Village residents slam Milton Keynes City Council plans to obliterate iconic landscape

The Brickhill Strategic City Extension is one of a list of proposals in the council’s draft MK City Plan 2050.

Ultimately, the plan aims to build 63,000 more houses in order to expand the city's population to 410,000 by the year 2050.

And one of the sites proposed is on land to the south of Bow Brickhill, where 1,500 new homes plus employment places could be built, the plan suggests.

The current population of Bow Brickhill, according to the 2021 Census, is just 634.

The new plan would totally ruin the landscape of the small village, say residents.

A village spokesperson said this week: “We need more houses but that should not be to the detriment of the existing or future residents.”

Another part of the draft plan suggests 2750 houses could be built the farmland slopes leading up to the Greensand Ridge and The Brickhills to the south of MK.

Villagers say building on this attractive countryside - which has previously been declared unsuitable for development – would be an absolute travesty.

"This clearly does not fit the council's aspirations for sustainable growth,” said the spokesperson.

"In every appraisal document, landscape review and planning decision in the past MK council has confirmed that this land is not suitable for development.”

He added: "It was designated as an AAL (area of attractive landscape) and is currently considered an SLA in the council’s 2024 'Review of Local Landscape Designations' which also details the many reasons why the landscape should be protected.

"Little Brickhill is already designated a conservation area! “

But the plan states a comprehensive mixed-use development would make a “significant contribution” toward meeting the identified need for homes and the council’s ambition for long-term growth of the city.

It embodies the principles of “people-friendly, healthy and climate sensitive places”, it adds.

You can view the draft Plan 2050 here . It is currently out for public consultation until October 9 and you can give your views on it here.

The Brickhills spokesperson said: “The council’s documents confirm that any development here will not meet their own sustainability criteria but it seems numbers matter more than anything in their relentless pursuit of growth.

"Any planning attempt to mitigate this travesty is doomed to failure as the mitigation and infrastructure costs will render development unviable. We all know what happens then, the community suffers as the facilities and services are sacrificed to developers profits.

“The giant, empty warehouses that decimate the landscape next to the McDonald’s roundabout on the A5 were supposed to provide employment and are testament that the area is too remote, demonstrating the incongruity of development here. “

The villages are urging people to help persuade the council to remove Levante Gate and Bow Brickhill City Extension from the draft plan.

"We must protect our countryside, once it is gone it is gone forever,” said the spokesperson.

MK City Council argues that Plan 2050 seeks to bring transformational change, while protecting that which is unique to Milton Keynes and play an important role in the city’s future success