In the biggest demonstration so far, hundreds of protesters marched
through the centre of Lichfield on Saturday (7th June) to mark their
objection to the proposed new eco-town at Curborough on the outskirts of
Lichfield. Addressing the demonstrators from the steps of the Dr Samuel
Johnson Birthplace Museum, Michael Fabricant said: "We acknowledge the
need for additional housing and for affordable housing. But 8,000 new
homes are already planned for Lichfield District and 25% of the larger
developments will be affordable homes. And these homes need to be built
where they are needed – Fazeley, Burntwood, and in Lichfield itself –
not where Whitehall planners have stuck a pin in a map which will create
a ghetto. Local Government know the area, not Downing Street.

"The so-called ‘eco town’ will not even be ‘eco’: we don’t have the
road system to support this development and it will cause additional
pollution through traffic congestion. Nor do we have the schools nor
the doctors to support such a huge town plonked on a sensitive
greenfield site on the outskirts of Lichfield.

"I congratulate everyone who has turned up today. You will have sent a
clear message to Government: the eco-town at Curborough and Fradley is
neither viable nor welcome here".

Photograph shows Michael Fabricant (left) with Richard Holloway,
Chairman of FACT (Fradley Against Curborough Town), and just some of the
demonstrators against the proposed eco-town.