Four proposals for eco-towns, designed to tackle climate change and meet housing needs, have been given the nod by the Government.
There are plans for 10 environmentally-friendly settlements to be built by 2020, but the scheme has been plagued by controversy and opposition from local communities.
The four projects to get the green light: were Rackheath in Norfolk; North West Bicester, Oxfordshire; China Clay Community scheme near St Austell, Cornwall; and Whitehill-Bordon in Hampshire.
The Local Government Association welcomed the location decisions, saying implementing schemes that were supported by local councils and people was a “victory for common sense”.
But opposition MPs said the environmentally friendly project was being imposed by Whitehall on communities without their consent.
Campaign groups have had to wait for more than a year to find out if sites were to be created in their areas after delays to the process. A shortlist of 15 potential sites for eco-towns was initially unveiled last year.
Grant Shapps, shadow housing minister, accused ministers of an “eco-con”, warning that “all the low-flush toilets in the world can’t make dumping a housing estate on green fields somehow eco-friendly”.
