FORD ECO-TOWN: forcing homes through the back door

Ministers' plans for a Ford ecotown could see thousands of extra homes being forced on the southeast through the backdoor, says the South East England Regional Assembly.
By The Newsroom
Published 17th Feb 2009, 10:32 BST
Updated 7th Jun 2018, 19:10 BST

The assembly wants to see the location and principle of the developments examined through the local and regional planning process in its response to the government's latest consultation on proposals for up to three eco-towns in the region.

The viability and cost of the towns needed to be tested as well, the assembly's members said, because it was questionable how the schemes would be delivered in the current economic climate.

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The assembly is concerned vital public funding for the southeast's transport, schools and health services could be diverted to the development of eco-towns.

Government is also called upon to apply the environmental principles of eco-towns, such as zero-carbon standards, to all new developments and make existing communities more sustainable.

Cllr Moira Gibson, the chairman of the assembly's planning committee, says: "We are concerned that the eco-towns project is government trying to shovel more homes through the back door, bypassing the normal planning process.

"It is important that funding for eco-towns' infrastructure and services is not taken away from the southeast's already overstretched pot.

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"Proposals for these new towns need to be tested through the planning process and should not be additional to the region's housing target."

The government has identified Ford as a potential site for 5,000 homes around the former airfield.

But the idea has provoked widespread protests.

These have been sustained during the latest consultation which closes on March 6. The assembly is a partnership of councils and communities around the south-east region.

It is made up of 112 members including elected councillors nominated by the region's local authorities and 37 representatives from other sectors of the community.

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