On Tuesday, the Central Bletchley Urban Design Framework Supplementary Planning Document was formally adopted as part of Plan:MK. It sets out the design principles and guidance for any new developments in and around the Station area and Queensway.
The reopening of the new East – West Mainline will resurrect Bletchley as a major transport hub providing the potential to reinvigorate the economy and transform Bletchley’s fortunes.
The design framework takes advantage of this new investment opportunity by opening a direct link between Queensway and the eastern side of the Station.
Hoping to bring Bletchley alive with new housing, shops, offices and a night-time economy and improve public space, there is optimism about the plans.
Bletchley Park Ward Councillor Allan Rankine has been working with the local community and Iain Stewart MP to ensure that residents views have been heard in planning workshops and consultation exercises.
Councillor Rankine welcomed the adoption of the new framework, saying that:
“The new planning framework, if delivered in its entirety, will transform Bletchley and benefit the whole town.
The challenge now is to ensure that the Council and its partners live up to the vision and provide the leadership and ambition to deliver it
My only real concern is that the administration have rejected the residents preferred method of connecting Queensway to the station because of cost and I feel that is short sighted.
Dropping Saxon Street below a pedestrian plaza, or ‘Cut n Cover’, is the safest way of keeping residents away from traffic without reducing road capacity.
The administration’s plan to reduce Saxon Street to two lanes will drive traffic to a complete standstill in the Station area and Buckingham Road. If we want renewal to be a success then we need to do it right and that decision needs to be reversed."
ENDS
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