Cllr David Hopkins, Leader of the Conservative Group at MKCC, welcomes the announcement that from January 2023 MKCC will hold a 12 week consultation to gather residents’ views on the future of MK.
However, he hopes that this is a genuine attempt to gather and consider seriously the wide variety of different opinions and priorities that exist across the city and is not just yet another attempt to build in unachievable housebuilding targets and concentrates more on building communities fit for a smart city of the future.
Cllr Hopkins comments, ‘this is an opportunity to look afresh at what we all want MK to achieve over the next 27 years. Remember, this is a longer time frame than was allowed for the original masterplan of MK (1967 to 1992) and will allow us to look afresh at the development of new communities rather than simply bolting on more and more houses to the existing development area.
The government, through scaling back prescriptive housing targets and indicating changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) has also allowed us the freedom to set our own targets to meet local need and growth rather than top-down imposed housing demands. In effect, we can start to take back control of planning, something I know the administration of MKCC has been campaigning for over a number of years. Many communities across MK have felt under siege from developers for far too many years and need and deserve a break from the impacts of ongoing development year in/year out’
The government has stated clearly that it will be up to local authorities working with their communities, to determine how many homes can actually be built.
Cllr Hopkins continues ‘we need to concentrate on a number of council priorities for the coming years, in particular
· The environment and the impacts of the climate emergency
· Housing need – to meet local need of the generations of MK citizens and the needs of employers investing in MK
· Being conscious of the demands being placed on our neighbours in Central Beds and Buckinghamshire
· Potential new governance structures that might potentially be adopted or imposed across the so-called Ox/Cam Arc or parts of the Arc
· East West Rail – on or off?
· Improving house building standards – for example larger houses, better insulated and with access to far more sports and leisure green spaces
· Suitable employment sites – including a Science Park specialising in support the motor sports industry, AI, and other new niche technologies – supporting the development of a sustainable MK University
· Development providing optimum public safety (well lit, streets accessible for fire engine and other emergency vehicles etc)
· Genuine regeneration of those parts of MK that are staring to ‘feel their age’’
Cllr Hopkins concludes ‘it is almost two years to the day since MK Borough Council adopted the Strategy for 2050’. It is now time for MK City Council to put that strategy into practise by adopting a bold and ambitious vision for our city’s future’.
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