MIDDLE QUINTON DEVELOPERS WELCOME HOUSING MINISTER’S VISIT

St.Modwen and the Bird Group, the proponents of the Middle Quinton ECO-town, have welcomed the fact-finding visit of Housing Minister Caroline Flint MP to Stratford-upon-Avon.

“This was the first occasion we have had to speak directly to the Minister about our plans and vision for Middle Quinton. It was an excellent opportunity to explain how our proposals would meet the exacting criteria demanded by the Government for development of one of the first ECO-towns in the UK,” said John Dodds, regional director for St.Modwen.

“The ECO-towns project is extremely challenging as we are dealing with criteria for sustainable development that have never been applied at this scale in this country before. However, we remain convinced that the development proposals put forward for Middle Quinton are creative, robust, sustainable and capable of meeting the Government’s targets”

“We have already consulted on our initial plans for Middle Quinton with the local community and will be holding Stakeholder Group meetings in the coming weeks,” added Mr Dodds.

Tony Bird OBE, chairman of the Bird Group of companies, commented:

“The Minister’s visit is a demonstration of her personal interest in the

ECO-towns project and we welcome her decision to spend time in the area and see the site for herself. It will provide her with a clear understanding of the details and context of our bid and the circumstances surrounding it.

“I hope the Minister will be impressed by the advanced technology of our waste management systems and the 100% usage of waste resources, unique in the UK. Hopefully, Middle Quinton will be able to provide the eco technology and innovation for use in the future development of Britain’s housing industry. I do hope the Minister will take away the strong impression that we are fully behind her commitment to deliver an outstanding new community in south Warwickshire.”

During their time with the Housing Minister, Mr Dodds and Mr Bird were able to put forward a number of the key benefits of their proposals for Middle Quinton, a 6,000 home ECO-town on a brownfield, former MOD site mid-way between Stratford-upon-Avon and Evesham. These included:

– provision of at least 2,000 carbon-neutral, affordable homes in an area with the highest average residential property prices in the west Midlands

– creation of around 3,000 new, non-tourism reliant jobs on-site at the ECO-town, with many additional jobs in the schools, energy centre and town centre uses to be provided.

– millions of pounds worth of investment in new road, rail and sustainable public transport infrastructure. Including a proposal to develop the Western bypass around Stratford and enhanced transport links between Honeybourne and Stratford, which will connect Stratford, via Honeybourne with Oxford, Reading and London.

– installation of leading-edge waste management, power generation and recycling schemes

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For further information, please contact:

St. Modwen

Charlotte McCarthy

PR Manager

M: 07970 949 914

T: 0121 222 9400

E: cmccarthy@stmodwen.co.uk

St Modwen & The Bird Group

Mark Harrison

T: 01295 690 003

M: 07776 182 506

E: harrisons@ndirect.co.uk