Gleeson Homes consortium scraps eco-town bid

The government’s eco-town project has suffered yet another setback with a second developer pulling out of the scheme.

The Curborough Consortium, consisting of Gleeson Homes, Redrow Homes, Hallam Land and Banks Developments, has pulled its plans for 5,000 zero carbon homes in an area near Lichfield in Staffordshire.

A spokeswoman for the consortium gave no reason for the withdrawal but said the group still wanted to proceed with the planning application.

She said: “Going forward, we will continue to pursue our planning application for a new settlement at Curborough and will look to ways by which our application can benefit from our discussions with the eco-town challenge panel.”

The government’s eco-town panel had criticised Curborough’s eco-town status for lacking transport solutions and being “too zoned”.

In a report it said: “The proposal needs to be more ambitious, as it may be a good development by normal standards but it is not yet an eco-town.

“The bid is based on a current planning application where housing is wrapped around an existing business park.

“This means at the moment the ‘eco’ element feels like an ‘add-on’ to an existing application rather than embedded in the concept.”

Gleeson Homes is also involved in a joint bid with Stewart Milne Group for an English Partnership's Carbon Challenge project at Peterborough.

A spokesman at Stewart Milne Group confirmed the two were still proceeding, while a successful bidder is to be announced within weeks.

Less than two weeks ago East Lindsey District Council in Lincolnshire withdrew its bid for an eco-town at Manby following strong local opposition.

The two dropouts leave the government with a shortlist of 13 eco-towns, which it plans to revise down to 10 by the end of the year.