Middle Quinton eco-town plans dropped - but 400,000 new homes proposed
“If this happens greenfield sites will be built upon and developers will simply cherry pick these sites rather than building large numbers of new homes.
“The Government should forget these huge aspirational targets and look at providing homes for people who need them now.”
In rejecting the Middle Quinton eco town, the inspectors said the plans would not “represent a particularly sustainable solution” towards meeting the very evident housing needs of the region.
The recommendations will now be looked at by Government before a Regional Spatial Strategy is published in December.
Developer St Modwen, which co-owns the eco town site at Long Marston, is currently pursuing separate plans for the area, including the creation of a leisure park containing 500 homes.
But it said it had not lost hope for the development proceeding despite the report’s conclusions.
Peter Rudd, development surveyor at St. Modwen, said: “The Regional Spatial Strategy report does not rule out the proposed Middle Quinton Eco Town as a possible solution to the increased housing figures for the Stratford district.
“The decision now rests with the Department for Communities and Local Government as to whether the development is included in the Government’s next wave of shortlisted sites.”
BARD, the campaign group set up by local residents to fight the plans, welcomed the report.
David Bliss, chairman of the BARD campaign, said: “Let’s hope the Government now accepts this report as the final nail in Middle Quinton’s coffin. This is what BARD has spent almost two years campaigning for – official recognition of the validity of our objections. It demonstrates that intelligent evidence-led local activism shouldn’t simply be dismissed as nimbyism.”
The report will be presented to the Government Office to publish proposed changes to the Regional Spatial Strategy for a final round of consultation, which is anticipated to be by December. The strategy is due to be approved finally by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government next year.
A Communities and Local Government spokesman said: “No final decisions have been taken on the West Midlands plan or the proposals for an eco town at Middle Quinton.”
