23/09/2005 - A broad range
of representatives from groups involved with
the Milton Keynes and South Midlands (MKSM)
growth area met in Northampton today (23 September)
to discuss the role green spaces will play
in the area. Over 100 people attended from
across the MKSM and the London-Stanstead-Cambridge-Peterborough
growth areas.
The event was hosted by the River Nene Regional
Park (RNRP)* initiative and the Environment
Agency, and supported by the MKSM Environmental
Quality of Life (EQOL) group.
The MKSM growth area is located between London
and the wider midlands, covering the counties
of Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire.
Within the growth area 211,000 new homes will
be built between 2001 and 2021.
Green spaces (eg country parks, waterways
and cycleways) are vital to ensure that new
and expanded communities are pleasant environments
in which people want to live and stay for
many years. A key part of the MKSM growth
area is that full consideration is given,
at every stage of the planning process, to
the need for a network of well thought-out
green spaces (known as 'green infrastructure').
The event promoted a guide produced by the
EQOL group. The guide, ‘Planning Sustainable
Communities: A Green Infrastructure Guide
for Milton Keynes and the South Midlands’
aims to help planners and developers ensure
that they fully consider green spaces as part
of the planning process for MKSM.
The event also launched the Northamptonshire
Green Infrastructure project and Corby Green
Infrastructure pilot study, which was produced
by the RNRP project group through partnership
with local authorities and statutory agencies.
These studies aimed to provide a strategic
green infrastructure framework for North Northamptonshire
and to determine and deliver green infrastructure
at a local level.
The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has
already given £1.5 million to the RNRP
project and is currently considering nearly
£10m worth of green infrastructure project
bids, which will be announced in the New Year.
The suite of documents and sustainable environmental
planning tools now available will be vital
for influencing the planning process and informing
the growth planned for the MKSM sub-region.
The event also provided the stage to promote
other green infrastructure projects that are
highlighted within the MKSM Green Infrastructure
Guide.
Paul Woodcock, Environment Agency Anglian
Regional Director said, "Creating sustainable
communities involves striking the right balance
between the needs of people, wildlife and
the natural and built environment.'
'We have a great opportunity to create fantastic
places to live that incorporate well designed
and built homes that minimise water, waste
and energy consumption, in locations with
good access to green spaces with benefits
for health, recreation and relaxation."
The Deputy Leader of the Council and Environment
Portfolio Holder, Cllr Ben Smith said: "This
is an exciting time in the development of
sustainable environments. New and innovative
ideas are being generated that will have a
positive long-term impact. Initiatives such
as the River Nene Regional Park and its delivery
of green infrastructure represent a unique
approach to landscape and countryside provision,
ensuring that large scale population growth
for future generations is properly catered
for."
Housing and Planning Minister Yvette Cooper
said: "We need to build new homes for
the next generation at the same time as investing
in green spaces to protect the environment
and provide places for people to enjoy. Providing
parks and green spaces is a central part of
the Government's plan to make local communities
sustainable.
"The Government has backed its commitment
to green spaces in the MKSM growth area with
£6.8million worth of funding already
and a further £10.6m provisionally announced
recently through the Growth Areas Fund. The
Green Infrastructure day demonstrates that
partners in this planning process are serious
about creating green spaces as well."
Notes to Editors:
Green Infrastructure is defined as a ‘network
of multi-functional greenspace, provided across
the sub region. It is set within, and contributes
to, a high quality natural and built environment
and is required to deliver "liveability"
for new communities.’ (‘Planning Sustainable
Communities’ 2005)
* The RNRP initiative is supported by Northamptonshire
County Council to develop projects that will
deliver the environmental, community and economic
opportunities.
Sustainable Communities: The Environment
Agency’s Role
We have a clear interest in the Government’s
emerging plans for the development of sustainable
communities. In our role as independent advisers
we will work across Government to ensure the
environmental risks of new and rapid development
are clearly understood. We will work with
others to bring forward proposals for minimising
these risks. We will make sure development
avoids environmental damage and wherever possible,
improves the environment.
As statutory consultees in the planning process
we will:
Contribute to national, regional and local
planning frameworks to ensure planning policies
are in place to protect the environment against
poor development, and increase the potential
for environmental improvement;
Highlight to local authorities the environmental
risk - including flood risk - of individual
planning applications;
Contribute to the sustainability appraisal
of planning policies, including their Strategic
Environmental Assessment;
Provide guidance to developers on avoiding
and reducing the environmental impact of their
proposals and on maximising potential environmental
benefits.
As the Government’s advisers on water resources
we will:
Identify new development that could put unacceptable
pressure on water resources, and show how
these pressures can be reduced through wiser
use of existing resources.
As regulators of waste we will:
Advise on the best ways of cleaning up contaminated
land to reduce the amount of hazardous waste
going to landfill;
Do everything we can to speed up the development
of brownfield sites by acting as an efficient
and modern regulator;
Work with the construction industry, Government
and others to reduce waste from construction
sites and ensure that it is dealt with safely.
With others, we will work through the Land
Restoration Trust to manage brownfield land
that has no market value, so that it is more
useful to local communities.
As regulators of river, sea and tidal flood
defences we will be firm and fair in our actions
to meet the Government’s policy of reducing
flood risk.
