Around 30 eco town protesters from Curborough, Fradley and Lichfield
joined protesters from other proposed eco town locations at a rally at
Parliament on Monday 30th June. The protesters first assembled at
11.30am at Abingdon Green opposite the House of Lords and then, at 1pm,
attended a Meeting of all eco-town protesters in a Committee Room of the
House of Commons. Just under 300 protesters packed the seats and sat in
the aisles of Committee Room 14. A petition was then handed in to 10
Downing Street and later two representatives from FACT (Fradley Against
Curborough Town) met Housing Minister, Caroline Flint.

"If Caroline Flint had any doubt about the strength of feeling against
her proposed locations for eco-towns, she won’t have now" says Michael
Fabricant. "In the packed Committee Room, Shadow Housing Minister Grant
Shapps told the audience that we do need extra homes and more affordable
housing. But the Government’s eco towns are environmentally unfriendly
and he said that it should be local elected people who decide where
housing developments should be constructed not an ever centralising
Government. I explained to the meeting that Lichfield District Council
has made a formal complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority
against the Department of Communities and Local Government for making
factual mistakes in an advertisement promoting the Curborough
Development and that the Government’s own eco-town Panel had criticised
the Curborough proposals for being eco-unfriendly and just a rehash of
previous planning applications. The audience were united in opposing
these developments.

"The Government claims it is consulting. It is time they react and
announce that the Curborough development will not proceed" adds
Michael. "We do not have the infrastructure or road capacity to support
such a huge development on the outskirts of Lichfield."

The photos show protesters outside Houses of Parliament and in the House
of Commons Committee Room. On the top table in the Committee Room are,
left to right, John Maples MP, Geoffrey Clifton Brown MP, Edward Garnier
MP, Shadow Housing Minister Grant Shapps MP, Michael Fabricant MP,
Nadine Dorries MP, and Nick Herbert MP.

(left to right)Eco Protest in Committee Room, Eco Protest outside Parliament, More Eco Protesters outside Parliament