Coventry Denies Eco Town Interest
The CLG (Communities and Local Government) put out a press release yesterday announcing Coventry is interested in building an eco town.
Councillor Gary Ridley, Cabinet Member for City Development, said:
"This announcement came as a surprise given the reference to an eco town project. We have been very clear as a council that green belt development to meet the numbers of homes allocated to the city in the Regional Spatial Strategy(RSS) would only be allowed after all suitable brown field sites have been exhausted. This is reinforced by the phasing requirements in the draft Core Strategy currently being reviewed by a Government inspector
"This offer of funding is based on the Government wishing green belt land to be released prior to the completion of the phases of our core strategy relating to brown field development and regeneration projects. The Council believes this is not in the best interest of Coventry and will therefore be declining to take part in the second wave of eco towns and will be informing Government Office West Midlands(GOWM) of its intent."