Mass 'eco-town' proposal protest

The shortlist of 15 sites will be trimmed down to 10 locations

Campaigners against plans for an "eco-town" in Oxfordshire have taken part in a national protest to coincide with the end of the Labour Party conference.

The government is considering building 15,000 homes at Weston Otmoor, near Bicester, to create one of the first new towns in England for 40 years.

The area is among 10 sites shortlisted to become "environmentally-friendly" towns built by 2020.

Weston Front action group lit a beacon at Bicester's Ben Johnson pub.

'Deeply flawed'

The demonstration came after the county council recently described the "eco-town" proposals as "deeply flawed".

It presented a report to the council's cabinet with a list of concerns, which included areas such as "transport, housing, deliverability, the eco-credentials of the plan and the lack of planned social and cultural services".

The government will finalise its plans for the 10 "eco-towns" in the next few months.

Ministers want five of them built by 2016, with the other half completed by 2020.

The largest will provide between 15,000 and 20,000 new homes, with officials saying the towns should be "zero-carbon" developments and should be exemplary in one area of sustainability, such as energy production or waste disposal.

They also want 30% to 40% of each eco-town to be allocated as affordable housing.

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