An informal SPONGE event to gather member's opinions on the recent Housing Green Paper and Ecotowns Prospectus. The results of the evening will form Sponge's submission to the consultation on the Housing Green Paper.
On 23 July, the government published a Green Housing Paper, supported by a range of policy documents. The Green Paper sets out the government's national drive to support more affordable housing for all by:
- building more homes, backed by ambitious planning targets
- building more social housing, with a ?3billion increase in funding over 3 years
- building more quickly, including the use of Modern Methods of Construction
- helping first time buyers and improving the mortgage document
- and building greener homes, including mandatory reductions in carbon emissions through building regulations.
As part of the suite of documents which accompanies the Green Paper, an Ecotowns Prospectus sets out the Government?s vision for the development of around 5 new eco-towns, including the support to take them forward.
James Hulme, Director of Public Affairs at the Princes Foundation, will introduce the consultation by discussing his thoughts on the policy consultation.
In SPONGE tradition, the evening is opened by a short introduction to the policy statements, and then attendees break into groups to discuss and respond to the consultation. After the event, the various group responses are collated into a formal SPONGE policy response. The discussions are informal, off the record, and all are welcomed to contribute.
We will be responding to the request in the Ecotowns prospectus for views, and to the following questions posed in the Housing Green Paper:
5. Do you consider that any additional tools and/or mechanisms are now needed to deliver the design policies in order to achieve our aspirations for an up-lift in quality and to improve inclusive design?
6. Do you agree that further work to explore and evaluate quality assurance approaches would be worthwhile?
Date: 25 of September 2007; 6:30 ? 8:30 pm
Location: The Horse Bar and Restaurant, 124 Westminster Bridge Road, Waterloo, London SE1 7XG
Cost: ?5
RSVP: By Friday 21 September to info@spongenet.org |
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