Bill Oliver, chief executive of developer St Modwen, one of the dwindling number of companies still vying to build ambitious environmentally-friendly developments believes too much thought has been given to the idea of an “eco town” and not enough to the reality of the concept.

Some proponents of greener housing say it is important not to emphasise the environmental credentials of such schemes at all – it is to simply make places in which people want to live and that just happen to be green.