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Developing eco-towns

Eco-towns will be designed to have energy-efficient homes, good public transport and facilities like schools, health centres, parks and allotments.

Eco-towns will also provide affordable housing for first-time buyers and young families and offer businesses space to grow. There are potential benefits for existing communities too, like higher quality jobs, new green infrastructure and regeneration - for example, redeveloping land.

Eco-town development will be led by local communities interested in having higher standards of sustainability and design including zero carbon homes and green space.

These locally-led sustainable communities will make the best use of natural resources and plan to offer residents:

• ‘real-time’ public transport information in every home – for example, live timetables and departures
  
• ‘smart’ meters to keep an eye on how much energy you’re using
  
• renewable energy from the sun, wind and earth to power homes and businesses
  
• public transport and services - for example, shops and schools - within a short walking distance of every home
  
• parks, playgrounds and gardens (at least 40 per cent of the town’s area will be green space)
  

Eco-town standards

Tough standards mean that eco-town homes and other buildings are more environmentally friendly and should be cheaper to run in the long term.

Standards for eco-towns cover things like carbon emissions, employment, transport, local services, green infrastructure, biodiversity, water, flood risk, waste, healthy living and landscapes.

The aim of eco-towns is to create sustainable developments that have:

• smart meters to track energy use, community heat sources and charging points for electric cars
  
• smart, efficient homes that get energy from the sun, wind and earth
  
• resident-controlled heat and ventilation, and the ability to sell surplus energy into the grid
  
• homes located within a 10-minute walk of frequent public transport and everyday neighbourhood services
  
• parks, playgrounds and gardens that will make up 40 per cent of the developments
  
• paths and cycle ways
• car trips will make up less than half of all journeys
  
• low and zero carbon buildings, including shops, schools, restaurants and public buildings
  

Potential eco-town sites

There are 15 local authorities and partnerships leading eco-development and eco-town projects. These projects are at different stages and are subject to local planning decisions and community discussions on whether they are the right locations for eco-developments.

The first potential locations for eco-towns are:

• North West Bicester
  
• St Austell
  
• Whitehill-Bordon
  
• Rackheath

The second wave of potential eco-town locations are:

• Shoreham Harbour
  
• Northstowe (Cambridgeshire)
  
• Taunton (Monkton Heathfield)
  
• Yeovil
  
• Leeds City Region (Aire Valley, York North West, North Kirklees and Bradford-Shipley Canal Corridor)
  
• Lincoln (Lincoln area and Gainsborough)
  
• Cornwall
  
• Sheffield City Region (Dearne Valley, South Yorkshire)
  
• Cranbrook
  
• Fareham
  
• Haven Gateway

There are also some developments already in England that have been designed for eco-living. For example, Upton (in Northampton) and the zero-carbon BedZED community in Surrey have been developed to be more sustainable and allow greener living.

Useful contacts

• Environment and Greener Living contacts