Geofile Online - Richmond School District No. 38

January 2009 no.581 Ecotowns
is the developer’s offer to fund the
long awaited East–West Rail Link to
Milton Keynes, which is estimated
to cost £190m.
Labour’s Housing Minister at the
time, Caroline Flint, claimed that
a key and indeed fundamental
component of the scheme is the
delivery of the East–West Rail Link.
A new station will be built at Weston
Otmoor. Up to five trains per hour
in each direction (to Oxford in six
minutes) will be provided. A chord
line to Bicester will mean a one hour
journey time to London.
Residents would be provided with
free tram and bus services around
the town and into Oxford, with
developers also proposing a large
park-and-ride that will ‘take car traffic
away from the motorway junction and
will provide a quicker, more direct
alternative for car commuters to
Oxford’.
Shipton Quarry
Plans were also submitted to create an
ecotown in a disused quarry north of
Kidlington (Figure 3). The scheme
planned to create at least 5,000 homes
in a self-sustained community at
Shipton Quarry. It was one of only
about 30 schemes to have been
submitted to the Government.
Kilbride Properties were hopeful
of meeting conditions set out in a
Government prospectus for new
settlements required ‘to achieve
zero carbon development and more
sustainable living’.
The Shipton Quarry scheme shows
schools, shops, sports facilities,
businesses, a new rail station, a parkand-ride
site, marina and nature
reserve. Kilbride believes a scheme to
transform the former cement works
into a thriving community is in tune
with government calls for sites with
‘separate and distinct identity but
good links to surrounding towns and
cities in terms of jobs, transport and
services’.
the Oxfordshire campaign manager
for the Campaign to Protect Rural
England expressed grave concerns
about Shipton Quarry as a site.
He stated that the greatest problem
was traffic. The surrounding roads are
already clogged. Having thousands of
people travelling to and from there,
with a large park-and-ride, would
make the situation far worse. There is
no infrastructure for it.
The Cambridge Challenge
Cambridge’s hi-tech industry has
had a major economic impact for the
region and the national economy,
but it has resulted also in a shortage
of housing and soaring house prices.
The lack of housing in the area is a
major inhibitor to further economic
development, and about 50,000 new
homes are planned to be built there
by 2020.
The ‘Cambridge Challenge’ is a pilot
scheme to develop and manage new
affordable homes for three of the
major growth sites in Cambridge.
The three sites will provide a total
of 16,000 homes by 2021, of which
around 6,000 (nearly 40%) will be
affordable. One of these sites is the
new settlement of Northstowe.
Northstowe is five miles north-west
of Cambridge, on the route of the
new Cambridgeshire Guided Bus.
It has been earmarked as a new
community of 9,500 homes on the
former RAF Oakington barracks
and airfield, and is intended to be a
flagship of sustainability in the use
of renewable energy sources, the
minimisation of carbon emissions and
the implementation of environmental
best practice on waste and water
management.
Northstowe is intended to include:
• a secondary school, six primary
schools and a civic hub including
community health and cultural
facilities;
• a local business district providing
5,000 jobs;
• leisure facilities; and
• shopping facilities suitable for a
small town.
Northstowe is looking to achieve
up to 50 per cent reductions in
energy and mains water use by using
approaches such as:
• microgeneration, photovoltaic
panels;
• solar water heating (can supply up
to 50 per cent hot water); and
• design for reduced energy and
water use.
Conclusion
On paper, ecotowns look
environmentally friendly. However,
whether they are economically viable,
and therefore environmentally viable,
is a big question. The case studies
in this unit illustrate some of the
issues connected to ecotowns. The
ecotown concept reignites some of
the concerns regarding new towns
- would they work, where should
they be located, and what impacts
will they have On the one hand,
the range of technological measures
designed to minimise environmental
impact is impressive. On the other
hand, the term ‘ecotown’ may just be
a label to appease the environmentally
minded and hide the fact that these
places are too small for self-sustaining
economic growth, and will depend
on commuting to large urban areas
nearby, thus merely exacerbating
current environmental issues.
Websites
http://www.communities.gov.
uk/documents/housing/pdf/
livinggreenerfuture, for the
background on the 15 sites to have
made the short-list.
http://www.communities.gov.uk/news/
corporate/newecotownscould, for
ecotowns and climate change.
A recent report by planning
inspectors on housing numbers
in the South East expressed little
enthusiasm for thousands of homes at
Shipton Quarry, arguing that it would
exacerbate existing traffic problems.
Shipton is an interesting location. It is
a large site that would go some way to
easing the housing shortage. However,
F o c u s
Q u e s t i o n s
1. Describe the distribution of ecotowns as shown on Figure 1.
2. Outline the advantages and disadvantages of ecotowns.
3. Decide whether ecotowns are a positive policy or not, and justify your
decision.
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