Judicial review of plans for Warwickshire eco town
Plans for a 6,000-home eco town in Warwickshire could be brought to a grinding halt if a High Court judge decides the Government’s consultation process into the plans were inadequate.
Campaigners against the Middle Quinton development at Long Marston, near Stratford-upon-Avon, have been granted a Judicial Review of the eco-town programme, which will be heard today.
Members of the Better Accessible Responsible Development group (BARD) demanded an investigation into the Government’s handling of the proposals and their case will be heard by Mr Justice Walker over two days.
They believe the Government’s eco-towns policy and programme is unlawful and should be quashed.
Chairman of BARD, David Bliss, said: “Our legal challenge is quite simple. The Government should have consulted properly before short-listing its potential eco-town sites, should have been clear as to the criteria it was applying and should have complied with European legal requirements with regard to strategic environmental assessment.
“BARD’s view is that predetermining eco-town status and sites by way of developer competition rather than through the plan-led system is undemocratic and no way to manage large-scale development.”
Eco towns were the first major policy announced by Gordon Brown as he launched his bid to take over as Prime Minister, and the idea was expanded from five towns to ten in September 2007 following an initial positive response.
