Will proposal for 4,400 new homes turn Milton Keynes into 'rootless commuter town'?

Many will be apartments and some of them will be for rent only. But a large chunk of them will be aimed at the executive market and people looking for luxury living in the heart of Milton Keynes.

Several different developers are involved and the sites include the old Food Centre (904 flats), Station Station (200 flats), land behind The Hub on Avebury Boulevard (300 flats and 18 storeys high), the old Jobcentre on Silbury Boulevard (140 flats) and the former Wyvale garden centre (328 flats),

Still awaiting planning permission is a scheme to demolish Bowback House office block on the corner of Silbury Boulevard and Witan Gate and build 306 flats with roof gardens in its place.

Meanwhile the YMCA's enabling development on the corner of Saxon Gate and Portway corner will bring 250 more flats.

As well as the building rush in CMK itself, there are 1,850 more new homes planned at neighbouring Campbell Park. These consist of two schemes, the Campbell Wharf marina development of 350 dwelllings and Northside, the vast greenfield sites on the northern edge of Campbell Park, between Portway and Silbury Boulevard. Here there are plans for for 1500 dwellings, including blocks of flats.

All these new developments mean the number of homes in the city centre area will almost treble over the next five to 10 years, from 2,500 to 7,000.

The numbers are in accordance with the CMK Neighbourhood Plan, which provided for 5,000 new dwellings until 2026 on undeveloped land.

Campaign group Xplain, which battles against bad developments in MK, says the quantity "isn't necessarily a problem" - providing jobs are being created too.

An Xplain spokesman said: "We need more people living in CMK to bring it alive and support the economy. But the current wave of housing ranges from the good to the grim. At Station House, for example, hundreds of people are destined to live in converted offices overlooking the railway tracks. Whereas 'Aubrey Place', near Sainsbury's, and 'E3 West' at the old Food Centre, are thoughtful, well-designed, mixed-use developments. Crucially, they include new amenities and places for residents to meet, which will help build stronger communities."

The spokesman added: "However CMK has no medical centre and a historic lack of community facilities. So as well as negotiating affordable housing contributions, the council will no doubt have some tough negotiations with developers to make sure the town centre is a pleasant, well-rounded place to live."

Xplain is worried there is a risk even more developers could "pile in" to the booming city centre and turn MK into a "rootless commuter town."

"So as well as getting the right mix of housing types and tenures we need to make space for jobs. More flexible, mixed-use developments will help," said the spokesman.

The group is also concerned that the office to flat conversions could lead to people being housed in "rabbit hutches".

The spokesman said: "Some office conversions are well done but many are not. Government policy to ease the housing crisis by relaxing planning laws has inadvertently led to people being housed in sub-standard, rabbit-hutch conversions. Quite rightly, MKC refused permission to convert Station House into flats, but that decision was overturned at appeal. "