The leaders of the three main political parties on Milton Keynes Council have made a public pledge to unite in order to turn the commission’s recommendations on the future of the city into reality.
A pivotal moment in our history Cllr Douglas McCall: ‘We have to work together on this.’
PARTY leaders on Milton Keynes Council have pledged to put political differences aside in order to deliver the vision of the Milton Keynes Futures 2050 Commission report.
The council’s Labour leader Cllr Pete Marland said: “This is a critical moment in the history of Milton Keynes. Our intention is to use the report as the basis for engagement with local people and for discussions with government on a new deal for Milton Keynes.”
Neighbouring local authorities including Central Bedfordshire, South Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire Councils will play a part in delivering the strategy, he added. Cllr Marland said: “The city is at a
crossroads as to where it wants to be. We could play it safe but that is not what Milton Keynes is about. This is about looking to the future.” Conservative group leader Cllr Edith Bald said the report is “hugely significant” for the city and the wider region.
u Partnership, the organisation charged with delivering the development of land in the city acquired by the council from the Homes & Communities agency three years ago, in the Renaissance:CMK plan. Commission member Lee Shostak, an economic development planner and a former director of planning at Milton Keynes Development Corporation, said: “MKDP is not performing in the way some people expect and we are asking for a review of each of the delivery operations, including MKDP. We are suggesting that MKDP should make the running on Renaissance:CMK, which is a much wider remit than it has now.” Traditional forms of transport are making way for new modes of travel and the grid roads and redways system can work to Milton Keynes’ advantage, the report says. Mr Shostak said: “The grid road system offers an opportunity to create a
“ Cllr Pete Marland: ‘The city is at a crossroads’
I challenged the council and other bodies to develop a clear set of values that should govern our future housing and
infrastructure developments.” Iain Stewart MP for Milton Keynes South
She added: “It is critical that all three
parties take on the challenge together to shape the future of Milton Keynes. This is not a discussion for party politics - the massive issue is about leadership and collaboration.”
Liberal Democrat party leader Cllr Douglas McCall added: “We have to work together on this. It is the future for the city and all of its people.” The commission has urged Milton
Keynes Council to begin work on a detailed delivery programme in order to turn the report’s recommendations into reality. It also calls for the council to work with
Cllr Edith Bald: ‘This is not a discussion for party politics.’
bordering local authorities and the South East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership to deliver the economic aspects of the plan and advocates establishing a locally controlled development organisation to attract investment to the city and to develop a non-statutory strategy for 2050. Milton Keynes South MP Iain Stewart
said: “We need a truly strategic vision. I have been concerned for some time that new housing developments were being considered in the absence of a properly planned strategy which could compromise the attributes that have made Milton Keynes a success. “I challenged the local council and other bodies to develop a clear set of values that should govern our future housing and infrastructure developments, the importance of Milton Keynes in the wider economic context of the Oxford- Cambridge corridor. I am pleased that they did so and I look forward to working with Milton Keynes Council and government to develop a sensible way forward.”
in no doubt that achieving the 400,000 population in the 2040s will require the bulk of the development to be built outside the existing built- up area.”
The Milton Keynes Futures: 2050 Commission report was presented to Milton Keynes councilors at a full council meeting last month. Sir Peter Gregson said: “Milton
new model of moving around the city. There is a sea change in the way cars are going to be used in the city of the future. Milton Keynes and its partners offers exceptional opportunities to trial that.” The issue of housing came under close scrutiny at the presentation. Some of the new homes required would be built through infilling and
higher-density redevelopment of the older estates in Milton Keynes. Mr Shostak said: “There is an opportunity to build more homes within the existing built-up area by working with people on those estates to see how they want to redevelop their communities. “There are other infill
opportunities but the commission is
Keynes is a great city. The challenge set to the commission was how the city could be made even greater. I believe we have answered that challenge and provided the city and its people with an ambitious vision of what Milton Keynes could become in 2050. “Throughout our engagement
work, the passion local people have for Milton Keynes is clear. They rightly describe it as a great city to live, work and do business. “As a commission, we urge the city to think big and recapture the bold spirit of its foundations almost 50 years ago.”
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