4 0 Planning in London

ECO-TOWNS | NEIL SINDEN

Ec o - t ow n s :reconciling env i ro n m e n tand deve l o p m e n t ?Neil Sinden reminds us that 60 ye a rs ago A n e u rin Bevan said:“In the next year or sowe will be judged by the number of houses we have put up. But in ten ye a rs we willbe judged by the quality of those homes”.These wo rds resonate more stro n g ly nowthan ever befo re .

Neil Sinden is policydirector, CPRE

Neil Sinden has beenPolicy Director of theCampaign to ProtectRural England (CPRE)since April 2002. He was amember of theGovernment’s AffordableRural HousingCommission andpreviously Head of Policyand Research at the urbanregeneration charityROOM where hemanaged theG o v e r n m e n t - f u n d e dPositive Planning Project.He has also worked forthe arts and environmentcharity Common Ground,with whom he organisedthe first national AppleDay in 1990. Neil is akeen cyclist and lives withhis partner and 3 childrenin east London.

The Government’s e c o - t o w n sinitiative has stimulated a frenzy ofactivity by hopeful developers aroundthe country. It appears that 57 bidshad been received for eco-townstatus by the end of October, thedeadline set for submissions followingthe publication of by DCLG of its Eco-towns Prospectus. The Prime Ministersubsequently announced that theoriginal plans for five eco-townswould now be doubled to ten, with atleast one in every region. Sosuccessful has the initiative been instimulating interest, Minsters are nowtalking of eco-villages, eco-regionsand even eco-quarters.

All together, the ten eco-townsare expected to provide up to200,000 homes. They are a small butintegral part of the Government’saspiration to deliver 3m new homesby 2020. While the details of theselection process are obscure, anannouncement of those bids that arelikely to proceed is expected inFebruary. The Prospectus set outbroad criteria which are being used tojudge the proposals. It states thateco-towns should be new settle-ments ‘separate and distinct fromexisting towns but well linked tothem’, and that they should beadditional to existing plans, with 30-50 per cent of the housing beingaffordable. Other considerationsinclude: how far they meet zero-carbon and other environmentalstandards; design quality andcommunity involvement – to besecured, in part, through a ‘ideascompetition’ announced by theHousing Minister, Yvette Cooper, inOctober involving local people andcitizens’ juries; and the use of brown-field land.

While CPRE welcomes the focuson the environmental implications ofhousing growth, before getting toocarried away with all this talk of eco-this and eco-that, it’s worth pausingto consider the wider context. First,the challenge posed by climatechange is immense. It is now increas-ingly clear that, to keep the impactsof climate change within manageable

parameters, we will need to achievean 80 per cent reduction in carbonemissions (on 1990 levels) by 2050.The Government’s Climate ChangeBill is a big step forward but wehaven’t even begun to address itsimplications of for land use andlifestyles.

The Government’s commitmentto ensuring all new homes are zero-

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ECO-TOWNS | NEIL SINDEN

carbon by 2016 is also welcome.Retrofitting existing stock will also beimportant, with 27 per cent of theUK’s total CO2 emissions currentlycoming from the domestic housingsector. The new Energy PerformanceCertificates can play a valuable role inthis regard. We must also look athow we can reduce the carbonfootprint of existing settlements. Keyto this will be a focus on reducing caruse and increasing accessibility toessential facilities by other transportmodes, rather than continuing topromote mobility for the sake of it.

There is also an important

environmental agenda beyond theissue of climate change –seriousthough this is. CPRE has spearheadedcampaigns to promote the morequalitative aspects of the environ-mental agenda, what some havedescribed as the ‘soft currency’ issues,including rural tranquillity, landscapecharacter, urban intrusion, and localdistinctiveness. All these things makea vital contribution to the quality oflife and of our surroundings.

CPRE’s pioneering work ontranquillity – one of the things peoplesay they most value about thecountryside, the sense of peace and

quiet and the opportunity to ‘getaway from it all’ – is of particularnote. Detailed maps for the whole ofEngland produced in 2006 reveal howa range of landscape featurescontribute or detract from a sense oftranquillity. This research has addedgreatly to our understanding of howpeople experience the countryside.We now need to develop and applythe tranquillity mapping methodol-ogy to help guide new development,including the eco-towns.

We have also recently examinedthe extent of urban and suburbanintrusion across the country. CPRE’s

‘intrusion maps’ published inSeptember last year show (below)the expansion of urban areas, thegrowth of the road network and theincrease in traffic levels, and theresulting visual and noise disturbancethat has extended across the face ofEngland over the last 40 years or so.It is estimated that just over 50 percent of the country is disturbed bythe sight and sound of nearby roads,urban areas and other major infra-structure – more than double theextent of urban intrusion in the early1960s. If we’re not careful much ofthe remaining half of the country

4 2 Planning in London

ECO-TOWNS | NEIL SINDEN

could be blighted by the end of thecentury. The implications of thesechanges in the character of thecountry are important when consid-ering the role and location of newe c o - t o w n s .

So the environmental pressureswe face are considerable and extendbeyond the immediate challenge ofclimate change. We also face greatchallenges in meeting our housingneeds. CPRE recognises the need toincrease housing supply and weparticularly welcome theGovernment’s recent decision toboost investment in social housing.We must pursue a needs-based, plan-led approach to housing supply,based on a critical assessment ofdemographic information, ratherthan on spurious economic model-ling. This plan-led approach must lookat the best strategic options forhousing delivery which first considersthe potential for urban and suburbanrenaissance – including in the marketrenewal areas and then, if necessary,the option of sustainable urbanextensions.

CPRE has congratulated theGovernment on its achievements insecuring more than 70 per cent ofnew housing on brownfield landconsistently for the past seven years– against its original target of at least60 per cent by 2008. But there is somuch more to do to extend theurban renaissance. The National LandUse Database records enough previ-ously developed land to accommo-

date more than one million homes. Research for CPRE published this

year showed that great capacity alsoexists from smaller brownfield sitesbelow one hectare – not counted inthe NLUD – and windfall sites whichare responsible for up to 90 per centof housing in some areas. London hasenough small sites close to towncentres to accommodate 60,000 newhomes. Only after the options ofurban renewal and, where necessaryurban extensions, have beenthoroughly explored should consider-ation be given to freestanding neweco-towns. These should be verymuch the option of last resort andmay not be justified in every region.

So what kind of criteria wouldCPRE want to be applied to the devel-opment of the eco-towns wherethere is a proven need for them? Firstand foremost, their location will becritical, particularly with respect toexisting settlements. There is noreason why they have to befreestanding new settlements uncon-nected from existing ones. And whilethey should use brownfield land, itshould be recognised that not allbrownfield sites are in suitablelocations for development.

Second, it is also important thatthese settlements are exemplars ofmixed use development – linkingemployment and housing, forexample, in new ways taking accountof the radical changes in workingpatterns we are likely to see overcoming years. We also need radical

improvements in the quality ofhousing design, and should questiontraditional approaches to density,making sure we avoid the mono-tenure, type and size of housing ofthe past, embracing co-housing andlifetime homes. At least 50 per centof housing in eco-towns should begenuinely affordable. As exemplars,eco-towns must adopt cutting edgeenvironmental standards in thedesign of buildings and neighbour-hoods – contributing to targets forcarbon reduction, achieving highlevels of waste recycling, andminimising demand for water, energyand primary aggregates.

Eco-towns should embrace alter-natives to the car-based models ofdevelopment. They should includecar-free neighbourhoods, wherewalking and cycling are planned foras the primary, even the exclusivemeans of getting around. The eco-town initiative should learn fromJohn Prescott’s five ‘millenniumvillages’, although it is not clear thesehave achieved a significant cut in caruse. Using previously developed land

adjacent to or within existing settle-ments will help discourage card e p e n d e n c y .

Careful thought needs to be givento the green space around andbetween buildings. There is likely tobe a strong case for the designationof new areas of Green Belt tomanage and contain development.This could provide the potential forlocal food production, and protectand enhance existing landscapefeatures, creating local distinctivenessand a sense of place. Eco-townsshould also provide mechanisms forcommunity involvement in the longterm management of the publicrealm to stimulate a sense of belong-i n g .

The success of the eco-townsinitiative will depend to a greatextent on public involvement both insecuring a consensus on the need forthem, and in their layout and design.While the involvement of citizens’juries in assessing proposals iswelcome, it would be a huge mistaketo attempt to design a town fromscratch on a drawing board with no

THE ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGE

Climate Change Bill - 80% target by 2050zero-carbon homes and retrofittingreducing footprint of existing settlementsreducing car travel and increasing accessibilitybeyond carbon – tranquillity, urban intrusion,local distinctiveness and quality of life

HOUSING THE NATION

Housing Green Paper – step change in supplyinvestment in affordable housingneeds-based approach, not market-drivenurban and suburban renaissanceurban extensions – Green Belt boundariesnew settlements as last resort

London has enough small sites close to town centres to accommodate 60,000 new homes.

local knowledge. And using citizens’juries is no substitute for consultinglocal communities on the need for,location and design of eco-townsthrough the established planningprocess. There is growing disquietabout the Government’s widerplanning reforms which actuallyreduce opportunities for effectivecommunity involvement. We mustregain the public confidence inplanning that is so essential to thedelivery of sustainable development.

Plans for eco-towns will fail unlessthey are well integrated with existingsettlements and agreed with, notimposed on, local communities. Theproposals should be assessed throughthe established planning process,ensuring that evidence of need is fullytested, the views of local communi-ties are considered, and properconsideration is given to the environ-mental consequences.

On the eve of the last greathousebuilding boom over 60 years

ago, Aneurin Bevan, said: ‘We mustnot only build quickly, we must buildwell. In the next year or so we will bejudged by the number of houses wehave put up. But in ten years we willbe judged by the quality of those

homes’. These words resonate morestrongly now than ever before.Today’s Ministers and their advisorsshould bear them in mind as theydrive forward the eco-towns initia-t i v e .

ECO-TOWNS | NEIL SINDEN

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CRITERIA FOR SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES

location, location, locationlinking employment and housing- mixed usetackling transport – car-free, walking and cyclinghigher density, mixed housing, flexible designgreen infrastructure, local foods and Green Beltsense of place and belonginglong term management of public realm

THE PLANNING PROCESS AND SEA

effective strategic planning – need for housingpublic involvement and consensusSEA of alternative options – concentration,sustainable urban extensions

the case for freestanding new settlementsenvironmental capacity – tranquillity etcfocus on quality as much as quantity

ENGAGING LOCAL COMMUNITIES

a bottom-up approachplanning for real/enquiry by design– Northampton/Basildonplanning and public consensusfaith in the plan-led processthe local planning policy gap

URBAN RENAISSANCE - WORK IN PROGRESS

brownfield reuse – untapped potentialdesign and density – limited progress millennium villages – what can we learnlow carbon villages – ARHC reportspatial efficiency - linking transport and land use