A council vision to create a boundary-busting “Metropolitan MK” with a mass rapid transport system was officially launched on Monday (20/1).
Members of parish councils in the city were given an exclusive preview of the MK Futures 2050 document at a meeting last Thursday (16/1).
Geoff Snelson, Director of Strategy and Futures at MK Council, told the gathering that the vision for a “Greater MK” would see the city grow from its current 314,828 population to 400,000 in 2040 and 500,000 in 2050.
The extensive "public engagement strategy" was launched the following Monday (20/1).
Councillor Peter Marland, Leader of Milton Keynes Council, said: "Labour led Milton Keynes council is being grown up about having a conversation on growth. The MK Conservatives know that the numbers of houses being talked about within the MK Futures 2050 document are only a small number above what is already planned by Central Government targets. It is also nowhere near the million extra houses across the Oxford-Cambridge Corridor that Iain Stewart MP was the government appointed champion for until recently."
Councillor Ernie Thomas, of West Bletchley Council, has been campaigning against proposals for housing at Shenley Park and Salden Chase, which are in the Aylesbury Vale district.
Councillor Marland continued: "Currently thanks to the Conservatives all the power on growth is in the hands of developers. Expansion on our borders at Salden Chase and Shenley Park is already proposed. MK Futures 2050 is about maintaining and strengthening what makes MK special and going back to our roots of having a long-term vision for the city. The MK Conservative plan for MK is now out of the bag, high density development on regeneration estates and speculative developer-led growth where housebuilders want it."
According to Geoff Snelson, proposals to take the city up to 400,000 by 2040 are already planned. The vision has to then be translated into local plans, and be subject to the planning process. It would mean increasing annual housebuilding from 2,700 to 2,900.
Ben Everitt, MP for Milton Keynes North, said: "This level of reckless expansion is unsustainable in every way. We need to protect our green spaces, the farm land that wraps around our city, our floodplains and the identity of our communities and market towns. You simply can't build thriving, sustainable communities by joining the dots between MK and the villages around it. MK's Labour-led council have lost the plot on this. It looks more like a land-grab than a sensible, thought-out plan for the growth we need."
The draft document for MK Futures 2050 outlines a Mass Rapid Transit network (MRT). According to the document, this public transport system would use new technologies that provide an electric-powered low carbon system, similar to a tram in functionality, but running on road surfaces. The MRT would aim to offer reliable journey times by segregating vehicles from normal traffic and giving them priority at junctions.
To read the draft strategy for MK Futures 2050, and to share your views with the Council, click here: https://www.mkfutures2050.com/strategy-for-2050-engagement-page
Deadlines for comments is 3 April 2020.
The engagement will involve a range of public meetings, with the final proposals going to cabinet and full council after May's round of local elections.
Original source: Local Democracy Reporter David Tooley. Additional content provided by MKFM.
