Cooper pledges £500m and 'eco-region' for Gateway

Housing and planning minister Yvette Cooper unveiled plans to pump £500m of government money into the Thames Gateway over three years, as well as creating an ‘eco-region’.

Speaking at the Thames Gateway Forum, Cooper spoke in advance of the Thames Gateway Delivery Plan which aims to set out detailed plans for economic investment in the region, as well as money for skills and training and plans on tackling climate change.

Included in the plan is a new commitment to build a zero-carbon community on brownfield land, which will be in addition to the ten ‘eco-towns’ that the government has already announced it will create.

The move comes as Cooper revealed that she wanted to boost the sustainability agenda in the Gateway. “The area I think we need to go further, and where I think that we didn’t do enough in the Interim Plan [published last year] is in cutting carbon emissions,” she said.

She also revealed that architect Sir Terry Farrell would act as a ‘design champion’ to oversee the creation of parkland in the region as part of a £35m scheme.

The full delivery plan is expected to be unveiled today by a ‘very senior cabinet minister’.