When An Eco-Town Might Cost You An Extra £500 A Year
Yet again details of the proposed eco-towns across the UK are not quite what the initial headlines would have you believe. Aside from the fact that Gordon Brown's 10 eco-town development across the UK are already running into trouble, it now appears that residents may be forced to pay an extra £500 a year each on top of their council tax bills.
The authorities claim that the 'possible' service charge is for subsidised travel and 'other costs' although Caroline Flint is due to announce strict regulations for these new eco-towns. As well as having a zero carbon status, it is proposed that 40% of land in the developments should be green space and 50% of journeys are to be made by public transport, walking or cycling. Quite how the authorities intend to ensure these guidelines are adhered to remains to be seen!
It will come as no surprise to those with an interest in eco-friendly issues that the proposed towns have run into major traffic. Developers are dropping out on a regular basis, councils are rejecting plans and the appetite from the public is luke warm at best. Whether these new towns will ever get off the ground is very debatable.
Share this..
Related stories
Reclaiming 'unfair' charges can lead to 'unfair' commission
As more and more bank customers are trying to reclaim what are seen as unfair charges from their providers, one reclaim company has stood up against colleagues who charge high commission.iWantMyChargesBack.co.uk is a firm that offers to help account holders through their claims cases for a flat fee and has slammed fellow companies that draw up to 40 per commission for their work. The claims compan...
Read MoreMP's Second Home Allowances Come Under Scrutiny
The ongoing drip feed of scandal and intrigue in the area of MPs expenses seems set to move to a new level over the next few weeks with a number of changes expected. However, a new so called scam has been revealed whereby MPs are able to use their second home allowances on one home (usually in London where costs are higher), while declaring the same home as their primary residence for capital gai...
Read MoreScottish construction industry under pressure
The Scottish construction industry is still under pressure with workloads in the public and the private sector falling marginally in the final quarter of 2009. However, while there are signs of increased activity in the early part of 2010 it is believed that the vast majority of this is from publicly funded projects introduced by the Scottish parliament. Many analysts and economists have accept...
Read MoreCoalition government hands power back to the cities
Eric Pickles, the Communities Secretary, has today suggested that that government will introduce a bill that will allow 12 of England's largest cities to directly elect their own mayor. The cities in question include Birmingham, Leeds, Sheffield, Liverpool, Bristol and Manchester with the likelihood that elected mayors will have more control on local spending and effectively decentralise power fro...
Read MoreHBOS Sees £1.3 Billion Wiped Off Company Value
In a move which is heavily connected to the housing market, HBOS (consisting of Halifax and Bank of Scotland) saw £1.3 billion wiped off the value of the company. The share price is now well below the price at which investors are being asked to buy new shares in the £4 billion emergency fund raising exercise. So what next?
While the offer is fully underwritten, with Morgan Stanl...