Eco-town costs

Another blow has been struck against eco-towns, this time by property consultants CB Richard Ellis.

They have written a report that picks large holes in the viability of the Middle Quinton scheme, one of the most contentious of the planned green developments, giving it the big thumbs down. As the report was commissioned by six local councils, that isn’t a huge surprise.

Totting up numbers, CB Richard Ellis says that town would make a loss of £373 million and require huge public subsidy, even before roads and other infrastructure are put in. It is worth noting that the expected shortfall is mainly caused by plummeting property prices. As such, it doesn’t seem likely that any mooted development would look to be in great financial shape at the moment.

It will be interesting to see what the government’s report comes up with, which is being written by PWC at the moment.

Either way, it all demonstrates the huge amount of energy (and money) being put into the tug-of-war between the two sides, despite the fact that with a recession and a likely change of government within the year, the scheme seems likely to founder anyway.

It seems a shame that the impetus couldn’t be turned to a more useful purpose, such as building one eco-town in a well-chosen spot that the local community wants. Dream on.