ENVIRONMENT Minister Elliot Morley toured the North-East yesterday to see how businesses, local authorities, transport authorities and communities are setting the standard for sustainable living and working.

Mr Morley's visit was part of a national tour that will take in greenhousing developments, energy-saving public sector schemes and business efforts to reduce water use, waste and power.

His tour included the £2m windfarm project at Nissan's Sunderland plant which, ironically, got national recognition only a week after a fire destroyed one of the site's 75ft fibreglass turbines.

The new windfarm, which will comprise six turbines in the centre of a 750-acre site, will generate about five per cent of the plant's annual energy requirement.

It is expected to save the company about £10,000 a week, and cut carbon dioxide emissions from power plants supplying the car factory by up to 10,000 tonnes a year.

Mr Morley said: "It is vital that everybody gets involved in sustainable development.

"That goes for public authorities who can set an example and lead the development of new markets, for example in timber procurement, and businesses, who can save millions of pounds by cutting waste and their use of resources."

Mr Morley also visited Lamesley Reedbeds and Pastures, in Gateshead, where a project combines mine water with final sewage effluent in a single reedbed treatment system.

This allows a higher level of contaminant removal than would be possible if the two flows were treated separately, and will improve the quality of water discharged to the River Team.

The £1.5m project, the first in the UK to provide a joint solution, is a partnership between Northumbrian Water and the Coal Authority.