Milton Keynes cabinet approves revised Plan:MK document

The document outlines the future of Milton Keynes over the next 10 years.

Residents have slammed a number of the proposals, including introducing a ‘exclusion zone’ to prevent takeaways opening near schools.

The plan also proposes building thousands of new homes in the borough by 2031.

The document lists the ‘preferred options’ for these development sites, which include CMK and land east of the M1.

However the revised plan now excludes the extension of areas near Haversham, Wolverton, and Newport Pagnell, to prevent building on ‘pristine’ countryside.

The plan is for 26,500 new homes by 2031, at a build rate of 1,766 per year.

The council has approved planning approval for almost 20,000 of these homes.

Leader of the council Peter Marland has stressed it is important for members of the public not just to object to parts or all of Plan:MK, but also to let the council and central government know how they would like Milton Keynes to develop over the coming years and decades.

For example, Richard Pryor, chair of the Protect Rural MK, advocated in his address to the chamber that the Ouse Valley should continue to be considered as a natural boundary to the north of the city to prevent urban expansion into the countryside.

The document will now go to public consultation, which will start in early March and last for 12 weeks.

The responses will then be reviewed, with a final Plan:MK ready for examination at a public hearing in 2018.