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Ecotowns: another setback
Construction of the UK Government's first prototype eco town has been postponed by at least a year in light of the economic downturn.
Another setback has hit the doomed eco towns. A month ago, it was announced that only one of the 12 shortlisted eco towns had met the government's criteria. Now, the first prototype eco town is to be delayed by at least a year because of the credit crisis.
Work on Northstowe near Cambridge, England, will now not begin next year as planned and the first houses are unlikely to be built until at least the end of 2010.
Described as ‘offering the opportunity to achieve high standards of sustainable living while also maximising the potential for affordable housing,' eco towns are planned for 10 sites across the UK.
The Northstowe Delivery Board, which is responsible for overseeing the building of the eco town prototype, said that the decision has been taken because of unfavourable market conditions, the difficulty and cost of obtaining credit, and the complexity of the project on the site of a disused airfield.
The stalling of the project highlights the huge impact the economic downturn is having on house building in general.
The eco town prototype is still said to be going ahead - so it has been postponed rather than cancelled altogether but it has been suggested that the Government is scaling down its eco-town plans because of opposition to the developments and concerns that they cannot meet the promised environmental credentials.
A planned eco town in Long Marsden near Stratford Upon Avon has already hit difficulties after campaigners won a court case forcing a judicial review of the plans.
They argued that the development of 6,000 houses, leisure and retail facilities and a railway will fail in its eco agenda. Campaigners have also argued the development will spoil the area, which lies adjacent to the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
In related news, yesterday's pre budget report, new measures were announced to help households cut down on energy wastage and meet their fuel bills more easily.
Gareth Kloet, energy expert at Confused.com, said, “There's already some strong support available from the Government and following the pre-budget announcements it would appear that these will now help even more households in the UK.
“However, whilst it's pleasing to see the issues of energy costs and usage being addressed at Government level, it's up to everyone to take responsibility.
"Household consumption of energy has increased substantially in the last 30 years. Just as an example, the average temperature in a UK home in the 1970's was 12 degrees centigrade, in 2006 it was 18 degrees centigrade and it is not only central heating that's increased our energy consumption.
"Household gadgets like fridges, washer dryers, dish washers, large screen televisions and air conditioning units, all eat up energy. Not only is energy costing us more, we're using more of it.
"If we're all to continue to enjoy using technology to make our lives easier, we must also be prepared to be smarter about how we use energy and how we can conserve it," added Mr Kloet.
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