The Government has been accused of trying to draw a veil of secrecy over two roadshows for a proposed eco-town in the Marston Vale.

The events take place tomorrow (Friday) and Saturday but parish councils were only given eight days' notice, Mid Beds District Council just four – and local residents and the press have not been told at all.

Whitehall has drawn up a shortlist of 12 sites nationwide that could host eco-towns, including Marston where 15,000 new homes could be in the pipeline.

Ken Matthews, deputy leader of Mid Beds District Council, said: "I think this is intolerable. We are extremely upset that so little thought has been given to this whole process.

"We have written to the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) to express our dismay that they have given so little time for any publicity.

"It is so late in the day to publicise this consultation they should come back again, having given proper time for people to assimilate what is being proposed.

"We still don't know how they are publicising the details, whether they are going to hand out flyers or put it on noticeboards or take out adverts in the press."

Roadshows will be at the Forest Centre in Marston Moretaine on Friday and Saturday from 9am to 4pm, and at The Howard Centre in Bedford on Saturday from 9am to 6pm.

Hugh Roberts, chairman of the Marston Moretaine Eco-Town Action Group (MMETAG), which has been one of the leading opponents, said he was only informed of the consultation by a parish council clerk.

Two other protest organisations, Brogborough Action Group and Lidlington Action Group, said they only found out after being told by MMETAG.

Mr Roberts said: "It is a strange state of affairs, they are just sneaking into town and sneaking out again.

"If we hadn't come across this by accident then this would have happened without many people living in the area knowing about it."

Previous consultations have also been held by developer O&H Properties.
Mr Roberts said there had been serious deficiencies with these too.

"This is a running theme with the eco-towns," he added.

"They either don't know what they are doing or they don't want people to know what they are doing. They don't want to consult local people, and they don't want to face hard questions. They are just going through the motions."

A Communities and Local Government spokesman said: "These roadshows are just one part of the Government's efforts to make the public fully aware of the current eco-towns consultation, and to encourage the maximum number of responses.

"We appreciate that, with the start of the consultation this week, we were unable to give as much notice of the timing for the Marston Vale roadshow as some would have liked, but all the elements of the consultation are also available online at www.direct.gov.uk or by post so people have plenty of options to make their voices heard."

Meanwhile, the Government also published new rules this week, allowing eco-towns to be built on greenfield sites.

Mid Bedfordshire Conservative MP Nadine Dorries said she feared applications could now be forced through.

She said: "Originally the Government claimed that eco-towns were only planned for brownfield sites. I am very concerned that the Government appears to be moving the goalposts half-way through its public consultation exercise."

She added: "No matter what criteria you try to use, dumping new housing estates on green space in the Marston Vale is not environmentally sustainable in any way."