'Time to give new residents of affordable homes in Milton Keynes better views than a road and a cemetery’

The development control committee on Thursday agreed to Milton Keynes Council’s own plan to build on the 45.17 hectare site at Tickford Fields Farm, off North Crawley Road.

Cllr Martin Petchey (Lab, Stantonbury) said: “It’s really nice to see an application where the proportion of affordable housing is not quibbled with but indeed the applicant says we will try and increase it if humanly possible.

“As a council development I very much hope as it proceeds it can demonstrate to the city the very best way that development can happen.”

He added that wanted affordable houses to have the same kind of views as the bigger houses, unlike a development at Oakridge Park in his ward.

There, he said, affordable houses were given a view of “Wolverton Road and the cemetery.”

He wanted a “sharing of the good views” between affordable and commercial.

The council’s director of growth, economy and culture, Tracy Darke, said she had “a lot of sentiments around that”.

“It’s often the case that the nice big houses are next to the lake and the open space.

“The scheme, that should be a flagship scheme for the council should step up in ensuring when you go to the site it is very difficult to identify which the affordable properties are.”

Two Liberal Democrat councillors – Douglas McCall and Jane Carr – who were officially recorded as speaking in objection, urged the development control committee to make sure they were satisfied with certain elements of the proposal.

Cllr McCall, the Lib Dem leader from Newport Pagnell South, told Thursday’s meeting that “we can’t object to the principle” because it was approved in Newport Pagnell’s all important neighbourhood plan.

Both he and his ward colleague Cllr Carr wanted to make sure that things like the flood risks of the site, school places and traffic arrangements were properly sorted out.

Residents in Morello Way have been concerned about their road being identified as a route into the new site.

The committee was told that the road was due to have traffic calming measures to put drivers off and make them use two other roads instead.

Councillors by 11 votes to nil voted unanimously in favour of the principle of the plan for a primary school, local centre, a wellbeing centre and recreation space. Design and other details will be dealt with at a later date.