Risible claims for eco-town (From Hampshire Chronicle)

Risible claims for eco-town

10:56am Thursday 17th January 2008

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SIR - Eagle Star's claim that their proposed development at Micheldever is both eco-friendly and sustainable are risible.

For example, there is no natural water supply and I dread to think how many thousands of tonnes of carbon will be released into the atmosphere pumping water from goodness knows where to Micheldever.

The local road network cannot sustain the extra traffic and the town would, in effect, link London to the South coast through a continuous urban corridor without any significant areas of green belt.

The logical conclusion, therefore, is that Eagle Star's proposals are driven more by corporate profits and directors' bonuses, than by concerns for the environment.

Steven Smith, in his excellent article last week, identified the former military camp at Barton Stacey as a far superior alternative to Micheldever on account of it being a brownfield site, with excellent access to the A303 trunk road, and core services already in position, unlike Eagle Star's shabby proposals.

The fact that such a site has never been considered reveals breathtaking bureaucratic incompetence at national level.

Furthermore, the exclusion of any houses built at Barton Stacey from those which Winchester City Council are required to build by 2026 provides further proof, if that were needed, of the total lack of common sense at Whitehall.

I have suspected this Government, for some years, of political discrimination. Rural post offices are being closed, Defra have treated farmers appallingly badly, and now many new towns are being proposed on green belt rather than brownfield sites.

They all have one thing in common: they occur in rural areas where there are no votes for New Labour.

Charlie Goodall, East Stratton, Winchester.

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