Government's local efforts please TCPA

The Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA) has voiced its approval of the government's plans to consult local authorities as part of its eco-towns plan.

The TCPA has said that planners must "win the arguments not buck the system" when it comes to creating such towns.

The comments came as experts spoke about the delivery of eco-towns at a major conference, with the TCPA asserting that communities, elected officials and both the public and private sectors should all have a role to play.

"In order to achieve this we must ensure that there are sufficient people with a combination of specialist and generic skills including leadership, partnership working and project management to successfully plan, develop and manage eco-towns," said TCPA chief executive Gideon Amos.

"To take forward the sustainable housing growth agenda we must share experiences and learn lessons from our existing eco-communities, both in the UK and aboard," Mr Amos added.

Earlier this year Gordon Brown doubled the number of planned eco-towns from five to ten following strong levels of interest from local councils.

Find land in the UK with BuildStore's PlotSearch

© Adfero Ltd