This is how the development designed to replace The Point will look in Central Milton Keynes
An artists’ impression has been released of the high-rise flats that will be built once The Point is demolished.
There will be a total of 487 apartments in five separate blocks, the highest of which will be 21 storeys tall.
The lowest building will feature a rooftop cinema and there will also be new shops, leisure spaces, work hubs and community spaces. say developers Galliard Holdings.
They this week won an appeal to the Planning Inspectorate, giving them the go-ahead to demolish the famous red triangle and develop the site.
The news came almost exactly a year after MK City Council point-blank refused to give planning consent for the scheme, saying the buildings were too dense and the demolition of The Point would destroy part of the city’s heritage.
Today, Galliard is “delighted” to have won the planning appeal and promised the flats will be high-quality homes, affordable and will give the site a “bright, vibrant, and sustainable future.”
However, the disappointed city council has already revealed it is considering lodging a legal challenge against the Inspectorate’s decision and this could delay the start date,
They are also clinging on to the hope that Galliard’s scheme will be declared financially unviable.
Council leader Pete Marland said: “My only hope is that even the inspector infers this scheme is so financially unviable that it may never be built. I hope that is the case and that something better that values the heritage of the site might come forward in the future if we are not able to legally overturn this appeal decision.”
Galliard bosses say they plans to give the site a “bright, vibrant, and sustainable future” with high-quality homes, affordable housing, new shops, leisure spaces, work hubs and community spaces.
They say: "Our plans will transform this prominent site, which has been vacant for nearly 20 years, into a dynamic mixed-use destination.
"At the heart of the proposals is a commitment to celebrating the legacy of The Point."
.The plans have been greeted mainly with sadness online by local people. One summed up the view by writing: “This is honestly disappointing. Another uninspired rectangular block replacing what was once a symbol of Milton Keynes' ambition and uniqueness.”