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3 January 2007
STUDY SHOWS MILTON KEYNES GROWTH PLANS ARE FLAWED, SAYS CPRE
A study revealing major weaknesses in plans for a major expansion of
Milton Keynes into rural Aylesbury Vale has been welcomed by CPRE
Buckinghamshire, the branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England
for Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes.
Independent consultants were commissioned by Bucks County Council and
Aylesbury Vale District Council to review the way in which the Milton
Keynes Partnership drew up plans for the expansion of Milton Keynes
over the next 25 years. Those plans - set out in the published MK
Growth Strategy - envisage an extra 14,000 houses being built in the
area around Newton Longville, outside the existing city
boundaries.
The consultants’ study confirms CPRE Buckinghamshire's view that
the MK Growth Strategy is seriously flawed. First, the Strategy
underestimated the amount of housing that could be built within the
existing urban area. Second, the preferred locations for
expansion were selected before some essential analyses had been carried
out. Third, the assumptions underpinning the transport plans in
the Strategy were based on faulty modelling. In commenting on the
Strategy last year, CPRE drew particular attention to the weakness of
the transport planning.
CPRE Buckinghamshire Chairman, Peter Cleasby, said:
"We are delighted that the two councils have published this valuable
study. It shows clearly that that the MK Growth Strategy is not
fit to be used as the basis for future planning in the so-called Milton
Keynes/Aylesbury Vale sub-region. Along with others, we shall be
making this point as strongly as we can to the independent panel now
reviewing the draft South-East Plan."
NOTES FOR EDITORS
1. CPRE, the Campaign to Protect Rural England, is a
national charity which promotes the beauty, tranquillity and diversity
of rural England by advocating positive solutions for the long-term
future of the countryside. Founded in 1926, CPRE has 60,000 supporters
nationally and a branch in every county.
2. The Milton Keynes Partnership is the
Government-appointed body planning the future growth of Milton
Keynes. It published a draft Strategy for Growth 2031 in June
2006. CPRE Buckinghamshire's comments on the unsustainability of
the expansion around Newton Longville because of inadequate transport
plans are here.
3. The final version of the South East Plan will set
the planning framework within which all local authorities must draw up
their own local development frameworks. A draft of the SE Plan is
now the subject of an Examination in Public, held by an independent
panel who will report to the Government with recommendations for
changes to the draft. The draft plan identifies the MK
Growth Strategy as an important guide to future planning.
4. The study by Colin Buchanan and Partners was
commissioned by Buckinghamshire County Council and Aylesbury Vale
District Council "to review the process which led to the expansion
proposals" in the MK Growth Strategy. The Councils have published
an interim version of the study now so that it is available for use by
other organisations giving evidence to the SE Plan Examination in
Public.
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