U-turn over eco-town (From The Oxford Times)

U-turn over eco-town

11:54am Thursday 6th November 2008 in

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A NEW eco-settlement could be built in Oxfordshire without adding many thousands of homes to the number the Government wants built in the county.

A proposed eco-extension to Bicester mooted as an alternative to the controversial Weston Otmoor eco-town settlement looks to have sparked a major U-turn in Government housing policy.

Plans to create up to 5,000 new green homes on the north-western edge of Bicester were put forward this week in a late bid to sink the scheme to build a giant settlement near Weston-on-the-Green.

The Government sparked celebrations across the county by accepting the idea that a far smaller eco-development on the edge of Bicester could better fit the housing needs of Oxfordshire.

A scheme for an eco-development in Bicester on land at Howes Lane and Lords Lane was this week submitted by Cherwell District Council, which said it could be the centrepiece of the town’s future development.

And Cherwell said the extra homes would not mean further unwanted housing growth in the county — because the development would be included in the total of new 13,400 homes which the Government wants built in Cherwell over the next 20 years.

The 15,000 homes proposed at Weston Otmoor would have been on top of Cherwell’s required figure of 13,400.

The Government caused widespread surprise on Tuesday by including the Bicester eco-extension proposal on a new national shortlist of 12 eco-town schemes.

Cherwell had missed the first stage of the bidding. And although the council is yet to draw up any kind of detailed plans, the Government gave the Bicester proposal a better rating than the Weston Otmoor scheme three miles away near the M40-A34 junction. Two Weston Otmoor masterplans have already been drawn up by developer Parkridge and both have been bitterly opposed.

The Bicester eco-extension plan was given a grade B ranking by the Government this week, the same as nine other conceptual eco-towns, meaning the scheme was considered to have potential “subject to meeting specific planning and design objectives”.

But Weston Otmoor received only a C rating, with the Government admitting that the site was almost entirely greenfield, with 30 per cent falling within the Green Belt. The Government report also recognised that it incorporated historic woodland and was close to a congested road junction.

Housing Minister Margaret Beckett this week apologised to MPs for the Government’s original statement that the Weston Otmoor site was a brownfield one.

Michael Gibbard, the Cherwell portfolio holder for planning, said: “The devlopment of a free-standing, unplanned new town like Weston Otmoor would harm the successful long-term development of Bicester. It makes much more sense to develop homes with eco credentials within the framework of our existing plans for new housing.”

Parkridge director Roger Sporle said the company remained confident that it would meet Government criteria for an eco-town.

He said: “The sustainability appraisal published this week is only a draft.

“It says Weston Otmoor can be suitable for an eco-town if it has substantial and exceptional innovation. Our investment in public transport infrastructure is exactly that and sets us apart from many other bids.”

Dr Helena Whall, Oxfordshire campaign manager for CPRE (Campaign to Protect Rural England), said: “Whether the urban extension is needed overall, or should be given an ‘eco-wrapper’ or not, needs to be debated.”