Environment Agency - Home

Eco-towns stage 2

Response to Communities and Local Government consultation: Draft planning policy statement sustainability appraisal and habitats regulation assessment

Summary

The Environment Agency is supportive of the eco-towns concept and welcomes our continued involvement in the process. We also welcome this opportunity to respond to the draft Planning Policy Statement (PPS) on eco-towns, the Sustainability Appraisal and the Habitats Regulation Assessment.

We are pleased with the high environmental standards set out in the draft PPS, particularly in the areas of water quality, water resources, green infrastructure, flood risk and waste management. If eco-towns adhere to these standards, they can play a valuable role in demonstrating sustainable approaches to housing development and living.

We would like to see the standards set out in the draft PPS provide a benchmark for assessing the ambition of all future sustainable housing developments.

We recommend that none of the standards in the current draft PPS are lowered or removed, and that the Government is not swayed by potential arguments that the current recession justifies the relaxation of standards.

The value of the Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA) worksheets, which underpin many of the environmental standards, is underplayed and they should be given more prominence in the draft PPS.
 
A well planned, ongoing monitoring programme is essential if the aspirations for the eco-towns are to be fully realised and lessons learned. We would like to be involved in the monitoring and evaluation of eco-towns.
 
We reserve the right to object to any proposed eco-town if studies show that the high standards or statutory limits cannot be met.

We have commented on specific aspects of the Sustainability Appraisals of both the eco-towns programme and individual sites in the Annex to this response.

Read our full response