocks for the homes of the future.
- Garden cities.
- Garden suburb.
- Garden town.
- Green deal.
- Hex House project.
- Home Quality Mark.
- Housing standards review.
- Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.
- Megacity.
- New Town Development Corporation.
- Passivhaus.
- Ska rating.
- Suburb.
- Sustainable home.
- Tokyo.
- Town.
- Zero carbon homes.
[edit] External references
- Eco-towns still face thorny questions, Regeneration & Renewal, 27 July 2009.
- House of commons library, Eco Towns, Standard Note: SN/SC/4406, 30 March 2011.
- Planning Policy Statement: eco-towns, A supplement to Planning Policy Statement 1.
- TCPA Cancellation of Eco-towns policy is bad news for the green economy, 6 March 2015.
Featured articles and news
Deputy editor of AT, Tim Fraser, discusses the newly formed society with its current chair, Chris Halligan MCIAT.
Barratt Lo-E passivhaus standard homes planned enmasse
With an initial 728 Lo-E homes across two sites and many more planned for the future.
Government urged to uphold Warm Homes commitment
ECA and industry bodies write to Government concerning its 13.2 billion Warm Homes manifesto commitment.
Places of Worship in Britain and Ireland, 1929-1990. Book review.
The emancipation of women in art.
CIOB Construction Manager of the Year 2025
Just one of the winners at the CIOB Awards 2025.
Call for independent National Grenfell oversight mechanism
MHCLG share findings of Building Safety Inquiry in letter to Secretary of State and Minister for Building Safety.
The Architectural Technology Awards
AT Awards now open for this the sixth decade of CIAT.
50th Golden anniversary ECA Edmundson awards
Deadline for submissions Friday 30 May 2025.
The benefits of precast, off-site foundation systems
Top ten benefits of this notable innovation.
Encouraging individuals to take action saving water at home, work, and in their communities.
Takes a community to support mental health and wellbeing
The why of becoming a Mental Health Instructor explained.
Mental health awareness week 13-18 May
The theme is communities, they can provide a sense of belonging, safety, support in hard times, and a sense purpose.
Mental health support on the rise but workers still struggling
CIOB Understanding Mental Health in the Built Environment 2025 shows.
Design and construction material libraries
Material, sample, product or detail libraries a key component of any architectural design practice.
Construction Products Reform Green Paper and Consultation
Still time to respond as consultation closes on 21 May 2025.
Resilient façade systems for smog reduction in Shanghai
A technical approach using computer simulation and analysis of solar radiation, wind patterns, and ventilation.