FORD ECO-TOWN: Eco-fight goes to Parliament next week

A delegation from Communities Against Ford Eco-Town will make the journey to London on Monday.

They will be met at the House of Commons by MPs Nick Herbert (Arundel and South Downs) and Nick Gibb (Bognor Regis and Littlehampton).

The residents will be joined by representatives of groups fighting similar proposals for new 'green' developments around the country.

The parliamentary lobby will be followed by a meeting at the Commons.

A panel of speakers will be invited to air their views. Caroline Flint, the government's housing minister, has been invited to attend.

During the visit, CAFE will also present its formal submission to the government's consultation on eco-towns at the Department for Communities and Local Government.

CAFE co-chairman and Yapton resident Terry Knott said: "In eight short weeks, nearly 10,000 people have marched and signed our petition to protest against the so-called eco-town at Ford."

CAFE co-chairman and Yapton resident Terry Knott said: "In eight short weeks, nearly 10,000 people have marched and signed our petition to protest against the so-called eco-town at Ford.

"This is democracy in action. We need and want 'green' houses but we ask that local planners decide where and how."

Fellow Yapton resident Vicky Newman, CAFE's vice-chairman, stated: "Local councils should be designating land use - not Whitehall. This is compulsory planning not democratic discussion."

Mr Gibb said the lobby would send a powerful message to Ms Flint about the widespread concerns which surround eco-towns.

Mr Herbert added: "I hope the government will listen to CAFE very carefully and drop Ford from the final shortlist."

Ford is among 15 possible sites for an eco-town.

Traffic concerns. See next page.

The final ten locations will be selected in October. The Ford proposals are for 5,000 homes, business premises, new schools and health and leisure facilities.

It is claimed it will be carbon neutral and residents encouraged to walk and cycle inside the settlement and use public transport for journeys further afield.

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Concerns have been raised that local roads will face traffic chaos if a proposed eco-town is built at Ford without also funding an A27 by-pass at Arundel.

It follows the publication of a report by the government-appointed eco-town challenge panel on Monday, which recommends the proposers of the Ford scheme abandon investigations into funding the by-pass 'as it is not consistent with sustainable principles'.

The challenge panel, comprising 12 'experts' from the worlds of design, 'green' transport and television, was appointed by the government to challenge the developers of eco-towns to meet the highest standards possible for sustainability and design in their final proposals.

Their analysis of the Ford site, which they describe as "challenging", includes several recommendations to the proposers about how to improve their bid to achieve this, including dropping plans for an A27 by-pass.

This goes against the findings of Arun District Council's select committee into the eco-town which said a firm commitment to the bypass had to be given for the housing to be built.

Ian Sumnall, Arun's chief executive, said: "The select committee looked long and hard into the Ford proposals and one of their main concerns was that an influx of between 10-12,000 more people to the area would push an already strained transport network beyond breaking point.

"That said, the challenge panel are completely correct in observing that an 'eco' settlement should not involve more cars and carbon emissions, and seem to have highlighted a large contradiction between the ethos of an eco-town and the reality of delivering it at Ford.

"The developers agreed at the select committee inquiry that further development of the A27 was needed in order to deliver their scheme successfully, so it will be interesting to see how they react to the challenge panel's recommendation."

But he said he was disappointed the panel failed to highlight that large scale movement of lorries to feed the energy from waste scheme proposed for the eco-town also went against environmental principles.

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