Councillors reject call to REMOVE social distancing measures in a Milton Keynes town

Councillors instead supported a motion to close and pedestrianise more of Queensway, and to keep the strict enforcement of the no parking rules.

A host of temporary measures have been introduced in a matter of weeks as part of Milton Keynes Council’s efforts to re-open high streets across the borough during the ongoing covid-19 crisis.

These include the closure of a section of the road from Oxford Street to Cambridge Street, the removal of planters, and the shifting of market stalls.

But not everyone agrees with the way it has been implemented.

“The whole scheme has been designed in haste, executed in waste, leaving Queensway in chaos,” said Cllr Keith Ely (Manor South).

He said MK Council was “flying by the seat of its pants”, with proposals changing day by day.

“The consultation has been an absolute shambles,” he told an extraordinary meeting of Bletchley & Fenny Town Council on Tuesday (August 4).

He said the section of the road that has been closed had wider footways than those left open, including outside Palmers where there have been queues of customers.

“It’s far narrower there but with no closure,” he said.

One section of the road is being kept open so that a bus can continue to use a bus stop, the meeting heard.

Cllr Ely also claimed that in some areas there are “100 ft wide” pavements where removing planters did not make sense because there is already enough space for people.

He proposed scrapping the changes, going back to as it was and launching a wider consultation.

“Changes have been at a whim with no time for member involvement, which is not acceptable,” he said.

Council vice-chair Cllr Richard Graham (Central Bletchley) said local councillors were “subjected to the public complaining, moaning”.

And he wants to MK Council to listen more because “we get the complaints from our residents.”

But Cllr Ed Hume (Lab, Eaton North) disagreed.

“In a perfect world we’d all love to have a six week consultation, unfortunately many of these measures have had to be done quickly.”

He said he found that the changes made it a more pleasant experience.

He said MK Council has changed things because of their feedback.

And Cllr Gary Kenworthy (Eaton South) said he didn’t want to get into a “silly tug of war”.

“The way ahead should be how to improve the situation not all or nothing,” he said.

And town clerk Delia Shephard defended MK Council officers, saying changes were not made “on a whim”.

Cllr Ely’s motion was not formally seconded.

Councillors then supported by six votes to two against and one abstention a motion from Cllr Hume calling for the road closure to be extended and for traffic officers to enforce no parking rules.