McCloud and Smit back Atmos Totnes eco-business centre

Kevin McCloud of Grand Designs said the plans were "really exciting"

Television presenter Kevin McCloud and Eden Project founder Tim Smit have backed plans for a business enterprise centre built to high ecological standards in Totnes.

The pair join broadcaster Jonathan Dimbleby and local MP Dr Sarah Wollaston as patrons of Atmos.

The aim of the project is to turn a former dairy site into residential and business accommodation.

Atmos is hoping to buy the site from Dairy Crest, which pulled out in 2007.

The scheme would reflect the ethos of the Transition Town Totnes movement, which aims to make the town more sustainable in energy use.

Atmos plans to offer people shares in the site and is creating an industrial and provident society to run the site "for the benefit of the community".

Grand Designs presenter McCloud said: "There's nothing more exciting than seeing people taking control for where they live.

"I think Atmos is important because Totnes was one of those early Transition Towns, so to see it flowering, to see it moving on to the next level, the next stage of community empowerment and ownership, is really exciting.

"But I think it also speaks volumes for where the whole nation, indeed where as a society, we could go".