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Eco-towns to face tough green standards
Housing Minister Caroline Flint unveiled a progess report on eco-towns and set out the government’s latest proposals for the UK’s toughest ever green standards for new housing.
Underlining the government’s determination that only the best quality schemes with very high sustainability standards should qualify for eco-town status, the standards being developed are set to include:
Achieving zero carbon status across all the town’s buildings, including commercial and public buildings as well as homes – a significantly tougher threshold than any existing or agreed targets.
Allocating 40 per cent of land within the town to be green space, at least half of which should be open to the public as parks or recreation areas
Providing a minimum of 30 per cent affordable housing to provide more homes for social rent and assist those struggling to get on the housing ladder
Creating more options for travel and reducing residents’ reliance on the car to enable the majority of journeys to be made by sustainable transport, such as public transport, walking and cycling
Ensuring a minimum of one job per house can be reached by sustainable transport to reduce dependence on the car
Locating the average home within 10 minutes walk of frequent public transport and everyday neighbourhood services
Raising the threshold for individual homes so that they must all achieve at least level 4 of the Code for Sustainable Homes, which includes standards for household waste recycling, construction waste, water efficiency measures and reduced pollution
Housing Minister Caroline Flint said: “These would be the toughest standards ever set out for new development and demonstrate that there will be no compromise on quality with eco-towns.
“We need to build more homes in this country, but given that housing contributes 27 per cent of our carbon emissions we must also take this opportunity to trial new ways of tackling climate change. In both cases, doing nothing is not an option,” Ms Flint went on to say.
The Eco-towns - Living A Greener Future: Progress Report is available at www.communities.gov.uk/ecotowns.
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