THE Co-operative Group has announced further details of its proposed
pioneering “town for tomorrow” project in Leicestershire.
The Group says the proposals will give the area a clear lead in the development of sustainable communities, playing a key role in meeting the employment, housing and environmental aspirations of future generations.
These objectives underpin a decision by Co-operative Estates, working with English Partnerships, to enter a competition launched by the Government to find sites for up to ten new “eco-towns” in the UK.
The estates and property division has put forward its vision for an eco-town, with the working title of Pennbury, on part of the Group’s 4000-acre Stoughton farming estate to the south east of Leicester.
The Group say the new community would:
· Be a pioneering centre of excellence for sustainable technologies
· Comprise between 12,000 and 15,000 homes
· Provide up to 5,000 affordable homes
· Provide around 12,000 new jobs in the sustainable development industry including energy and construction
· Occupy less than 40 per cent of the estate, including previously developed land at Leicester Airport and public sector land, owned by English Partnerships at Stretton Hall. The community would have 30 per cent open space within it
· Leave around 60 per cent of the estate for farming and countryside uses, ensuring that surrounding villages including Stoughton and Great Glen were clearly separated
· Be carbon neutral from the outset, with the clear objective of becoming self-sufficient in terms of energy generation
· Introduce innovative systems of sustainable construction, community management and energy management
· Directly address existing and future transport concerns by making public transport a community mainstay and discouraging car use
· Provide a platform for new ways of supplying communities with local produce.
Further details in the News, published December 11th.
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