Eco Towns

The following information is drawn from the Directgov. website and outlines the ideas behind Eco Towns.

Eco-towns are proposed new communities to provide between 5,000 and 15,000 new homes. As well as being affordable, well-designed, well-built and 'green', they will be well linked to existing towns and have facilities such as schools, health centres, parks and allotments.

Why eco-towns?

The advantages of eco-towns are:
* they will help relieve the need for new housing
* at least 30 per cent of housing will be affordable
* the housing will be of a high quality
* they are designed to be environmentally friendly to tackle climate change, as well as being attractive communities to live in

How are eco-towns ‘green'?

Everyday actions - like heating your home or driving your car - consume energy and produce greenhouse gas emissions, such as carbon dioxide, which contribute to climate change. Strict environmental building standards and low carbon energy sources will be used to make sure that eco-towns have the minimum impact on the environment.

Setting standards

Rigorous standards are being proposed to make sure eco-towns are greener developments. These are the toughest environmental standards ever set for new developments in the UK:
* homes and buildings will be specially designed and built so that they need less energy to run - making them cheaper for residents, as well as more environmentally friendly
* net carbon dioxide emissions across all the buildings within an ecotown, measured over a year, should be zero or less than zero (because the carbon dioxide emissions will be offset by local green energy production using energy sources like wind or solar power)

Using low energy sources

Eco-towns will use a range of low and zero carbon energy sources:
* natural sources within the town such as wind and solar energy
* methods which use energy which could otherwise be wasted such as combined heat and power plants

As well as lowering energy consumption, eco-towns should also use measures to:
* minimise water use
* reduce waste

Living ‘green'

Eco-towns will be planned so the local community lives in a greener environment. There will be lots of green space where children can play and residents can take a walk and enjoy the open air (in fact, 40 per cent of every eco-town must be green space - at least half of which must be open to the public).

In addition:
* each eco-town will have schools, shops, businesses and community facilities that you can walk to - or are just a short ride away by public transport
* there will be a variety of transport and travel options to promote alternatives to car journeys
* a minimum of one job per household should be available which can be reached using public transport, by bicycle or on foot

The history of new communities

The UK has a strong tradition of creating new towns and cities when the population grows and people need more homes. In response, architects, town planners and engineers have built new communities, from the great public buildings in Victorian times, through to the new towns in the post-war era, like Welwyn Garden City and Milton Keynes. There are already some eco developments in England. Poundbury, a development to the west of Dorchester in Dorset, has been designed for eco-living and features eco-homes. Other eco developments include Upton in Northampton and the zero-carbon BedZED community in Surrey.

Eco-towns around the world

Successful eco-towns are being created across the world to help tackle global warming. There are already similar developments in Sweden and Germany. Other countries are working on developments which follow strict environmental standards. Eco-towns will make the UK part of a global effort to produce affordable, environmentally friendly homes.

(c) Directgov 2009 - www.direct.gov.uk/ecotowns

The Big Green Idea is not a political organisation and is not for or against Eco Towns.