5,400 homes planned in MK

It’s your last few days to have your say on plans to build 5,400 homes near to West Bletchley.

The consultation on the Supplementary Planning Documents for a development called “Salden Chase” ends on Wednesday 3rd March.

But a West Bletchley Councillor, Ernie Thomas has told heart that he is worried about the impact that building this development, which he claims is the size of Winslow, will have on the area.

He told us he feels the consultation exhibitions haven’t been thorough enough, for example one exhibition, at Chepstow Drive Community Centre, had to take place in the car park because the hall had been double booked.

Ernie Thomas thinks that a development this size, which he believes is going to have a sizeable impact on Milton Keynes, in particular traffic around West Bletchley, should be managed by Milton Keynes Council, rather than Aylesbury Vale District Council, which is based in Aylesbury.

The final decision on whether or not this large development gets the go-ahead will be made on the 16th March.

In a statement to heart, Aylesbury Vale District Council say:

The council has consulted fully throughout the process and we have done our best to ensure that all residents have access to the consultation material. We have now held two public exhibitions in Bletchley and one in Newton Longville to inform people of the content and role of the Supplementary Planning Documents and also made the information available on our website and at the council’s offices and selected libraries.

We were planning to hold one of the exhibitions at the Chepstow Drive Community Centre but unfortunately the centre’s management team double booked the venue. We weren’t informed of this fact until we arrived at the centre. We had already publicised the location of the exhibition so we decided to run the event as best we could in the car park.

Originally we had planned for this one exhibition to be held in Bletchley but following the problems we encountered at the community centre we arranged for an additional exhibition to be held at St. Andrew’s Baptist Church.  This exhibition took place last week.

The growth of Milton Keynes has been discussed for many years now and the conclusion of government in the South East Plan was that 5,390 homes should be built within Aylesbury Vale. We have accepted that decision and have been working closely with parish councils and key groups around the Salden Chase area both within Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes.

They add that

"The government wants to see 5,390 new homes built to the south-west of Milton Keynes, towards Newton Longville, by 2026. AVDC is required to deliver this growth.

"We recognise that this will require a wide range of supporting infrastructure and the transport impacts both within Aylesbury Vale and Milton Keynes will need to be carefully assessed. In order to do this we will work closely with MK Council and the other relevant agencies."

If you want to have your say on the development then follow this link http://www.aylesburyvale.gov.uk/planning-building/planning-news/supplementary-planning-documents-consultation/salden-chase-strategic-development-north-east-ayle/