Geofile Online - Richmond School District No. 38

More documents

Recommendations

Info

January 2009 no.581 Ecotowns Figure 2: Weston Otmoor M40 Brownfield MOD land Akeman Street M40 A41 Bicester Weston-onthe-Green Wendlebury Junction 99 Weston-onthe-Green Junction 9 A34 M40 Outer greenbelt boundary SSSI A34 Potential area of development Railway line • Ecotown proposals should provide for a good range of facilities within the town - a secondary school, a mediumscale retail centre, good quality business space and leisure facilities. • Affordable housing should make up between 30 and 50% of the total through a wide range and distribution of tenures in mixed communities, with a particular emphasis on larger family homes. • A management body will help develop the town, provide support for people moving to the new community, for businesses and to co-ordinate delivery of services and manage facilities. Key design aspects 1. Environment and carbon • Incorporate renewable energy systems such that not only homes, but schools, shops, offices and community facilities can reach zero carbon standards, with innovative town-scale generation of renewable energy. Zero carbon means no net carbon emissions from all energy uses, so the amount of energy taken from the national grid is less than or equal to the amount put back through renewable technologies. • Demonstrate excellence in one particular aspect of environmental sustainability - for example technological sustainability, such as more advanced renewable and energyefficient technologies, sustainable urban drainage/wastewater GeoFile Series 27 Issue 2 Fig 581_02 treatment/grey Mac/eps/illustrator water recycling 11 s/s or NELSON waste management THORNES PUBLISHING systems. • Artist: Planned David in Russell a way Illustration which supports low carbon living and minimises carbon emissions from transport. • Incorporate high standards of water efficiency. • Incorporate environmentally sustainable approaches to managing waste, wastewater, drainage and flooding. • Integrate green space and features to enhance biodiversity. • Use construction methods and materials which have a low environmental impact and generate minimum construction waste. 2. Design • A commitment to high standards of architecture and urban design. 3. Transport • An area-wide travel plan should be provided for each ecotown scheme. • High-quality public transport links to reduce car dependency. • Minimising the need to travel by locating key public services together. • Management of demand through traffic control measures and giving priority to public transport and high occupancy vehicles. • Consideration of the impact on roads and congestion when siting the ecotown. 4. Community • Community empowerment – giving local people a part in the decision-making process. • Encourage active communities by creating the conditions for community participation and involvement in civic activity. 5. Jobs as well as homes • A clear economic strategy for the town. • Encourage working from home through live/work units or in local resource centres, supported by wi-fi (wireless) and other information technology (IT) networks. 6. Health • Promote healthy and sustainable environments. • Offer choices for healthy living. 7. Land use • Schemes should make use of suitable surplus public sector land or brownfield land. • Appropriate use of land in terms of quality and mitigation of impacts on biodiversity. • Sustainable locations, which relate well to existing networks of surrounding towns and villages. Ecotowns in Oxfordshire Two separate schemes to build major ecotowns near Kidlington and also at Weston-on-the-Green were submitted to the government. Cherwell District Council’s executive expressed concern about the Weston-on-the-Green scheme and the other ecotown proposal to build 5,000 homes at Shipton Quarry, a former cement works between Woodstock and Bicester. Geofile Online © Nelson Thornes 2009
January 2009 no.581 Ecotowns A statement from the council said: ‘The two candidate locations offer some advantages, such as the reuse of previously developed land and the potential to improve public transport. But there are significant disadvantages, including adverse effects upon the Green Belt, effects upon rural roads, the impact on nature conservation sites, the loss of agricultural land and the impact on the regeneration of existing towns.’ Weston Otmoor A settlement of 15,000 new ecohomes near Weston-on-the-Green had made it on to the government shortlist of 15 proposed schemes, 10 of which are expected to be built. Stretching across two sides of the A34, from Weston-on-the-Green in the west to the M40 in the east, and from RAF Weston-on-the-Green in the north to the Oxford–Bicester railway line in the south, the site totals almost 2,000 acres (Figure 2). According to the Weston Front Action Group, ‘The village [Westonon-the-Green] is resolved to defeat the proposed plans for Weston Otmoor by the developers Parkridge, and the landowners who have sold options.’ The fact that part of the site is in the Green Belt and contains a site of special scientific interest has not put off the Government, nor the fact that the massive site being put forward is bisected by the trunk road. Parkridge, the developers, is partowned by the global American property company US Reit ProLogics. What it wants to do in Oxfordshire is build a settlement bigger than Bicester that would be home to 25,000 people, growing eventually to 35,000, with 10 schools (two secondary, eight primary) and 15,000 properties, offering a range of dwelling types, including affordable homes. Parkridge already controls 1,600 acres of the site through options to buy farmland from a consortium of landowners. It is now in talks to acquire the remaining 325 acres from the Ministry of Defence to buy an airstrip used as a parachute training drop zone. Ironically, the Housing Minister’s statement referred to Weston Otmoor as a scheme to build between 10,000 and 15,000 homes ‘on brownfield land three miles Figure 3: Shipton Wootton Woodstock Long Hanborough Key A44 Bladon Church Hanborough Settlements Rivers Swinford Bunkers Hill Cassington Tackley SHIPTON Oxford Airport Begbroke Yarton A40 Wytham A44 south of Bicester’. According believed it made a mockery of the to the chairman of Oxfordshire GeoFile Series 27 term Issue 2‘sustainable’ development. The CPRE (Campaign to Fig Protect 581_03 Rural Mac/eps/illustrator trust also 11 s/s complains that no attempt England), the vast bulk NELSON of the THORNES PUBLISHING has been made to consult it about site is greenfield. The Artist: airfield David is Russell Illustration the scheme. the only brownfield area and that makes up about 10% of the site. The In another irony, villagers at land east of the A34 is Green Belt. Weston-on-the-Green were angry Green Belt land makes up about a to learn that their local councillor third of the site. He also claimed was, in fact, one of the landowners that the so-called eco credentials involved with Parkridge. Parkridge of the new settlement represented has an option to buy about 200 acres a smokescreen for making housebuilding on green fields appear section of the site. of his farmland on the south-western more palatable. The CPRE estimates Weston Otmoor would lead to at Oxfordshire County Council leader least 7,500 extra car movements a Keith Mitchell says the ecotown day on the A34 and M40. would affect plans to revitalise Bicester, which could end up as Weston Otmoor’s neglected, ageing, ‘ugly sister’, condemned to be in the economic shadow of the ‘bright, shiny’ newcomer. In addition, the planned development of 4,000 homes on Oxford’s Green Belt near Blackbird Leys would also come under question as a result of the planned ecotown at Weston Otmoor. The local wildlife trust, BBOWT, fears the scheme would result in the loss of one of its most important nationally designated wildlife sites, threatening an ancient woodland site, a nature reserve and numerous protected and priority species. The proposed site includes Woodsides Meadow Nature Reserve and other meadows owned and managed by BBOWT. The grassland habitats found at this site are extremely rare, supporting important species, including orchids, snipe and curlew. BBOWT’s conservation officer Thrupp Wolvercote Roads Railways Kidlington A4260 Kirtlington Bletchingdon Hampton Poyle A34 O X F O R D Islip Woodeaton Marston A40 Shipton cement works However, Parkridge has pledged to revitalise the whole of Oxfordshire’s public transport system, with offers of massive investment that simply cannot be ignored. Most striking Geofile Online © Nelson Thornes 2009
Page 1: Geofile Online Ecotowns In 2008 the

Geofile Online - Richmond School District No. 38

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?