THE future of the controversial 5,000 home eco-town planned for Bicester was uncertain last night after the Government confirmed further backing for the scheme was under review.

Last summer, farmland at north-west Bicester was one of four sites selected by the Labour Government for the country’s first eco-towns.

In February, Cherwell District Council got a £9.6m share of £60m Government funding to kickstart the project.

But in the light of the country’s massive deficit, further Government funding for the scheme is now under review.

The Government’s support is vital to help create the necessary infrastructure.

An announcement is expected in the next few weeks and P3Eco, the firm working on the development, said it would continue working on the initial phase of the project.

The Government’s review has been welcomed by campaigners opposed to the scheme.

District and county councillor Catherine Fulljames, said: “I would be delighted if this was scrapped.

“If the Government scraps eco-towns it could throw into doubt development on north-west Bicester.”

Former town planner Tony Ives, of the action group Base (Bicester and villages Against Sham Eco town), said: “I’m not surprised.”

But he added: “I don’t want the eco-town to be cancelled only because of the current economic climate, I want it to be dropped because it’s the wrong scheme in the wrong place.”

Michael Gibbard, Cherwell’s executive member for planning and housing, said: “We will carry on delivering our planned eco development to the standards we have already signed up to and will continue to work with Government in a very focused way to attract investment to the town.

“We have already received most of the funding we expected from Government and have almost £10m in our bank.

“We still expect a second, much smaller, award of between £2m and £4m and await confirmation of this, but our commitment to Eco-Bicester is not in any way dependent on it.”

Ian Inshaw, of P3Eco, said the Government cash already received would enable a 200-home initial ‘exemplar’ scheme to be built.

He said: “The fact of the matter is the Government has given the first tranche of funding, £9.6m, and the second was expected to be less than the first.

“The exemplar project is up and running and we will be submitting a detailed planning application in the autumn.

“We have been given no other indication by any of the agencies we have been in contact with.”

A spokesman for the DLGC said: “Eco towns are being reviewed.

“It is fair to say the Government is looking at all projects as obviously we are in difficult financial times.”

He confirmed if the Government decided to scrap eco-town plans, its support for the Bicester project would be dropped but added: “There’s nothing stopping a developer building a low-carbon or zero-carbon community.

“But to be an eco-town it does have to be part of the eco programme.”