Legal setback to eco-towns proposal

By Jean Eaglesham, Chief Political Correspondent
Published: July 23 2008 01:54

Gordon Brown’s plan to build up to 10 new “eco-towns” will on Wednesday suffer another setback, with the publication of lawyers’ advice suggesting the flagship scheme would be vulnerable to a legal challenge.
The advice, commissioned by the Local Government Association, is the latest blow to the scheme to build thousands of “green” new homes. A core pledge when Mr Brown moved into Number 10 last June, the proposal has become mired in controversy.

The Local Government Association will on Wednesday call on ministers to reconsider the process that will be used to approve the new towns. The legal opinion commissioned by the LGA warns that the government’s intention of using a new “planning policy statement” for the developments “is likely to be unlawful”.
The government approach “would be promoting a policy and process which would be inherently flawed,” according to the joint opinion by John Steel QC and James Strachan. It advises that there would be “sound grounds” for a local authority to seek a judicial review.
Opposition parties seized on the advice. “This must sound the death knell for the attempt to bypass the local planning process and local public opinion,” said Julia Goldsworthy, the Liberal Democrat local government spokesman.
Grant Shapps, the shadow housing minister, said Mr Brown’s “completely cack- handed” way of trying to railroad through the developments had undermined potential support.
But the department for communities and local government rejected the legal critique. “We absolutely disagree with the LGA’s claims and believe this legal advice can only have been obtained on the basis of a misrepresentation of our policy,” an official said. “Eco-towns will be different and will have higher environmental standards than a normal development and the applications will also have to be considered through the normal planning process.”
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008