Residents of rural Buckinghamshire are up in arms against the latest plans to build 63,000 new homes in and around Milton Keynes.
The picturesque town located in Buckinghamshire, England is about 50 miles northwest of London. It is one of the UK’s most famous examples of a planned city, designed in the 1960s to alleviate housing congestion in London and accommodate the growing population.
But the latest plans will see the city grow by more than half as parish councils are already being briefed on the City’s intentions for growth, reports Mail Online.
While 15,500 are set to be added to the city itself, between 3,500 and 12,500 are earmarked to be added to countryside communities surrounding the “new town”.
As per the plan, a new town is planned to be built near Castlethorpe, Hanslope, and Haversham villages.
These villages are surrounded by beautiful countryside, featuring charming churches and canals, and have a total population of less than 5,000 people.
The plan proposes building 12,000 homes in this area, along with 1,000 more near Chicheley Hill and 3,700 in other nearby villages.
These are set to be added to the landscape before 2050 as locals fight to protect their countryside.
The move comes after Labour leader Keir Starmer promised to put up Georgian-style townhouses in urban areas and build a number of new towns by reclassifying chunks of green belt land as fit for development.
Conservative MP for Milton Keynes North Ben Everitt criticised the concept put forward by the Labour-Liberal Democrat council.
He said to the MKCitizen: “I will do everything in my power to fight for the people of Milton Keynes North and our beautiful villages to protect them against MK Labour and Keir Starmer’s reckless plans.”
He added: “You only have to look at the shambolic handling of Labour’s MK East development with all the traffic chaos caused in Newport Pagnell to know the Labour council should be nowhere near plans like these.
“Our villages are a vital part of the heritage and history of Milton Keynes and swamping them with a huge new town of around 12,000 houses is simply unacceptable.”
Cllr Peter Marland, of Milton Keynes City Council, said: “The 63,000 homes in the next local plan, which runs to 2050, is ambitious but based on the requirements from government to meet our housing needs.
“Although it looks a large number, it is over a long timeframe and equates to about 2000 homes a year, fewer than the 3000 homes a year we’ve been building over the past few years.
“The important thing isn’t just about the overall number for the next 26 years, but making sure that Milton Keynes retains what makes the city unique, green spaces, good infrastructure and proper access to schools and medical facilities.
“The timeframe and numbers mean we have the best chance of doing that, rather than short-term back of the envelope plans that deliver for big house builders but not local people.
“The history of Milton Keynes is to be bold and ambitious, but do things in the right way. We are a council that wants to give people the chance to be on the housing ladder and own their own home. If Milton Keynes isn’t building homes then you’d question where else in the South East they would go?
“It would be nice for the government to recognise the importance of our city, the continued scale of growth here and that proper investment is needed to ensure quality rather than just quantity of housing and infrastructure.”
