Archived press release

Date Published: 16/01/06

Aylesbury Vale District Council has expressed its concerns over future development in and around Milton Keynes. On Tuesday 10 January, the council’s cabinet met to consider the authority’s response to the Milton Keynes Partnership&rsq...

Aylesbury Vale District Council has expressed its concerns over future development in and around Milton Keynes.

On Tuesday 10 January, the council’s cabinet met to consider the authority’s response to the Milton Keynes Partnership’s consultation on expansion plans for Milton Keynes.

The Milton Keynes Partnership is consulting on six options for delivering an additional 70,000 homes in and around Milton Keynes up to 2031. Four of the options would involve the expansion of Milton Keynes into the north of Aylesbury Vale.

At its meeting on 10 January, the cabinet did not feel able to support any of the six options as they stand. Instead, the cabinet highlighted to the Milton Keynes Partnership that there are potential problems with each of the existing options and recommended that a new option be developed.

The cabinet suggested that most of the growth should be centred on Milton Keynes itself and that locations for new communities should be provided with good transport links and employment opportunities, keeping greenfield development to a minimum and protecting the countryside.

Councillor Carole Paternoster, Cabinet Member for Planned Development, said: “We have very grave concerns about how these options have been produced, the lack of information they contain and the consultation process associated with the expansion of Milton Keynes. The process gives the perception of a total disregard for the views and concerns of local residents, particularly those who live in the north of the Vale.

“The timescale in which we have been asked to reach a view on such major issues has been far too short and has not allowed us to engage in proper democratic or community involvement. The fact that such a crucial consultation was undertaken during the run up to and throughout the Christmas holiday season does not allow local residents a meaningful opportunity for involvement and is unacceptable.

“We are also concerned that AVDC has observer status only on the Milton Keynes Partnership Committee, and yet four of the options being considered have very significant impacts on the Vale.

“None of the options set out in the consultation can be supported, and this council is strongly of the view that a hybrid option should be developed in a way that allows for full and proper consultation.”