Memorandum submitted by The Co-operative
Group
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
— The Co-operative Group is uniquely
placed to deliver an eco-town within its landholding south east
of Leicester, on a site which meets all the criteria for a successful
carbon-neutral settlement.
— The Co-operative Group's commitment
to applying its established and award winning sustainable initiatives
to an eco-town will result in a development that addresses the
environmental challenges faced by the country, whilst delivering
housing to meet the growing requirements of the population and
issues of affordability.
— The Co-operative Group has a clear
understanding of the way in which renewable energy sources can
be used within development and how the built components of the
eco-town can be delivered by sustainable sources, meeting the
highest standards of energy reduction. At the heart of the Co-operative
Group's eco-town is a sustainable transport strategy which will
play a major part in reducing the impact of the development through
innovative public transport infrastructure, and reduction in the
use of the private car through positive management and attractive
alternatives.
— The Co-operative Group's eco-town
will be an exemplar development which showcases renewable energy
use and sustainable development at an urban scale. The Group's
track record in implementing ground-breaking environmental initiatives
will ensure the success of the project.
— The eco-town will act as a catalyst,
instilling confidence in the development industry to produce innovative
and bold solutions to urban development and addressing the climate
change agenda. Furthermore, the behavioural change which will
be demonstrated by residents of the eco-town, brought about by
scheme design and management, will be evidence to the nation of
the attractiveness of living in such environments. The Co-operative
Group's active involvement in education will be brought to bear
on the way in which future generations will understand the significance
of sustainable living.
1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 The Co-operative Group is the world's
largest consumer co-operative. The Group has over 4,500 trading
stores, more than any other single UK retailer. It employs over
87,500 people and has 4 million members.
1.2 The Co-operative Group has an exceptional
track record of environmental responsibility. In 2007, it was
voted Britain's most ethical company; received the Queen's Award
for Enterprise in Sustainable Development and the Renewable Energy
Association's Pioneer Award. It also received Business Commitment
to the Environment's Peter Parker Award for Environmental Leadership
and will now represent the UK in the European Environmental Awards.
Most importantly, we have a proven ability to deliver leading
edge environmental initiatives across all aspects of our business:
from wind farms and farming to retail services and banking.
1.3 The proposal for a new eco-town on land
to the south east of Leicester in the ownership of the Group was
brought forward in response to the Eco Town Prospectus. On 3 April
2008, it was announced that the Co-operative Group's proposal
has been shortlisted for further consultation and examination
by the Government before the final selection of up to 10 eco-town
locations later in the year.
2.0 THE CONTRIBUTION
OF ECO-TOWNS
TO REDUCING
THE ENVIRONMENTAL
IMPACTS OF
HOUSING
Drivers for Eco Towns
2.1 The Government's intention is that eco-towns
will be a combined response to three challenges: climate change,
the need for more sustainable living, and the need to increase
housing supply and affordability. The country faces a major challenge
in meeting the housing needs of a growing population and changing
habitation characteristics. The eco-towns offer the opportunity
to demonstrate how these needs can be met, while providing development
of the highest sustainability specification to act as a catalyst
for the development industry to implement innovative sustainable
development across the country. The following sets out the ways
in which Co-operative Group Estates consider that eco-towns will
contribute to reducing the environmental impacts of housing:-
Carbon and Energy Reduction
2.2 This eco-town will be a carbon neutral
from day one. Until such time that the town has the critical mass
to generate its own energy, it will be powered by energy generated
from one of the Group's own wind farms. As the town grows, it's
reliance on external green energy sources will reduce, until it
is entirely self-sufficient from local, renewable energy sources.
This self-sufficiency will be achieved through design, the use
of renewable resources and by generating sustainable energy on-site.
2.3 Renewable technologies such as photovoltaics,
biomass and energy from waste and wind could be used to provide
heat and electricity to individual buildings. The renewable energy
strategy for the Co-operative Group's eco-town will build on the
Group's groundbreaking experiences in both generating renewable
energy and in implementing a successful renewable energy policy.
2.4 The Co-operative Group will manage the
necessary infrastructure and networks through an Energy Services
Company (or ESCo), which will allow the generation and distribution
of heat to the various buildings in the town using Combined Heat
and Power (CHP).
2.5 The eco-towns masterplan will stipulate
that wherever possible buildings will be constructed of locally-sourced
and reclaimed or recycled materials, and use design, siting, orientation,
daylighting and shading to reduce the need for heating in the
winter and to permit the use of natural ventilation systems instead
of air-conditioning in the summer. Construction will be optimised
for low energy inputs and modern methods of construction (MMC)
as well as traditional on-site building techniques will be investigated
to find the most environmentally-friendly solutions for the site.
Exemplary Standards
2.6 The master planning of the infrastructure
and the design of individual buildings will be mutually supportive,
to collectively achieve zero carbon standards.
2.7 Through innovative design, using energy
efficient materials and construction methods, the eco-town will
meet the requirements set out in the Communities and Local Government's
Code for Sustainable Homes, achieving a Code 6 rating.
2.8 The Co-operative Group expects to go
beyond the minimum standards set out in the Code for Sustainable
Homes and will aspire to reduce water consumption by up to 60%
by exploring and installing new technologies as the eco-town develops
and by significantly reducing overall carbon emissions from transport
generated by households.
2.9 The eco-town will aim to meet CABE—HBF
Building for Life gold standards by fulfilling 80% or more of
the criteria stipulated in these standards.
2.10 Best practice will be the minimum threshold,
and the Co-operative Group will continue to drive innovation and
delivery to achieve incremental improvements street by street
and phase by phase. A 70% reduction in energy demand and zero
emissions from energy and heat will be aspired to.
Transportation Strategy for Eco-Towns
2.11 Through the delivery of an exemplar
and sustainable Transport Strategy, the perceived transport impacts
of the eco-town will be greatly reduced. In brief, the Co-operative
Group intends for the development for to:
— Be a national exemplar in reducing
car use and carbon impact from transport;
— Exceed existing best practices for
the provision of high quality public transport and delivery of
Smarter Choices;
— Be a sustainable, distinctive and
attractive town well connected to Leicester and Central Leicestershire,
and enhance the economy, quality of life and diversity of the
whole area.
2.12 One of Group's main objectives is to
reduce car ownership to significantly below national and local
averages. This will be achieved by enabling Smarter Choices through
managed parking and high quality travel alternatives. The Co-operative
Group will encourage people to walk and cycle within the town
by providing a complete pedestrian and cycling infrastructure
from day one, ensuring that all residents are within easy walking
and cycling distance of facilities and services.
2.13 A network of eco-friendly demand responsive
shuttle buses will provide local access to all local services
within the eco-town. These high frequency services will, along
with cycling, be the most convenient mode of travel within the
development, linking housing with facilities and the central transport
hub.
2.14 It is anticipated that the public transport
network will include direct links to the employment opportunities
afforded by the central area of the city (itself undergoing regeneration);
the strategic national rail links of the city's main rail station
(including a direct link to international Eurostar services via
St. Pancras Station); one of the city's two university campuses;
two major sporting venues; numerous secondary and higher educational
facilities and major health facilities (Leicester Royal Infirmary
and potentially Leicester General).
2.15 Two additional Park & Ride locations
in line with Leicestershire's aspirations and LTP, reducing commuter
traffic on two major radial routes (the A47 and A6) creating a
step change in car use within the centre and reinforcing the high
profile public transport measures along these two key routes.
2.16 Deployment of a reverse congestion
charge that would be exacted on drivers leaving the eco-town at
peak times. The payment could be made via a management fee for
all residents in the town, with residents travelling by public
transport, cycling and walking awarded reimbursements of the charge.
3.0 THE DEVELOPMENT
OF DESIGN
AND TECHNIQUES
THAT COULD
BE ROLLED
OUT IN
OTHER DEVELOPMENTS
3.1 The Co-operative Group's role in creating
an eco-town is as a catalyst for sustainable development, enabling
and creating a framework within which its partners and all stakeholders
can flourish and contribute. The breadth of The Co-operative Group's
operations, and the knowledge and expertise that has been amassed
through these operations, is relevant to the instigation and development
of an eco-town as well as to its enduring social, economic and
environmental sustainability.
3.2 The Group is an organisation driven
by a long-term vision to run a sustainable business, which means
participating in and enabling sustainable communities to grow
and thrive. The eco-town for Leicestershire will be an exemplar
development that provides an example for other housing schemes
throughout the UK, offering the opportunity to roll out best practice
techniques pioneered by the Co-operative Group.
3.3 The eco-town has the potential to act
as a cluster for businesses engaged in the design of sustainable
technologies, serving the eco-town but also facilitating the roll-out
of those technologies elsewhere in the UK.
Exemplar Development
3.4 It is the Government's intention that
eco-towns will be national demonstrator projects that pilot zero
carbon and more sustainable approaches to living, showcasing the
potential of new settlements to increase housing supply, and the
opportunity for large scale new construction to improve the design
and delivery of affordable housing.
3.5 The scale and nature of the development
proposed provides an opportunity for greater investment and autonomy,
enabling bold and innovative initiatives to be utilised. The proposals
will seek to learn from and build upon schemes throughout the
world that have sought to provide sustainable travel. Successful
ideas from across the world will be married together and developed
to a site specific hybrid scheme that will set the standard for
future development within the UK.
3.6 The Co-operative Group's eco-town will
be an exemplar development and will showcase renewable energy
use at an urban scale, providing an example for other housing
schemes throughout the UK and offering the opportunity to develop
best practice. The Co-operative Group already operates its own
business sustainably. It has an established policy of buying and
investing in renewable energy, sourcing 98% of its electricity
from renewable energy sources across its business. The Group uses
its land and property assets to create opportunities for new energy
supply and enjoys successful partnerships with its energy providers
and joint developers addressing technological opportunities on
a meaningful scale, seeking to create real solutions, not cosmetic
diversions. The eco-towns renewable energy strategy will build
on the Group's groundbreaking experiences in both generating renewable
energy and in implementing a successful renewable energy policy.
3.7 The Co-operative Group has already succeeded
in bringing innovation into the mainstream, with ground- breaking
work such as sourcing its own power and promoting photovoltaic
and micro turbine solutions. The Co-operative Group wishes to
continue its pioneering reputation and will continually improve
its knowledge and deliver excellence in renewable energy technologies.
The Group already recognises that sustainable waste and water
solutions will be needed if businesses and communities of the
future are to succeed. It is therefore expected that the eco-town
will demonstrate excellence in these two areas, which will offer
the opportunity for subsequent housing development to adopt these
best practices.
3.8 The Co-operative Group will develop
innovative transport ideas to include initiatives such as public
transport being heavily subsidised at the point of use; car drivers
directly subsidising sustainable travel in a transparent manner;
producing the fuels required to power the transport systems on
adjacent land holdings; introducing a freight hub to supply materials
and goods to the development by rail to remove residual waste
by these means if necessary; using waste created on-site to create
energy for the homes and businesses, and treating car movements
within the site as a fall-back for occasional use only.
Education
3.9 The Co-operative Group's eco-town will
raise awareness and encourage behavioural changes to ensure that
the environmental agenda is maintained across all elements of
utilities usage, including waste and energy.
3.10 The eco-town will engender behavioural
change in the way in which the development industry perceives
sustainable development. The successful eco-town initiative will
give the industry the confidence to introduce bold carbon neutral
objectives to all new developments. Further behavioural change
will be secured by residents of the eco-town actively demonstrating
sustainable patterns of living, created by scheme design and philosophy.
In terms of traditional educational provision, behavioural change
can be induced in future generations by their learning about the
importance of the environment through local education provision,
in which the Co-operative Group is already actively involved.
3.11 The Co-operative Group will raise awareness
and encourage behavioural change to ensure that the environmental
agenda is maintained across the eco-town by setting up a visitors'
centre, similar to the GlassHuss Ett in Hammarby, where it will
explain the vision to potential residents and other visitors.
`Welcome staff' will be used to induct new residents with practical
guidance as well as written documents. Furthermore, it will establish
education and training links with schools and tertiary providers,
for example using the established knowledge and intellectual capital
of De Montford University
3.12 Also, through education, the Group
will encourage residents and business to adopt more sustainable
lifestyles, by establishing financial as well as organisational
incentives to encourage behavioural change that reduce waste.
The Group will also include technology in the buildings to allow
residents and businesses to monitor their daily carbon output
and so encourage them to use less energy and use energy more responsibly.
3.13 The Group will immediately set up a
Design and Development Panel for the town. Membership of the panel
is open to discussion but we would envisage that, at least initially,
it could include representatives of CABE; the RIBA; the Princes
Trust; Forum for the Future; our development partners; members
of our expert team of advisors; Primary Care Trusts; the Learning
and Skills Council and Building School for the Future, as well
as local organisations including Regeneration East Midlands; Leicester,
Leicestershire, Harborough, Oadby and Wigston Councils and Stoughton
Parish council and future eco-town residents.
4.0 CONCLUSION
4.1 The above demonstrates that eco-towns
can make a significant contribution to the reducing the environmental
impacts of housing through the use of innovative technologies
and encouragement of a step-change in behaviour that can be rolled
out to other developments in the future.
24 April 2008
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