At a seminar to be held in Birmingham today, The Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA) will highlight the case for new eco-towns to be built in the West Midlands.

According to the TCPA, striking seasonal changes across the region have underlined the need for new developments to be built around climatic variations and to zero-carbon standards.

According to the Environmental Agency, while annual rainfall has increased in the Midlands by 3% since 1930, seasonal changes are more dramatic; December rainfall has amplified by 38% and July rainfall has plummeted by 31%. 

Gideon Amos, TCPA chief executive, said:

"The affects of climate change are clear to see in the Midlands, with the predictions that the region will experience more storms and flooding in the winter and droughts in summer. We must plan for and adapt to regional climatic variations, ensuring sustainable housing growth and eco-towns are founded on the best environmental data and built to zero-carbon standards."

The regional housing growth and eco-towns seminar series launched in Birmingham today is being run by the TCPA and Communities and Local Government (CLG), in partnership with the Academy for Sustainable Communities (ASC).

The programme aims to assist professionals working in delivery agencies, local authorities, development agencies and professional consultancies, as well as elected members and community groups, in the delivery of eco-towns and more widely in the delivery of new zero-carbon housing growth in the region.

The seminar will include presentations by Clive Dutton OBE, director of Planning & Regeneration at Birmingham City Council, Gideon Amos, TCPA chief executive, Mike Price, senior planning manager at the Government Office for the West Midlands, and Deborah Lamb, Academy for Sustainable Communities board member.

It is the first of eight regional seminars, running from February until May. Other destinations include Manchester, Reading, Exeter, Nottingham, Leeds, Newcastle and Cambridge.