{"id":2895,"date":"2015-11-23T07:00:57","date_gmt":"2015-11-23T07:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stroudcivicsociety.co.uk\/wp\/?p=2895"},"modified":"2015-11-23T07:00:57","modified_gmt":"2015-11-23T07:00:57","slug":"invitation-to-a-meeting-ecopark-or-egopark-greentech-or-greenwash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stroudcivicsociety.co.uk\/home\/2015\/11\/23\/invitation-to-a-meeting-ecopark-or-egopark-greentech-or-greenwash\/","title":{"rendered":"Invitation to a meeting: EcoPark or EgoPark? Greentech or Greenwash?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><span style=\"line-height: 1.4em;\">(Words by Tim Mars)<\/span><\/strong><span style=\"line-height: 1.4em;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2849\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2849\" style=\"width: 660px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/stroudcivicsociety.co.uk\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/ecopark.jpg\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2849\" title=\"The proposed Eco Park, centred on Junction 13 of the M5 motorway\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/stroudcivicsociety.co.uk\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/ecopark.jpg?resize=660%2C371\" alt=\"The proposed Eco Park, centred on Junction 13 of the M5 motorway\" width=\"660\" height=\"371\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2849\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The proposed Eco Park, centred on Junction 13 of the M5 motorway<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong><span style=\"line-height: 1.4em;\">Invitation:\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><span style=\"line-height: 1.4em;\">You are cordially invited to a meeting hosted by Stroud Civic Society to discuss and debate Ecotricity&#8217;s ambitious plans for an &#8216;EcoPark&#8217; on a large greenfield site beside Junction 13 of the M5 near Eastington.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Ecotricity\u2019s EcoPark \u2013 Greentech or Greenwash?<\/strong><br \/>\nIs the proposed EcoPark a \u2018centre of excellence for sport and green business\u2019 or just another out-of-town business park off the motorway?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Time and place:\u00a0<\/strong>7:30pm Thursday 26th November,\u00a0Old Town Hall, The Shambles, Stroud GL5 1AP<\/p>\n<p><strong>Speakers<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.4em;\">David Drew, Vice Chairman of Forest Green Rovers<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.4em;\">Hugh Barton, Emeritus Professor of Planning, Health and Sustainability at the University of the West of England<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.4em;\">Alison Williamson, Environmental Planner at Ecotricity<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.4em;\">Simon Pickering, Senior Ecologist at Ecotricity and Green District Councillor for Slade Ward<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.4em;\">Stephen Davies, Conservative District Councillor for Eastington and Standish<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Context:\u00a0<\/strong>This is likely to be a very lively debate on the most significant and contentious greenfield development proposal since Gloucester Motorway Services at Whaddon. Ecotricity and Forest Green Rovers have run a series of drop-in sessions as part of their public consultation exercise, but this is the first opportunity for a public discussion of the pros and cons of the scheme, with a range of viewpoints represented and contributions from the floor welcome.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Background:\u00a0<\/strong>The proposed EcoPark is a multi-million pound 100-acre sports and business facility located beside Junction 13 of the M5 near Eastington. Ecotricity says: &#8216;It will be a place where green businesses and technology companies come together and share ideas, a real focal point of creativity and innovation for the area\u2014and a part of the green industrial revolution that&#8217;s beginning to take off around the world.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Half of the EcoPark will be dedicated to creating state-of-the-art sporting facilities, including a 5,000 capacity all-seater stadium for Forest Green Rovers, training fields, 4G pitches, multi-disciplinary sporting facilities, as well as a sports science hub.<\/p>\n<p>The other half will comprise a green technology business park with sustainably built commercial offices and light industrial units potentially capable of hosting up to 4,000 jobs.<\/p>\n<p>Another part of the site will become a nature reserve, while the overall concept also includes working with the Cotswold Canals Trust to open up part of the &#8216;missing mile&#8217; of the Stroudwater Canal on either side of the M5.<\/p>\n<p>There are also plans to upgrade various roundabouts along the A419, dual some carriageways and the potential to develop a public transport hub\u2014including a Stroud Park and Ride.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Comments:\u00a0<\/strong>These comments posted online after recent articles on the EcoPark give a good flavour of the range of views. I have highlighted some of the more interesting comments in italics:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong><span style=\"line-height: 1.4em;\">kjag23 2:09pm Fri 17 Jul 15<\/span><\/strong><br \/>\n<em><span style=\"line-height: 1.4em;\">FGR barely fills its current stadium, why does it need another? Does Mr Vince not understand the &#8220;Forest Green&#8221; part of &#8220;Forest Green Rovers&#8221;?<\/span><\/em><br \/>\n<em> <span style=\"line-height: 1.4em;\">Dale Vince slowly taking over.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong><span style=\"line-height: 1.4em;\">skittikitty 4:55pm Fri 17 Jul 15<\/span><\/strong><br \/>\n<span style=\"line-height: 1.4em;\">He is on a one man mission to destroy the countryside and Eco featuring anywhere in these plans is a mysnoma.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"line-height: 1.4em;\">Neither is there the infrastructure to support this development, queues morning noon and night, or do his &#8220;Eco&#8221; plans include the concreting over of more countryside to facilitate a new road too?<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong><span style=\"line-height: 1.4em;\">reggy.smith1 5:14pm Fri 17 Jul 15<\/span><\/strong><br \/>\n<span style=\"line-height: 1.4em;\">More green fields gone, not much eco here. Why does Forest Green need another stadium when they have not long built the one they have now.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong><span style=\"line-height: 1.4em;\">sicorlett 6:28pm Fri 17 Jul 15<\/span><\/strong><br \/>\n<em><span style=\"line-height: 1.4em;\">Dale Vince has a history of producing employment for the local area, and he does so while building sustainable industry &#8211; what&#8217;s not to like? I wish him luck in continuing to build successful business ventures that do not rape the environment, provide employment, and bring new innovative technologies to the area. Good on ya&#8217;, pal!<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong><span style=\"line-height: 1.4em;\">a-bomberg 6:34pm Sat 18 Jul 15<\/span><\/strong><br \/>\n<span style=\"line-height: 1.4em;\">Once these fields are gone they are gone. Dale Vince, a man that claims to be green when it suits his needs. None of this is needed. We do not have a high area of unemployment. We do not have a need for more sports teams; many teams struggle to fill their sides now, and there is <em>no need for a stadium that very obviously will be used for concerts and not just sport.<\/em><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"line-height: 1.4em;\">If these people think that they can dangle a few carrots and we (the locals) will all start licking his boots then he is very deluded indeed. Dale Vince is messing with the wrong community.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"line-height: 1.4em;\">No matter how this tries to be &#8220;packaged&#8221; or &#8220;spun&#8221;, these are the green fields of Gloucestershire that we be no-more. Lot will say that &#8220;its ok, its near the M5, it will get built on sooner or later, something will be there &#8211; that really does not need to be the case. We do not need to be that district, that county.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"line-height: 1.4em;\">I can see it now, you come off J13 and these building will welcome people. <em>If we let these fields be built on then that is an end to this England, your England.<\/em><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"line-height: 1.4em;\">#egotricity #ForestGREENmyarse<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong><span style=\"line-height: 1.4em;\">Ginie 6:39pm Sat 18 Jul 15<\/span><\/strong><br \/>\n<span style=\"line-height: 1.4em;\"><em>There is enough industrial estates in the area! Stonehouse trading estate is sufficient enough to welcome new companies as they have a lot of empty warehouses, so why building a new trading estate there<\/em>. We need to leave intact some of the only green spaces we have left and leave wild animals in peace. Forest Green has already got a stadium and don&#8217;t need another one, they can&#8217;t even fill the one they have now.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong><span style=\"line-height: 1.4em;\">corin22 12:12am Mon 20 Jul 15<\/span><\/strong><br \/>\n<span style=\"line-height: 1.4em;\">already taking money out of our pockets with our energy bills with his waste of space windmills he would not be doing this unless there is a lot in it for him&#8212;again<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong><span style=\"line-height: 1.4em;\">juanhunglo 12:48pm Tue 21 Jul 15<\/span><\/strong><br \/>\n<em><span style=\"line-height: 1.4em;\">Vince the viking, raping and pillaging the countryside.<\/span><\/em><br \/>\n<span style=\"line-height: 1.4em;\">5,000 seater stadium for mediocre football, the ball&#8217;s in the air more times than it is on the ground, what a waste.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"line-height: 1.4em;\">Leave the fields, there&#8217;s not many left.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"line-height: 1.4em;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.stroudnewsandjournal.co.uk\/news\/13462128.Plans_for___100_million____Eco_Park____including_new_Forest_Green_Rovers_stadium_near_Stroud_unveiled_by_Ecotricity_boss_Dale_Vince\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">http:\/\/www.stroudnewsandjournal.co.uk\/news\/13462128.Plans_for___100_million____Eco_Park____including_new_Forest_Green_Rovers_stadium_near_Stroud_unveiled_by_Ecotricity_boss_Dale_Vince\/<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong><span style=\"line-height: 1.4em;\">stewartwardrop 12:00pm Thu 3 Sep 15<\/span><\/strong><br \/>\n<em><span style=\"line-height: 1.4em;\">Great idea &#8211; needs to support across the community.<\/span><\/em><br \/>\n<em> <span style=\"line-height: 1.4em;\">Joined up thinking at last &#8211; bringing investment and jobs to the area in a sustainable way<\/span><\/em><br \/>\n<em> <span style=\"line-height: 1.4em;\">From a Whitminster resident who totally supports this proposal.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong><span style=\"line-height: 1.4em;\">Salendine 12:34pm Thu 3 Sep 15<\/span><\/strong><br \/>\n<span style=\"line-height: 1.4em;\"><em>4,000 new jobs? What are all these people going to be doing, and how are they going to get out of the towns to this site? Do locals skill sets match what will be required by green technology companies or will the jobs be going to people out of town?<\/em> Many questions yet to be answered.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"line-height: 1.4em;\">Whilst it is planned to be on green land (rather than remediating brown field sites) it is still sounding like an ego trip. DV doesn&#8217;t actually answer that question, but deflects it in the manner of a skilled politician.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"line-height: 1.4em;\">Fair play for having a public debate. Will be interesting to hear the outcome.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong><span style=\"line-height: 1.4em;\">Sbak4287 11:07am Sun 6 Sep 15<\/span><\/strong><br \/>\n<span style=\"line-height: 1.4em;\">Why is it that every interview I hear from Dale Vince, he&#8217;s so defensive, patronising and inconsiderate of the local residents. <em>I&#8217;m sure he wouldn&#8217;t be happy about this being built on the back of his fort! To say this is a mile away from Eastington is a load of rubbish, this is being built IN Eastington, my parents home is right next to the field he wants to build on and I&#8217;m pretty sure last time I checked, their address stated Eastington in it, or do these residents not matter?!<\/em><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"line-height: 1.4em;\"><em>Why do you want to destroy one of the very few rural villages left in Gloucestershire for the sake of unnecessary building developments and sports facilities.<\/em> We already have a sports field in Eastington! Or has that been overlooked too? 4000 jobs? I&#8217;d like to see a listing to prove that this isn&#8217;t just a figure that&#8217;s been plucked out of the air.. And the already heavily congested roads leading to that site are just going to become constant standstill traffic areas.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"line-height: 1.4em;\">Finally in the recent interview with BBC Gloucestershire, Dale was very defensive about the development being described as concreting over green land, of course you are concreting over green land, or are you expecting your staff and football fans to park in a field? We don&#8217;t NEED this development at all! But that&#8217;s just my opinion&#8230;<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong><span style=\"line-height: 1.4em;\">a-bomberg 3:56pm Sun 6 Sep 15 million\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><br \/>\n<em><span style=\"line-height: 1.4em;\">&#8220;4000 new jobs&#8221; total lies&#8230;. Its a trading estate where 4000 people could work. So, what that relates to in real terms is existing companies moving to this site. The job creation will not be 4000, new jobs may only be 10-25% at best I would expect.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong><span style=\"line-height: 1.4em;\">kjag23 4:15pm Mon 7 Sep 15<\/span><\/strong><br \/>\n<em><span style=\"line-height: 1.4em;\">An eco technology park sounds like a good idea. A very Stroudy way to bring business to Stroud, and being just off the motorway would mean many wouldn&#8217;t travel through towns to work.<\/span><\/em><br \/>\n<span style=\"line-height: 1.4em;\">However, I wouldn&#8217;t trust Mr Vince as far as I could throw him.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"line-height: 1.4em;\">He&#8217;s a slippery character with a dodgy past, this seems like a self indulgent addition to his empire.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"line-height: 1.4em;\">Take out the totally needless FGR stadium and move it to a brownfield site then I&#8217;ll be on your side.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"line-height: 1.4em;\">Score: 4<\/span><br \/>\n<strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong><span style=\"line-height: 1.4em;\">HarryMonmouth 1:59am Tue 8 Sep 15<\/span><\/strong><br \/>\n<em><span style=\"line-height: 1.4em;\">This does sound like a good idea to me. I am usually in favour of stopping big companies trampling over countryside but of all the ways in which this sort of thing could be done ecotricity seems to be trying to create a positive environment with as little negative impact on the countryside as possible. Perhaps some of the jobs will require skills that are not available locally but those workers will become local and will require services that are supplied locally. The knock on effect is probable more than four thousand jobs when the effect on the local economy is taken into account. I would far rather a forward thinking company like ecotricity tried this than any other company, or for that matter allowing stagnation of the local economy.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong><span style=\"line-height: 1.4em;\">daphnetomlinson 5:29pm Sat 26 Sep 15<\/span><\/strong><br \/>\n<em><span style=\"line-height: 1.4em;\">These are exciting, much-needed plans. Since May, the government has abolished subsidies for renewable energy while maintaining substantial tax breaks for the fossil fuel industry, scrapped the Zero Carbon Homes standard for all new houses to be zero carbon by 2016, slashed the budget for the Department for Energy and Climate Change, and dumped the tax discount for low-emissions vehicles. By these actions, our government is hastening us down the road to runaway climate change. It is only enterprising individuals with vision, such as Dale Vince, whose work can help avoid planetary disaster.<\/span><\/em><br \/>\n<span style=\"line-height: 1.4em;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.stroudnewsandjournal.co.uk\/news\/13643446.Ecotricity___s_Dale_Vince_responds_to_criticism_of_plans_for_100_acre_Eco_Park_near_Eastington\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">http:\/\/www.stroudnewsandjournal.co.uk\/news\/13643446.Ecotricity___s_Dale_Vince_responds_to_criticism_of_plans_for_100_acre_Eco_Park_near_Eastington\/<\/a><\/span><br \/>\n<strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong><span style=\"line-height: 1.4em;\">a-bomberg 1:31pm Wed 11 Nov 15<\/span><\/strong><br \/>\n<span style=\"line-height: 1.4em;\">Not true at all. &#8220;While the other half will comprise a green technology business park with sustainably built commercial offices and light industrial units potentially capable of creating up to 4,000 jobs.&#8221;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"line-height: 1.4em;\">It is a site where up to 4000 people could work (like any industrial estate). Companies would be moving in to new units. Companies that already employ people. That is NOT job creation. That is just companies moving to a site closer to the M5&#8230; EGO before ECO?<\/span><br \/>\n<strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong><span style=\"line-height: 1.4em;\">Salendine 9:39pm Wed 11 Nov 15<\/span><\/strong><br \/>\n<span style=\"line-height: 1.4em;\"><em>Why not invest in Brimscombe Port? That project needs a developer\/investor, and its a brown field that needs cleaning up.<\/em> That has to be greener than building on green fields. There are numerous other brown field sites that need cleaning up and developing. That would be a contribution worthy from a minted eco warrior.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"line-height: 1.4em;\">I wonder if he does get permission to build on green fields will he come up against his old tree hugging buddies as they hurl themselves in front of his bull dozers? Going to be interesting watching this one roll out.<\/span><br \/>\n<strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong><span style=\"line-height: 1.4em;\">David_Lloyd 11:50am Thu 12 Nov 15<\/span><\/strong><br \/>\n<em><span style=\"line-height: 1.4em;\">This doesn&#8217;t look like a debate.<\/span><\/em><br \/>\n<em> <span style=\"line-height: 1.4em;\">The Panel is David Drew (FGR and promoting the scheme), Dale Vince ( who is proposing the scheme), Simon Pickering ( who works for Ecotricity), and Hugh Barton who is in favour of building on areas like this as per his proposals for other parts of Stonehouse.<\/span><\/em><br \/>\n<span style=\"line-height: 1.4em;\">We are yet to even see detailed plans .. The illustration you continue to use is just a concept ( pure fiction ).<\/span><br \/>\n<em><span style=\"line-height: 1.4em;\">This area remains outside of any area earmarked for development in the old and emerging Stroud Local Plan.<\/span><\/em><br \/>\n<span style=\"line-height: 1.4em;\">Let&#8217;s see the full planning application, compare it to local and national planning policy, and see the process through.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"line-height: 1.4em;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.stroudnewsandjournal.co.uk\/news\/14023719.Debate_over___100million____Eco_Park____near_Stroud_heats_up_as_pros_and_cons_prepare_to_face_scrutiny\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">http:\/\/www.stroudnewsandjournal.co.uk\/news\/14023719.Debate_over___100million____Eco_Park____near_Stroud_heats_up_as_pros_and_cons_prepare_to_face_scrutiny\/<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p>If you have views, or just want to find out more, do come along to our meeting on November 26th! \u00a0It&#8217;s at\u00a07:30pm, \u00a0Old Town Hall, The Shambles, Stroud GL5 1AP.\u00a0\u00a0Members \u00a32, Non-members \u00a33.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(Words by Tim Mars)\u00a0 Invitation:\u00a0You are cordially invited to a meeting hosted by Stroud Civic Society to discuss and debate Ecotricity&#8217;s ambitious plans for an &#8216;EcoPark&#8217; on a large greenfield site beside Junction 13 of the M5 near Eastington.\u00a0 Ecotricity\u2019s EcoPark \u2013 Greentech or Greenwash? Is the proposed EcoPark a[&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorised"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stroudcivicsociety.co.uk\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2895","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stroudcivicsociety.co.uk\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stroudcivicsociety.co.uk\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stroudcivicsociety.co.uk\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stroudcivicsociety.co.uk\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2895"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stroudcivicsociety.co.uk\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2895\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stroudcivicsociety.co.uk\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stroudcivicsociety.co.uk\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stroudcivicsociety.co.uk\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}