Eco-town advisory panel named
Ministers have named the members of the 12-strong panel which will play a key role in ensuring the Government's eco-town initiative meets the administration's aspirations in terms of zero-carbon development, sustainability and high-quality design.
The panel includes a mix of well-known planners, architects and experts in urban regeneration as well as television presenters, commentators and design gurus.
The chair of the panel will be John Walker, former chief executive of the British Urban Regeneration Association. He will be joined by, among others, top planning academic Sir Peter Hall; Sunand Prasad, president-elect of the Royal Institute of British Architects; TV presenters Kris Murrin and Joanna Yarrow; design guru Wayne Hemingway and Stephen Hale, director of environmental pressure group the Green Alliance.
The Government has announced that the shortlist of 15 locations for potential eco-towns will be subject to a more detailed sustainability appraisal.
Ministers have also promised a draft planning policy statement on eco-towns in July and a refined list of locations "which could include sites or locations that are not currently shortlisted" according to the publication "Eco-towns: living a greener future" produced by Communities and Local Government when it announced the shortlisted locations earlier in April.
Ministers have made it clear that they expect all eco-towns to be the subject of planning applications though not necessarily all determined by local planning authorities.
The yet-to-be-established Homes and Community Agency will be the expert delivery adviser to the Government on eco-towns. Ministers have not ruled out using existing legislation for new town development corporations to create some of the projects.
The Government expects half the eco-towns programme of ten schemes to be climbing off the drawing board by 2010.
Meanwhile a heavyweight grouping of developers, consultants, engineers and architects has formed a loose-fit consortium to provide delivery expertise for eco-town projects.
Led by Brian Waters, director of planning at regeneration consultancy HTA, the other members include developers Grosvenor, Argent and London & Regional; agents Savills; accounting and management firm Pricewaterhouse Coopers; engineering consultants Arup and Faber Maunsell; architects Conran & Partners and Farrells; waste management giant Veolia; insurer Aon and legal firm Addleshaw Goddard.
Read the Communities and Local Government news release
