Legality of eco town proposals questioned

23 July 2008
 
The Government’s eco town vision suffered further setbacks this week, after leading lawyers questioned the legality of the planning approach, and plans for a site in Cambridgeshire received a ‘major blow’.

Lawyers representing the Local Government Association concluded that there were ‘sound grounds’ for seeking judicial review of the proposed eco town Planning Policy Statement (PPS). ~

John Steel QC and James Strachan said: ‘There does not appear to be any compelling justification or rationale for seeking to promote eco towns outside the existing, statutory plan-led system, other than the Government’s wish to avoid the system due to the need for proper scrutiny, which takes time.’

They said the Government’s intention to rely on new PPS policy, to be published later this year after consultation, ‘appears to be designed to circumvent the normal plan-led process’.

Nothing about an eco town made it exceptional as compared with the requirements now imposed on housing development generally, the lawyers added. ‘We consider that the proposed eco town PPS is likely to be unlawful,’ they said.

Sir Simon Milton, chairman of the Local Government Association, said: ‘This expert advice supports our arguments that the approach the Government is adopting is deeply flawed.’

Meanwhile, a major landowner has decided against forming a partnership to build a proposed site in Cambridgeshire. The decision, by charity the Wellcome Trust, not to become a partner in the Hanley Grange eco town submission was welcomed by Cambridgeshire County Council, which had been campaigning against the plans.

The 270 acres of land owned by the trust will not now form part of the proposals, meaning developer Jarrow Investments will have to reassess the scheme.

Councillor Matt Bradney, Cambridgeshire’s cabinet member for growth and infrastructure, said: ‘This represents a major blow to the plans for an eco town at Hanley Grange, as it reduces the land by one-third.’ Proposals for eco towns in Curborough in Staffordshire, Manby in Lincolnshire, and New Marston in Bedfordshire have already been withdrawn.

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