Housing minister unveils list of second wave eco-town proposals and releases £5m for councils to develop plans

The government has unveiled a list of nine second wave schemes being considered for eco-town status and released a further £5m to local authorities hoping to work up plans for the developments.

Housing minister John Healey said existing schemes, including Northstowe in Cambridge and Shoreham Harbour in West Sussex, were being considered.

As well as the schemes already in development, Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) said it would work with local authorities in Taunton, Yeovil, Leeds, South Yorkshire, Dearne Valley, and Cornwall to bring forward proposals under the eco-towns planning policy supplement (PPS).

Healey released another £5m to help interested parties work up their plans. In July, Healey unveiled the list of four first wave eco-towns which would share £60m in infrastructure funding. These were Whitehill-Bordon (Hampshire), St Austell (Cornwall), Rackheath (Norfolk) and North West Bicester (Oxfordshire).

Proposals for sustainable developments need to include 5,000 homes and demonstrate innovative ideas for how jobs, schools and services are delivered in low carbon ways that will help in the UK respond to climate change.

Healey said that the proposals signalled “real and radical momentum to change and to re-think how we design our towns and homes for the future”, ahead of the climate change talks in Copenhagen.

Meanwhile, the Town and Country Planning Association announced that Gideon Amos, chief executive and eco-town cheerleader and policymaker, was leaving the organisation for a government post.

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