Eco-towns will push through big changes

December 21 2008

The question of whether the Co-operative Group’s proposed eco-town development is a modern equivalent of Owen’s community ideas was addressed by the Group’s Managing Director, Estates, Lynda Shillaw (pictured).

She said that in many ways both had a similar vision: “A town where people will want to live, can afford to live and will want to stay” being the 2008 vision put forward by the Group’s Eco-Town Team.

And that eco-town would be a community that was “radical and modern but rooted in values.” Ideas she felt that Owen would approve of.

Picking out specific common themes, Ms Shillaw highlighted the ideas of community and social inclusion, education and lifelong learning, health and lifestyle, equality, use of technology, quality of food and diet, a balance between the commercial and societal impact and a community of international reputation.

Acknowledging differences, she observed that while Owen aimed to influence government with his thoughts, the eco-town concept already had government support; whereas for Owen the Industrial Revolution had been a catalyst, eco-towns were now needed to deal with the impact of that change; Owen had no knowledge of, or need to worry about climate change; there were differences in scale and the success of an eco-town was dependent on consultation and public approval rather than it being a prescribed solution.

Ms Shillaw said that key challenges to be addressed included gaining political alignment and cross-party support at both national and local levels, being able to effectively communicate the vision and successfully managing the consultation process and securing community engagement.

Category: Retail Societies

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Kevin Feltham said 624 days ago:

An independent report on the strategic assessment of the impact of the Leicestershire eco-town proposed for 4,000 acres of Co-operative farmland has just been released (18 December 2008). This report was commissioned by the four local authorities involved in assessing Pennbury. Copies of the summary, and technical background papers, can be downloaded from www.oadby-wigston.gov.uk The Halcrow summary report criticises the Pennbury Masterplan Vision on a number of fronts, but especially on the lack of details for the jobs that will be created. This is a critical factor in building this community. The site lies over 30 minutes from the strategic road network, and employers are unlikely to prefer the eco-town site against sites closer to the M1, M69, M6 etc. This huge problem has not been addressed by the Estates team. It therefore leads to further impacts on the transport infrastructure, which without the employment prospects means more eco-town residents would commute on a poor road network surrounding Pennbury, and the proposed public bus system is unlikely to provide the sufficient rapid transit required to ensure it is the preferential transport mode. This strategic assessment, together with another independent report on the transport implications, due for release in January, make it highly unlikely that the local councils will support the proposed location or plans. These decisions will also be fed into the Regional Spatial Strategy mini-review, meaning it is highly unlikely the location would be supported from the Region either. The bid for the eco-town looks doomed, and the best way forward is for the Estates team to withdraw their bid and look for alternative ways to profit from the Stoughton Estate (e.g. food production!). Kevin Feltham (Leicestershire County Councillor)

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