Green building sector celebrates eco-town approval

The government has given the go-ahead to four new eco-towns, as part of its plan to build more low-carbon housing in Britain.

The new towns will be built at Rackheath in Norfolk, Bicester in Oxfordshire, Whitehill Bordon in Hampshire and the China Clay Community near St Austell, Cornwall.

Originally, Gordon Brown announced plans for 10 eco-towns, but local protests to plans and legal challenges have hindered progress.

The four schemes given the go-ahead have the conditional approval of local authorities, according to the government, though they will still face difficulties passing through local planning processes.

Housing minister John Healey wants to see a second wave of at least six eco-towns and is making up to £5m available for councils to conduct further planning work on proposals. Another two sites in Essex and Yorkshire are still developing their proposals.

Gordon Brown today welcomed the decision, claiming that "eco-towns will help to relieve the shortage of affordable homes to rent and buy and to minimise the effects of climate change on a major scale."

Brown also reiterated the government's commitment to ensuring all new buildings from 2016 will have to meet tough zero-carbon standards.

Houses in the towns will be built at level four of the Code for Sustainable Homes, which sets strict standards on energy efficiency, recycling, water efficiency and pollution levels. The new buildings will also have to be equipped with smart meters and micro-generation technologies such as solar panels and small scale wind turbines.

The new communities will also have common heat sources and charging points for electric cars and will be within 10 minutes' walk of frequent public transport.

Conservative shadow housing minister Grant Shapps attacked the government's decision, arguing that far from being environmentally friendly, the new developments would eat into green field sites. "Many of these schemes are unsustainable, unviable and unpopular, but Gordon Brown wants to impose them from Whitehall irrespective of local opinion," he said.

But Paul King, chief executive of the Green Building Council, welcomed the moves, arguing that they provided evidence that the government remained committed to cutting emissions across the building sector.

"Government's renewed commitment to zero-carbon homes provides all-important consistency of direction, while responding to genuine industry concerns," he said. "The government has rightly said that of all the challenges facing the housebuilding industry, carbon reduction is not something that can be compromised."