The Yorkshire and Humber Assembly
Ecotowns and growth points
Ecotowns and Growth Points
The Housing Green Paper, published in July 2007, set out proposals to deliver a national house-building target of 240,000 homes per year by 2016 including the development of new Growth Points and Ecotowns.
Attaining Growth Point status means a local authority (or partnership of authorities) has committed to delivering additional housing growth through a package of measures, usually including both new housing development and the regeneration of existing neighbourhoods. In return for this commitment, local authorities are eligible to bid for Government funding to support infrastructure improvements in the area.
In July 2008 the Government announced that two areas in this region (Doncaster and South Yorkshire, and the Leeds City Region) have been designated as second round Growth Points. More information is available in the document "Second Round Growth Points: Partnerships for Growth" that is available to download below. A map showing all of the of Growth Areas and Growth Points across the country can also be downloaded below.
Ecotowns will be entirely new freestanding settlements of between 5 and 20,000 homes and are expected to be exemplars of ‘green’ development, sustainability and design. Government recently announced a national shortlist of 15 proposals, 2 of which are in this Region. In July 2008 Government published a progress report on Eco Towns, a copy of which can be downloaded below.
Next, Government will consult on a draft Planning Policy Statement and Sustainability Appraisal before announcing the final list of selected Ecotown locations later in 2008. Each of the Ecotowns will be subject to a planning application.
More information about the Government's proposals for Growth Points and Eco Towns can be found here:
http://www.communities.gov.uk/housing/housingsupply/
Through the update of the Regional Spatial Strategy we will test any Ecotown or Growth Point proposals that are announced by the Government, alongside looking at other options for accommodating growth in the Region.
Please contact Harriet Fisher or Andy Haigh for more information:
harriet.fisher@yhassembly.gov.uk
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