Eco-towns

Part of Topical Debate – in the House of Commons at 1:07 pm on 19 June 2008.

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Photo of Lembit Öpik Lembit Öpik Shadow Minister (Housing), Department for Communities and Local Government 1:07, 19 June 2008

The hon. Gentleman is right. There is a contradiction in the conditions established in the eco-town project. If the Government are to use eco-towns as probing technology, the houses need to be code 6 rather than code 3. The Government need to show more courage in that respect.

I suspect that the Government have been rather ambitious in this context. At present there are 12 carbon-neutral homes, all of them built by Barratt. That means that achieving the Government's carbon-neutrality target by 2016 would require a 200 million per cent. increase in zero-carbon housing stock. I look forward to hearing how the Government intend to achieve that 200 million per cent. increase. I hope they do, but it is a tall order.

In addition, rather than concentrating on new build in greenfield sites, what about the 675,000 empty homes in England alone? Why build on greenfield sites when we could find a cheaper solution, even if we zero-carbon retrofit those houses? The public consultation has, in the view of many, been a near sham. It is not just a question of middle-class nimbyism accusations—that would be unreasonable on this occasion. It is a fact that many people from across the social strata have complained that these proposals have not been thought through. Fifteen thousand local people signed a petition against the Penbury site in Leicester. I declare an interest, as it is to be built on Leicester airport. I am very concerned that if that is done I will not be able to visit my mum. I offer the Minister the opportunity to fly with me, and perhaps with the hon. Member for Welwyn Hatfield, to have a look at the glories of Leicester airport and what will be lost if it is built upon.