what would your eco-town look like?

We want to make sure eco-towns are thriving communities from day one.

That means making sure transportation, decent infrastructure and public services are as important as housing.

This standard will ensure that people will have easy access to the quality services they need.

People living in eco-towns must have a say in how things are run.

Every eco-town must have a long-term structure run by residents to make sure that developers meet the right standards and that they are upheld in the future. And a plan for how they will involve the community in important decisions.

Over a year, net carbon emissions from all energy used in buildings in eco-towns must be zero or less.

Developers will need to show how they will achieve this.

Eco-town residents should be able to get around easily without relying on their cars.

Eco-towns should give priority to walking, cycling and good public transport- at least half of all trips should be car-free. And homes should be within a ten minute walk of frequent public transport as well as neighbourhood services.

Homes in eco-towns should have real-time energy monitoring to show families how much energy they are using and how much they are spending.

Homes should also have high speed broadband and live information on public transport.

Eco-towns will have at least 30 per cent affordable housing.

Eco-town residents should be able to work in their community. Plans should support job creation and business development - especially jobs which are easily accessible without a car.

At least one job per house, on average, must be easily reached by walking, cycling or public transport.

Families who live in eco-towns will enjoy a healthy, vibrant community - including leisure, health and social care; education, retail, culture and library services; sport and play, community and voluntary sector facilities.

Eco-towns should be built with climate change in mind and resilient to future changes in climate so that residents have confidence for the long term.

Water efficiency is very important for eco-towns to safeguard and protect the availability of this resource.

Care will also need to be taken when planning buildings to protect people from the risk of flooding.

There must be at least 40 per cent green space in an eco-town. And at least half of that must be community space. Plans should have a range of quality green spaces, for example community forests, wetland areas and town squares.

Special focus should be given to land for growing food locally such as community gardens and allotments.

Plans also need to show how wildlife and natural environmental features will be protected for people to enjoy.

Eco-towns must reduce waste and recycle substantially more than the national targets, as well as make use of waste in new ways, e.g. fuel