Protesters come out against Warwickshire eco-town
- Published: 04 February 2008 10:42
- Author: Richard Vaughan
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- Last Updated: 04 February 2008 13:59
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More than 300 protesters demonstrated in Warwickshire yesterday in opposition to proposals to build a 6,000 home 'eco-town' in the area.
The scheme, which is earmarked for a former army camp in Long Marston, is one of 50 projects around the UK competing to become one of the government's 10 carbon-neutral developments.
Introduced by Prime Minister Gordon Brown, the eco-towns are central to the government's drive to build three million new homes by 2020 while reducing the UK's carbon emissions by 20 per cent.
The action is the latest in a string of protests against similar proposals, including those drawn up in Burton, Staffordshire, Stoughton in Leicestershire, and Grovewood in south Derbyshire.
Warwickshire County Council leader Izzi Seccombe (pictured) said: 'Eco may be eco within its community, but they all have to travel through to get to any employment or major leisure centres or towns.
'This area is a thread of very many rural villages. We have a lot of cohesion within those communities. Planning 6,000-plus homes on a piece of paper does not build community cohesion in an instant like that.'
