Leicester Eco-Town.

Update 3rd April 2008

I am furious that Pennbury has been included on the eco-town shortlist. This is planning fascism plain and simple. There are no good reasons for this project and no local support whatsoever. This has been clearly demonstrated by all those who have done a sterling job of opposing this development, not least all the fine work CASCET has done.

This is a venomous political decision which is trying to force 15,000 houses where they are neither appropriate nor necessary. It runs contrary to all the development plans for Leicestershire which have come out in the last 10-20 years.

It is now time to start phase two of this fight and to continue to contest this unwelcome and unnecessary plan.

21st January 2008

I am strongly opposed to this proposed eco-town near Houghton on the Hill. No formal planning proposal has yet been submitted but it is quite clear that this is imminent. 

The Co-op proposal is for 12-15,000 houses on land which is largely owned by them and by English Partnerships, and which will include the airfield nearby.

I can understand that eco-towns, in principal, may be desirable if they lead to an environmentally sustainable community which is established in an appropriate setting, but they need to be in the right place.

Although this is in its early stages and is but one of a number of bids for eco-town status, with no guarantee that it will be accepted by the Government, I nonetheless have some serious about the proposal and about the planning procedures that might be invoked to force it through.

First, it does not appear to be in the right place.  The area around Houghton and Stoughton, although not technically Green Belt, is a precious rural strip around the edge of Leicester and any building on it would inevitably change the whole nature of the city’s boundaries.  It is a crucial stretch of agricultural land which should be protected as the 'lung' around the city.

Second, the communications infrastructure is already seriously stretched and it appears inconceivable that it could cope with another 15,000 houses.  The roads are inadequate for the existing population, and would be even more so for another 20-30,000 people squeezed into the area.

Third, I am extremely concerned that eco-towns will qualify under the Planning Bill for fast track planning permission in a way that bypasses the local planning authority and existing regional plans, and places the decision in the hands of an unelected quango called the Planning Commission. Even worse, the Government might, it seems, invoke New Town powers which have been dormant since the 1960s in order to ram this through.

In a nutshell this is an undemocratic proposal under which the Co-op wishes to cram 15-20,000 houses into an unsuitable place.

I have met the Co-op twice to find out the facts; I have attended two public meetings in Billesdon and a protest outside the Co-op shop in Houghton; and have requested an urgent meeting with the new housing minister, Caroline Flint.

I am working very closely with my fellow MP, Edward Garnier, whose Harborough constituency is equally affected, and also with the campaigning group CASCET

http://www.save-england.net/main-site.asp

Edward initiated an adjournment debate in the Commons on Tuesday 29th January in which he comprehensively demolished the Co-op's case for this 'eco-town'.  I enclose a copy of that debate.

Click here for Cascet protest slideshow.