In July, housing minister John Healey announced that four locations had met the standards to become eco-towns.
A further nine local authorities are now considering plans to develop new communities to eco-town standards.
Healey is backing the expressions of interest from nine local authorities with up to £10m. The potential second wave eco-town proposals are:
- Schemes at Shoreham Harbour in West Sussex and Northstowe in Cambridgeshire, where there is an opportunity to redesign elements of existing projects to meet higher sustainability standards.
- Five authorities and partnerships, covering ten locations in Taunton (Monkton Heathfield and Corneytrowe), Yeovil, Leeds City Region (Aire Valley, York North West, North Kirklees and Bradford-Shipley canal corridor), Lincoln (Lincoln Area and Gainsborough) and Coventry. In these locations, the concepts are still at an early stage.
- Councils in Cornwall and the Sheffield City Region (Dearne Valley, South Yorkshire) want to use the eco-towns concept to carry out a broader survey of potential, test alternative options for development and then use the eco-town concept and standards to apply across their area.
Possible second wave bids are still at an early stage and will be subject to further, widespread consultation on proposals, before public consultation and local planning approval.
Healey said: "I welcome the interest of these nine authorities. They have recognised that eco-towns in the future will not be exceptional. We said we wanted to see up to ten eco-towns by 2020, so we will now work closely with these councils and communities to develop their bids."
The sites already given the green light are in Hampshire, Norfolk, Cornwall and Oxfordshire.
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