Two photos show how the skyline at Central Milton Keynes is changing as hundreds of new flats are built

Two photographs show how the skyline of Central Milton Keynes is changing with the surge of new apartments being built.

This latest development nearing completion is Park Square and it’s on the site of the former Wyevale garden centre in Avebury Boulevard, opposite Xscape.

The site, next door to The Barn Beefeater restaurant, has been vacant ever since the garden centre closed down in 2007 and was formerly a green oasis in the city centre.

Owned by Milton Keynes Development Partnership (MKDP), it was sold to developers and plans were approved to build 330 new apartments.

The photos, credited to Gavin Thorburn, appeared on the popular Milton Keynes Past and Present Facebook page this month.

The development is called Park Square and the apartments are being built for private rent. There are four blocks ranging from three to 12 stories in height, with the tallest part facing the junction of Secklow Gate and Avebury Boulevard and the lowest facing the existing homes on South Tenth Street.

They are set around a central garden, with space for businesses such as shops and restaurants on the ground floor along Avebury Boulevard. The scheme is anticipated to complete in March 2024.

The new Wyevale blocks come as thousands of new apartments are springing up all over CMK, some of them as a result of office to housing conversions and many of them in high rise.

Council figure show 730 new apartments have been completed since 2018, plus 261 young people’s flats at the new YMCA building. But well over 1,500 more are in the pipeline and have either been granted planning permission or agreed under permitted development rights for office conversions.

Last week plans were revealed to turn the unused multi-storey car park near MK Theatre into 280 new flats.

Packaged Living, a build to rent developer, has identified the currently disused car park near MK Theatre as am important ‘gateway’ site and has opened a public consultation on its proposals.

King of the high rise will be the ‘MK Gateway’ development – 288 apartments to be built in one massive 27-storey block and four other four-storey buildings at Saxon Court, the city’s former Covid vaccination centre.

Last year another tower block topping 17 storeys was among the 294-apartment scheme completed in Avebury Boulevard’s Aubrey Place.

Meanwhile, 450 more apartments are planned in tower blocks at nearby Campbell Park. The proposed apartments at the north side of Campbell Park will be in four blocks and the highest will stand at 18 storeys – almost as tall as the recently-demolished Mellish Court flats in Bletchley.

The other blocks will be 16, 12 and 10 storeys high.

The residents group at neighbouring Downhead Park has already expressed several concerns over the application, which comes from Regeneration company Urban Splash and Manchester-based developer Glenbrook.

Most of the recent plans for CMK involve apartments being built specifically for people to rent rather than buy. Many have minimal parking, with the emphasis on eco-friendly bike hubs.

A Citizen investigation last year showed at least a dozen ‘luxury’ apartments built for the private sale market were failing to sell in the city centre. Some, mainly situated in The Hub, had been advertised unsuccessfully for two years.