Eco-town rethink call ahead of demo

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The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) said many of the 15 shortlisted schemes are recycled conventional development proposals and there is a "worrying lack of evidence" they will offer sustainable lifestyles.

CPRE's head of planning, Marina Pacheco, urged the Government to focus instead on one or two "truly exemplary" schemes, which are sited in the right place to be sustainable and could be developed to the best green standards.

The CPRE voiced its concerns as campaigners against nine of the proposals headed to London to protest against the plans and present a petition against them to 10 Downing Street.

Groups from Staffordshire, Essex, Norfolk, West Sussex, Cambridgeshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Bedfordshire, Leicestershire and Oxfordshire will demonstrate outside Parliament.

Author Jilly Cooper has thrown her backing behind the Bard campaign, which is opposing the development of an eco-town near Stratford upon Avon.

David Bliss, chairman of the Bard campaign, said local residents are concerned about issues such as the traffic implications of the potential 6,000-home development - which he said is some four miles from the nearest B-road.

He said the local community is not being consulted on the proposals, and the campaign has commissioned its own sustainability study in order to help people make a fair judgment.

Last week, the panel of experts appointed to look at the shortlisted eco-town proposals said many needed to do more to improve their environmental standing on issues such as transport.

And a report from the Local Government Association warned they risked becoming "eco-slums" with poor transport links and a lack of available jobs without more involvement from local councils in their planning.