Eco-towns: Policy briefing from the DTA - June 2008

• The way in which the eco-towns concept is being developed and the different potential benefits that an eco-town could offer;
• How particular features such as greenspace or innovative approaches to housing can best be developed in an eco-town;
• Preliminary views on the 15 locations going forward for further assessment;

The document also summarised the Department’s approach to Community Building and Empowerment as part of the development of eco-towns in the following terms:

• An eco-town can provide many more people and particularly families with an affordable home in a vibrant and sustainable community and one which is designed in an inclusive way to ensure that people of all ages and those with disabilities can be active within the community.
• Potential residents and existing residents close by should be actively involved in the design of the new eco-town.
• Residents would take a key role in determining how services are run and assets are managed, through the establishment of a community development trust.

1.3 The new TCPA/CLG guidance

On 25 March TCPA and CLG issued a first set of joint guidance comprising three eco-town worksheets on transport, community development and water cycle management. The worksheets set out recommendations for planners and developers of eco-towns in both public and private sectors.

1.4 TCPA/CLG eco-towns community worksheet

The TCPA has issued three “eco-towns” worksheets which set out the principles which should be included within each eco-town application.

The “Towards sustainable communities: eco-towns community worksheet” http://www.tcpa.org.uk/press_files/pressreleases_2008/20080325_ET_WS_Community.pdf

states that “The formation of sustainable communities within an eco-town is as vital to its success as its physical infrastructure. Different people will identify with different sections of the ecotown community. Building social capital by supporting interaction and involving local people in planning, as well as in running services, are crucial themes that promoters of eco-towns must plan for. Community development measures are neither short term nor cheap.

It sets out six key points and processes, as follows:

Map existing community and faith organisations in the locality:

The promoter needs to have a thorough understanding of existing local authority and voluntary sector services. They will be key players and early advocates in the formation of the new community.

Build a central resource centre for the community:

Such buildings can have a key role in giving space for the new community to meet, as well as giving organisations such as small start-up businesses and charities a place to grow.They should be adaptable buildings to provide flexible space as well as services, facilities and security (and they should be warm!).

Community development workers:

Ideally people from the local area, community development workers can welcome new arrivals and act as catalysts for drawing people together. Community development workers need to be independent from the developer and ideally should be employed by existing voluntary organizations in the area, perhaps utilising Section 106 or other funding. They must be accountable to local people.

Community infrastructure delivered early and on time:

New infrastructure must be co-ordinated with existing facilities in the area. It is essential that vital services such as health centres, schools and sports facilities are ready before the first people move in.

Formation of a community trust:

A community trust can act as a means to run local public services. Some of the initial investment in the eco-town should be held back and earmarked for later investment. This could be after a certain period of time or once the eco-town population has reached a certain size. An area of land should also be set aside for this purpose, with the new community deciding what it will contain.

Open space and allotments:

Applying good urban design principles will produce high-quality public space that is inherently safe, pleasant to use and delivers a range of positive health and other benefits to all sections of the local community.

1.5 TCPA/CLG guidance on community trusts

The guidance provides further detail in section 4, explaining that community trusts should own and manage assets and that the DTA can help (section 4.2):

With the advice of the Development Trusts Association (see http://www.dta.org.uk) the developer/local authority should early on consider setting up a Community Development Trust, perhaps with endowments from Section 106 agreements or grants from the developer. Such trusts can be the mechanism through which the community owns and manages assets within the community. They can also run services such as maintaining the public realm, recycling, debt counselling, providing energy efficiency advice, etc. In partnership with the housing provider they can help to create successful neighbourhoods in which everyone has a stake in their management. Specific information – particularly for housing providers – can be found in the recently published book, Successful Neighbourhoods: A Good Practice Guide, which is available from the Chartered Institute of Housing (see http://www.cih.org/publications).

The guidance also suggests that trusts can maintain open space and run community websites (sections 4.3 and 4.4):

Trusts set up to manage and maintain open space can also act as an involvement mechanism to give people a greater sense of common ownership and pride in the place where they live – community characteristics that are needed in any new ecotown. Interested people can be asked to volunteer to serve on the trust board.

The Community Development Trust might be an appropriate body to host a town website, with moderated forums to allow local people to interact online over development and other issues. It would also be a resource for sharing information, advertising forthcoming meetings, etc.

Finally the guidance suggests that separate Community Land Trusts could be set up:

A similar legal vehicle, a Community Land Trust, could be set up to facilitate the development of affordable housing for members of the community. This will ensure that gifts are used for the benefit of the local community. For further information, see http://www.communitylandtrust.org.uk. For further practical advice from a network of CLT practitioners, register at http://www.talk.communitylandtrust.org.uk

2. DTA messages

2.1 DTA doesn’t have a line on whether Eco-towns are a good thing or a bad thing.

2.2 We do take the view however that community-led enterprise (including community anchor organisations such as development trusts, and community asset ownership) are essential towards creating thriving prosperous communities and in particular meeting the environmental, social and economic goals of eco-towns.

We therefore welcome the new guidance.In particular we are pleased that it recommends that community development trusts must be an integral part of the eco-towns from the outset, that they should be independent community controlled bodies, and that a portion of assets should be set aside for the trust to own and manage.

2.3 We would go further and propose (along the lines of the community land trust model and the original vision for the city garden movement) that the freehold of all the land should be transferred into ownership of the community trust (with leases assigned to developers and homeowners), so that affordability and community benefit is safeguarded in perpetuity.

It is worth noting that a community land trust need not be distinct from a community development trust – experience to date is that a single organisation is best placed to take on the range of proposed community trust functions – let’s avoid unnecessary bureaucratic complexity and potential sources of future division.

2.4 The guidance also calls for a purpose-built and adaptable community resource centre which can be used by community groups and start up businesses.The guidance fails to make it clear that these should be community owned and controlled, and the community trust is the obvious body to do that.

There is extensive experience of development trusts across the country owning community resources of this nature, successfully delivering both social and economic benefits, creating wealth and keeping it circulating within the community. The difficulty is always to make them financially sustainable, and so we welcome the proposal that they should be designed to accommodate start up businesses, where rental income can help pay for community activity. We would again go further and say that a viable business model must be a requirement, and that if trading income is likely to be insufficient there must be an endowment, or at minimum assurances of long term grant, to support the centre and its work.

2.5 Other aspects of the guidance regarding employment of community development workers and ensuring quality open spaces and allotments are also very much to be welcomed, and do reflect the experience of development trusts about what is needed to build social capital, and places in which people can feel pride.