Eco-town dominates Norfolk election

Controversial plans for an eco-town are dominating a council by-election campaign in Wroxham

SHAUN LOWTHORPE
25 September 2009 11:07



Controversial plans for an eco-town are dominating a council by-election campaign in Wroxham as five candidates including a would-be Ukip MP and a teenage undergraduate studying in York contest the seat.

Voters go to the polls in the Broadland district council election on October 1 to find out who will succeed independent candidate David Teager, who died of cancer last month.

Those standing are Glenn Tingle, the UK Independence candidate who finished fourth in the recent Norwich-north by-election, former Conservative district councillor Ian Evans, Malcolm Kemp for Labour, Nick Ball for the Greens, and Ben McGilvray for the Lib Dems.

Four of the candidates agreed that plans for thousands of new homes and in particular the Eco-town in Rackheath, which they all oppose, are at the heart of their campaigns, while Labour's Malcolm Kemp supported the scheme, if the right measures were in place for schools and low cost homes.

“If there is the right mix of affordable housing between Rackheath and Norwich, I wouldn't be against that,” Mr Kemp said. “A lot of people in the village have concerns about where their children will live.”

The elections came as the joint core strategy for the greater Norwich area, detailing where thousands of homes should go, is up in the air after officials from the department for transport delayed a decision on the controversial Norwich northern bypass.

Officials have promised to announce whether to recommend it or not by Christmas.

Mr McGilvray, 19, whose family lives in Wroxham, is currently a second-year history student at York University.

But he insisted that he would still be able to represent residents in the area, if he wins.

“I am available 24/7, and even when I am in York it will only be for a few weeks in the year,” he said. “I will be at every full council meeting and any committees I might be on, and I will be at parish council meetings

Mr Tingle said: “The main issue is the eco-town. I am definitely against it. We are already over populated and people are starting to realise this.”

Mr Evans said he could not support any development which would destroy the character of the villages in the area.

“My platform is to make sure that people's well-being and their lifestyles do not change dramatically through that,” he said.

Mr Ball said he planned to draw up his own plan showing what sustainable development could look like.

“Our village is blighted at the moment with a huge eyesore where the petrol station used to be,” he said. “I would like to see a big wind turbine up there - putting the mill back where it once was in Mill Road.”

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