MP's stark warning to eco town developers

BY GARRICK ALDER

Opposition to the proposed eco-town of New Marston has reached fresh heights.

The Local Government Association this week said that the Government's plans for up to 15,000 homes in a 'sustainable community' might be unlawful because they appear to circumvent the regular planning system.

The LGA is now making overtures about mounting a legal challenge to the Government.

The Federation of Master Builders - the largest and oldest building trade association in Britain - immediately branded 'so-called eco-town' plans a 'red herring to give Government plans a stamp of green credibility'.

MP Nadine Dorries then accused the Government of acting shiftily and secretively.

Mrs Dorries said: "What is it the Government is so afraid of?

"Does it know that these flawed proposals will not stand up to proper scrutiny via the planning process?"

"The reality is these proposals are neither genuinely sustainable or sensitive to their local environments.

"The LGA's view should be a shot across the bows to any developers who intend to pursue these eco-towns further. My message to developers is this - you have been warned.

"If any proposal to build over the Martson Vale is pushed through by the government, it will more than likely be subject to a judicial review."

FMB director of external affairs, Brian Berry, said: "This should really make Gordon Brown and Caroline Flint sit up and think.

"Is the Government really planning to bypass normal planning procedures to force eco-towns on communities that do not want them and have had no say in their creation? "This is hardly the way to go about building sustainable communities."