This month: the art of bidding for Euro cash, eco-towns, plus, Tarzan takes a swing at Lyons

Trevor Beattie, head of corporate strategy at English Partnerships, organised the meeting that was due to take place after Regenerate went to press. He said: “The aim is to ensure that we don’t all fall over each other bidding for schemes. It needs to be co-ordinated so that we make the most of the opportunity.”

As Regenerate reported in February, the EIB is running Jessica on behalf of the European Commission. The aim is to use the available 90bn euros in urban regeneration funding over the next six years as an investment which will pull in additional private sector funds as opposed to the more traditional approach of EC cash simply being given as a grant. One possible plan that the South East England Development Agency is understood to be working on is to apply for funding through the Jessica programme that it could use for providing infrastructure. SEEDA declined to comment.

• The proposals by chancellor Gordon Brown to build five “eco towns” and to increase the numbers of affordable and social housing if he becomes the next prime minister were welcomed by the regeneration sector. The Chartered Institute of Housing pointed to the "high priority" Brown had given to housing in his first speeches to launch his bid to be the next leader of the Labour Party. A source in DCLG said: "I am absolutely delighted with what Gordon Brown had to say. This is a future prime minister saying he wants to build environmentally sustainable housing… It chimes very well with our agenda on housing growth."

• Residential development in the Thames Gateway could be put into the hands of a list of “approved partners” if the recommendations of a Housing Corporation-backed review aimed at raising design quality are taken up.

The review, chaired by government adviser Dr Tim Williams and first reported by Regenerate in February, also recommends that: partners have approval for between two and five years; housing schemes are audited on their design quality; and developers of poorly designed schemes are removed from the approved list.

The corporation is now looking at how the review’s recommendations can be taken forward.

Williams said: “Some of the detail has yet to be worked out.

I don’t think we have an idea for the number of partners on the list. That will be determined by the range of skills-sets. This is not just about housing associations, it is about architects and private developers as well.”

It also emerged that design watchdog Cabe is to look at the quality of homes built by affordable housing providers.

• Former environment secretary Lord Heseltine has rubbished government plans to attract more and better councillors and has called for the posts of council chief executive and council leader to be combined in order to attract better candidates.

Heseltine – in a speech at the Regeneration and Renewal Conference in London earlier this month – also offered a taste of what may result from the Cities Task Force that he is chairing on behalf of Conservative leader David Cameron.

Referring to the Lyons Review of local government and the government's commission on councillors, Heseltine said: “I heard what Sir Michael Lyons said about getting better councillors – forget it. You are not going to get the swathe of councillors that are needed to deliver the vision that he and government are talking about.”

He added that people were now often part of two-income households and would not give up well-paid jobs to stand for election as a councillor. His Cities Task Force is due to report at the end of this year.