St Modwen and the changing numbers

As mentioned in my previous post St Modwen don’t seem to know how many homes they had hoped to build on the failed eco-town site of Middle Quinton.  John Dodd, the Midlands regional director claimed only 500 homes were planned, but the Middle Quinton website developed and maintained by St Modwen and The Bird Group claimed 6000 homes were on the agenda.

So to clear up this confusion I have sent them the following email via the feedback portion of their website:

In your most recent press release John Dodd said:
“there appears to be some suspicion over the number of houses we are proposing. We can confirm that this planning application is for no more than 500 houses and the leisure/employment aspects of the site included within our application do not allow for more dense housing numbers.”

Could this be because on your Middle Quinton website you include this information:

” Who is going to buy the houses? Where are people going to come from?

2,000 homes will be affordable as defined by the local authorities (who have over 13,000 residents on their affordable lists). The other 4,000 will be built over a period of 12 or 15s year so we expect most people to come from the surrounding local areas. “

I think Mr Dodd will find 6000 to be a greater number than 500.  Since St Modwen released both sets of figures can Mr Dodd explain this discrepancy?

Yours sincerely,

Ian Weddell

I wonder what response I’ll get!

The eco-town farce rolls on

First, the good news is that the government has announced the 4 “eco-town” development sites they will be ruthlessly forcing through awaiting planning permission for and the disasterous Middle Quinton proposal is not in the final four!

The final four are:

• Rackheath, Norfolk
• north-west Bicester, Oxfordshire
• Whitehill Bordon, East Hants
• China Clay Community near St Austell, Cornwall.

from BBC News – Four sites to become ‘eco-towns’

The bad news, put into words brilliantly by David Bliss, Chairman of BARD:

“Taxpayers will be dismayed to learn that some 2 years and several million pounds later, the Government’s disastrous eco-town programme will result in around 19,000 new homes against its target of 240,000 by 2016. Rarely in the history of planning policy have so many resources been diverted for so long towards a programme that has delivered so little.

quoted from The BARD Campaign responds to the eco-town shortlist announcement

So for all the New Labour fans out there this means that Gordon Brown has delivered less than 8% (7.91% for those wanting 2 decimal places of accuracy) of the eco-homes he had promised.  The construction is scheduled to begin by 2016 which is later than proposed, and the plans are over budget.  There really is nothing more representative of our current government than a ” get less, for more, later than you expected” deal!

So now the fight goes on to stop these ill advised political housing developments and to encourage responsible building and a sensible look at both urban and rural housing needs and ways to mitigate their environmental impact.

Interestingly St Modwen have not responded yet, and the last press-release on their website is headed “St Modwen releases further details on Long Marston masterplan” in which John Dodds, Midlands regional director for St. Modwen commented:

there appears to be some suspicion over the number of houses we are proposing. We can confirm that this planning application is for no more than 500 houses and the leisure/employment aspects of the site included within our application do not allow for more dense housing numbers.

Here we have yet another example of the false information spread by the developers because on the “Middle Quinton a new eco-town” website (built and maintained by St Modwen and The Bird Group” in the FAQ section there is the following text:

Who is going to buy the houses? Where are people going to come from?

2,000 homes will be affordable as defined by the local authorities (who have over 13,000 residents on their affordable lists). The other 4,000 will be built over a period of 12 or 15s year so we expect most people to come from the surrounding local areas.

source Middle Quiton a new eco-town FAQ

The original document I saw Middle Quinton – A New Eco-town FAQ in PDF format

Now I’m no mathematical genius Mr Dodds, but when your own website suggests that 2000 homes will be defined affordable by the local authority, and another 4000 will be built on the site, I calculate that 6000 homes will be built.  Now, I’m pretty certain that unless you went to the Gordon Brown school of economic return 6000 homes is considerably more than 500 homes!  Even the 2000 planned for the initial local authority distribution is four times the number you are quoting as fact in your press release!

All the more reason to keep supporting The BARD Campaign!

Number 10′s response to the ecotown petition

I’ve just recieved the email link to Number 10′s response to the petition initiated by BARD on the Number 10 website.  This website was launched with much joy and gusto to allow the people to communicate directly with the driving forces of New Labour.  It was billed as a way to have the feelings of the general public heard and responded to.  Instead it has become a joke, between the humorous petitions to have Spandau Ballet’s “Gold” replace “God save the Queen” as the national anthem the real petitions have been fobbed off with responses that appear to have been written by office interns on a Friday afternoon.

So for your consideration, here is the text of the petition:

“We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to stop consideration of possible Eco-town at Long Marston near Stratford-upon-Avon.”

Details of Petition:

“The site of the former Number 1 Engineers Supply Depot [ Army ] and adjoining land at Long Marston has been submitted as a possible site for a new Government Eco-town by St Modwyn and The Bird Group.By mid-February 2008 the Government are to choose 10 sites out of 50 to 60 submitted. There is considerable opposition locally as this is presently within a peaceful corner of South Warwickshire, where the need for such a new town is generally considered neither necessary nor desirable. Most importantly, the infrastructure for a new town does not exist and the site is served by one B- class road and country lanes only. A new town with a minimum population of 13,000 [ half the size of Stratford-upon-Avon ] will bring traffic chaos to Stratford,an important tourist town, with only two very limited crossings over the River Avon. I therefore petition the Prime Minister to confer urgently with Hazel Blears MP to whom letters opposing the proposals have been sent.”

To which Number 10 has responded:

On 4 November 2008 the Department for Communities and Local Government launched the second stage of the eco-towns consultation programme and published a Draft Eco-Towns Planning Policy Statement (PPS), Sustainability Appraisal (SA) and Impact Assessment. In the accompanying press notice, the Housing Minister outlined the shortlist of locations with the potential to be an eco-town.  Middle Quinton was included in this list.  The consultation closed on 30 April 2009.

The Government recognises the strength and depth of feeling that proposals for new housing development generate. All representations received as part of the current consultation will be considered, alongside location assessments, before Government publishes the final PPS and list of locations with the potential to be an eco-town later this year.

No final decisions on sites have been taken. It is not expected that all locations will be endorsed. The PPS will set the toughest ever green standards required of new development in the UK and proposals will need to demonstrate their potential to meet them if they are to be short-listed. The Sustainability Appraisal chapter on Middle Quinton identifies a number of issues which would need to be addressed were the proposal to go forward.

A financial viability study of the eco-towns programme prepared with input from external advisors was published on 5 March 2009.  All documents can be viewed at www.direct.gov.uk/ecotowns

Now I believe you can read that as a condescending pat on the head, “Well done for writing a petition, it doesn’t change anything though”.

Now I’m hoping the sudden abandonment of the post by Hazel “Communities, who listens to them?” Blears from Browns rapidly shrinking cabinet means that we’ll see a more logical pair of hands at the helm of rural redevelopment in the near future.  However, I’m realistic enough to understand that with things as bad as they are right now for Brown and the Labour party, they might just keep steering into the crash just to see how much worse things can get!

Middle Quinton’s unsupported claims

Looks like St Modwen and The Bird Group of Companies have been at it again, stretching the truth about the poorly planned Middle Quinton “eco-town” site (BBC News – Eco town advert misled public).  This time their fanciful marketing has been dragged before the Advertising Standards Authority.

In a local press advert St Modwen and The Bird Group claimed:

the town would create 4,700 jobs and 6,000 homes.

However the ASA decided these numbers were unsubstantiated, and the advert must never be rerun until supporting evidence for these claims can be provided.

In addition the ASA objected to the developers describing the site as “brownfield”, which implies unused land normally reclaimed from previous development, when in fact the development plan includes  agricultural land, rivers, and woodland.

I’m not surprised though, the entire plan has been sold under false pretences from the start, and as the BARD campaign continues to grow in voice it seems inevitable that this short-sighted and poorly planned development is doomed to fail!

It is a shame that the government has failed to perform a U-turn on this ridiculous eco-sham.  I wouldn’t expect anything intelligent from the Department of Communities and Local Government right now though, especially with Hazel Blears facing a vote of no confidence from her own constituency party (Manchester Evening News) due to the continuing fallot from her mis-use of MP’s expenses!

unfair, illogical and unreasonable

Those three words were used by John Steele QC to describe the Gordon Brown’s “eco-town” policy.  As I long time supporter of the BARD Campaign I read with interest the latest stumbling block for New Labour’s forced destruction of rural communities:

The Telegraph – Gordon Brown’s controversial eco-town plan could be unlawful, according to top QCs

Unfortunately, as so frequently happens, the Government has ignored the sensible advice from learned independent bodies and has come out on the offensive. As can be seen in the words of Cllr Margaret Eaton, Chairman of the Local Government Association, who said:

“Eco-towns can help the country tackle the twin challenges of the housing shortage and climate change.

“We need to build more homes that are environmentally sound, in areas with good transport links and alongside the public services which are needed to create places where people want to live.”

This is a brilliant example of “Do what we say or you’re an evil, elitest, environment hater” which handily completely ignores that fact that most of tehse proposed “Eco-towns” do not have good transport links (actually know the local Stratford area or see the BARD Campaign for further details) and have limited employment opportunities locally, whilst developing sites which are currently brown/green-belt land and rural communities.  I’m no urban planner, but no easy transport, no jobs, and the destruction of rural habitats doesn’t sound that “ECO” to me!

Don’t forget that so far the Government has spent more than £3 million on the eco-town suicide mission, without a single home being built (The Telegraph – Eco-towns bill soars to more than £3 million before a house is built).  With over a third of that money being spent on PR exercise and websites to try and con the public into believing this is a valuable plan!

Earlier this year Labour’s own back-benchers strongly criticised Hazel Blear’s inappropriately named Department for Communities and Local Government, stating that it lacked the skills necissary to put vital policies into operation!  They went so far as to say that:

“The eco-town programme, even if successful, will make no huge contribution to the very significant problem of housing supply which is, rightly, one of the department’s top priorities.” – BBC News – MPs criticise housing department

So with that condemnation rining in their ears it is time for you to add your own voice.  The deadline for “Middle Quinton” has been extended to the end of this month (BBC News – More time for eco-town plan views) so write to your MP, and visit the BARD Campaign website to find how else you can get involved!

See also:

• Building.co.uk – Future unclear for eco-towns as financial troubles hit half
• Financial Times (Westminster blog) – RIP Eco-towns