Dear All,

Here is a copy of my latest press release on the eco town – the Halcro report was commissioned by the four local authorities (Harborough, Oadby & Wigston, City and County) to conduct a strategic assessment of the Co op plans.

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“County Councilor and CASCET Vice-Chair, Simon Galton has welcomed the Halcro report as proving that the Co-Op plans for Pennbury are unworkable and lacking in detail – just as Liberal Democrats have consistently stated. The Halcro report was commissioned to conduct a ‘strategic assessment’ of the Co-op’s masterplan proposal for Pennbury.  Key finding are:

• ‘The Co op vision, Masterplan and stated aspiration are not matched by sufficiently detailed commitments and proposals to ensure that these objectives can actually be delivered.’

• The Co op has produced ‘no convincing evidence’ to demonstrate that Pennbury will create enough jobs without affecting other areas like, Oadby & Wigston and the City

• There is a concern that the off-site transport infrastructure [i.e the Tram] cannot be delivered, as much of the land needed is not owned by the developer, and the capacity of such scheme may not be enough to cope with traffic.

• The case for 15,000 homes is based upon ‘a number of questionable assumptions regarding migration and Leicestershire likely future share of future regional growth’

• ‘Pennbury would not be a freestanding settlement with its own identity’

• The Housing Strategy is clearly not founded on an analysis of local needs and opportunities.

Simon Galton has said: “this report is a real blow for the Co op and the government. For the Co op it highlights what I and my Liberal Democrats colleagues have been saying for months – there is no detail, no evidence and the proposals are just unworkable. For the government this has to be embarrassing because they have consistently let Pennbury progress and this must raise serious questions about the methods the government uses to assess these proposals.”

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