Eco-towns: Your views

The location of four eco-towns has been announced. They are Rackheath in Norfolk; north west Bicester in Oxfordshire; Whitehill Bordon in East Hants and the China Clay Community near St Austall in Cornwall.

People who live in and around these areas have sent in their reaction to the BBC, and many others have registered their observations.

Read the story here

BICESTER

It's stupid, anyone with any sense can see that Bicester has no amenities like a hospital or places for young people. We are not even allowed to have a McDonalds in the town or budget supermarkets because the town council live in the dark ages. Now they want thousands of new people to move to the area and Bicester will be supporting it as the closest town. It will be on it's knees as the roads can't even cope as they are.
Keith Wiffen, Bicester, Oxon

I grew up in Bicester and one of my parents still lives there, it is a good town, but sadly lacking in many amenities, despite the continued growth of housing developments. The Bicester Village shopping area continues to grow, but this is mostly used by people from out of town rather than locals, and can cause congestion. If they are to create a large eco-town near Bicester, they seriously need to consider the impact on the road networks and plan for amenities for locals.
Juliette Hughes, Manchester, UK (formerly Bicester, Oxfordshire)

I think it's great news that Bicester has got the green light. I'm looking at finding affordable homes and it's great there are going to be some available in Oxfordshire. A county I have lived in all my life and would love to continue to live in.
Natalie Scott, Bicester

I find it difficult to comprehend that the Government wish to build an eco-town near Bicester. Traffic congestion in this area is high, the A34 is gridlocked most days and can not sustain an increase. I believe eco-towns are a way forward, however, I do believe they also need to be practical and fitting to the the local infrastructure.
Nikki Evans, Bicester, Oxfordshire

Yes the council agrees with the idea for the eco-town near us, but the people do not. But as usual the people are pushed to one side. It is government whitewash to say people want it. They don't, they are opposed, but then when was the last time a politician actually came down to see how things really are.
Simon Gilbey, Bicester

WHITEHILL BORDON

Bordon could benefit massively from this proposal. However as a town that has grown up around the army base it needs the army to pull out to make the eco-town plan a reality. Lots of potential pluses but lots of local opposition. If done well it could be great but most people are very cynical about it! Bordon is certainly a strong candidate for this sort of development (can't be described as a green-field site) although there are lots of green open space areas and rare wildlife that need to be protected.
Chris Smith, Bordon, Hants

Bordon/Whitehill has poor public transport links and no railway station, therefore the creation of thousands of homes would undoubtedly equate to a proportionate increase in the number of cars; hardly an eco-friendly solution. For the benefit of your readers Bordon lies on the edge of the newly created South Downs National Park and around half of Whitehill parish lies within the park itself. What the government gives with one hand they take away with the other.
Robert Newbery, Liphook, Hampshire

Fantastic. I live in Bordon and it really is a place that time has forgotten. Countless takeaways and non-descript shops have helped the place stay in the gutter. The eco town status should breath life into Bordon, bring investment and help lead the way on encouraging people to lead a 'greener' existence. I went to the original local consultation meetings and supported it then and am glad to see it has finally got the green light. Great news.
Ashley Smith, Bordon, Hampshire

Shocking. Is Gordon Brown going to force the Army to move from this town, (a pivotal point of the plan for our town) to facilitate this con, at the cost of millions to the tax payer? The current plans now include car parks for residents outside the town which will just attract car criminals from all over, thus increasing our premiums, or we could just simply pay thousands for the 'privilage' to park our cars at home. Disgusting.
Antony Colton, Whitehill, Hampshire

I live in Whitehill and believe that there is far more opposition to this project than is ever reported. The team of master planners appointed by the District Council have so far failed to come up with any feasible plan to overcome a traffic problem already much in evidence throughout Whitehill Bordon and on its fringes. There is a lack of water. East Hampshire District Council admits that water usage must be kept at the level it is now - with double the population and, if all goes to plan, double the local industry. Those are just two reasons. There are many more.
Janet Kelly, Whitehill

RACKHEATH

The Rackheath site did used to be an airfield but it isn't disused. The farmer grows lots and lots and lots of crops on it. Perhaps we should start referring to London as disused farm land?
Chris, Norwich

I live in Rackheath and support this development, along with the new Northern Distributor Road it will put Rackheath on the map. It will also help secure the economic future of this village for years to come.
Emma Nickerson, Rackheath, Norfolk

I moved to Rackheath because I didn't want to live in the suburbs of Norwich any longer. If I'd wanted to live in a town I would have chosen to do so. My concern is that Rackheath has only been proposed as an eco-town just over 18 months yet it is suddenly a first choice. Have the planners really considered realistically how the local area will be able to cope with this growth - roads, healthcare, sewerage? I am also concerned that no thought has been given towards creating new industrial areas or encouraging firms to move to this area to create more jobs. Otherwise we could just be creating an unemployment hotspot set in a rural area.
Sarah Sutton, Rackheath, Norfolk

CHINA CLAY COMMUNITY, ST AUSTELL

There is insufficient employment for the current population so where are all the new jobs to support the new eco-town residents? How will all the local services: schools, NHS, roads cope with an additional population. This is a poor political decision and not an eco decision.
L. Hearn, St. Austell, Cornwall

Is the eco-town proposed in St Austell going to be 100% locals only occupancy or it is going to 90 holiday homes & 10% locals? Where are these people going to work?! There is just about enough jobs for those already here supporting those that can and won't work on benefits!

Jane, Cornwall

Where do all the jobs come from to support the occupants of 5,000 houses in such a remote area of England.. in one concentrated spot? Even if the scheme includes jobs its hardly eco-friendly to transport raw materials and finished goods between Cornwall and the rest of the country. Would it not be better to provide the Local Authority with funds to support the provision of eco-friendly affordable homes where they are needed within and adjacent to the existing communities? 5,000 houses in one spot would likely be built by large national building companies. Smaller developments could be dealt with by local companies employing local people.
David Alcock, St Austell, Cornwall, UK

OTHER COMMENTS

I know it sounds mean, but around this area, we are so pleased to hear that Middle Quinton won't go ahead. There has been so much opposition against it from the very start, despite claims that it would benefit the area, on the contrary a new town would destroy Stratford's heritage and tourism trade from overseas and British tourists. W were all very worried when the government said that Middle Quinton was the most developed and best looking (but unrealistic!) Anyway, we are all very glad to hear that Middle Quinton won't be developed on the old airfield site.
Alice Bennett, Stratford-Upon-Avon

These 'Eco- towns' look to me like another public relations campaign rather than an attempt to reduce our environmental impact. Surely, a change to planning laws which forces developers to build more environmentally friendly homes would have a bigger impact?
Andrew Thomson, Antrim, UK

We need less people, not more housing. Under absolutely no circumstances should green land be built upon. These proposed developments are not near to where I live, but if we don't stop them, I could be affected next. Demolish the current, poor quality/inefficient housing stock and replace them, if that's what is needed.
Michael Downes, Wigan, England

I live near one of the locations that was rightly rejected. The truth on the ground is some of these sites ARE where other large scale planning was rejected and have almost universal loathing - apart from in Whitehall - for their proposed design and lack of consideration for their surroundings and infrastructure. Why has the government so little insight and so little care for the long term future? In 20 or 30 years time, the eco-towns with their compromised build quality will be just like the de-humanised concrete estates of cities built in the 1960s, where today no-one wants to live. At the time of the course, they were heralded by the Labour government as the future.
Robin Bartlett, UK

I live about eight miles away from another proposed eco-town, at Ford in Sussex. Anyone who lives locally will know the area as a green belt separating Bognor Regis and Littlehampton. They will also be very aware of the horrific traffic problems already occurring on the surrounding main roads. Building 5,000 homes in the middle of this will simply move us to grid-lock, whilst at the same time destroying yet another piece of precious and increasingly rare green belt in the South East. This is basically a way of producing cheap housing, without the need of going through the usual planning applications and rolling out the climate change excuse as the reason. Yet again, this government, sat far away in its Whitehall offices, has got it horribly wrong and yet again it will be the local communities that will pay the price. Quite frankly, I just pray that WHEN this lot are voted out, the incoming government sees sense and puts a halt to this ridiculous idea.
Shaun Rimmer, Bognor Regis

I know I do not live near any of the proposed sites, however, I have to say that yet again the great north south divide rears its head as all the sites are down south. A bit of redeveloping in the north backed by the government would be welcomed but I suppose we are not "high profile" enough for anybody from Whitehall.
Phil Ashcroft, Wigan

I support the general idea of eco-towns, and people have to get real about the building of new homes - we don't have enough housing as it is. But why are all the selected locations in the south? It seems a little unfair.
Simon Deacon, Skelmersdale

If they are zero-carbon, are they building them out of fresh air with no use of machinery? As far as I'm aware the manufacturing of building materials such as bricks, glass for windows etc, as well as the actual construction process causes no end of carbon emissions! Why not just refurbish existing houses that are standing empty / derelict!? That would be a far more energy efficient/low carbon option!
Annie, Northampton, UK

Why go to the bother of whole new towns? My son, who is a building surveyor, and I have for many months wondered why the building regulations for new build are not being changed to include a lot of these energy saving measures. A solar panel on every house, a thermocouple to utilise heat from the ground, insulation, etc could all be incorporated quite easily. The houses may cost a little more but would be easily sold as the running costs would be so much less from the word go.
Kath C, Doncaster