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Charity criticises plans for 3,500 homes beside M1

Helen MulroyBedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire
News imageHallam Land An animated drawing, showing a birds eye view of what the development could look like. There is a park or field in the foreground, with trees dotted around. In the background are modern and uniform looking houses and apartment buildings.Hallam Land
Artist impressions have shown what the Keepers Place development could look like

A proposed housing development that would straddle the boundary of two counties would be "one more nail in the coffin" for the countryside, a charity has said.

A planning application was submitted last month for up to 3,500 homes on land next to the M1 in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, but also on land in neighbouring central Bedfordshire.

The Bedfordshire branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) said the plans were concerning.

Hallam Land, the developer, said the site had been designed to help meet "local aspirations".

The Keepers Place development is part of Milton Keynes City Council's local plan, which sets out where housing should be built up until 2050.

Martin Christopher, chairman of the Bedfordshire CPRE, said the proposals meant there would be a "vast swathe of countryside, of which is in pretty short supply between Oxford, Cambridge and Bedford... eventually become one big urban sprawl".

"[It would be] one more nail in the coffin for the English countryside," the charity said.

News imageHallam Land A map showing where the homes would be. Milton Keynes and Broughton is visible at the bottom left of the frame. On the other side of the M1, dozens of fields have been highlighted with pink lines. Canfield University is labelled at the top right.Hallam Land
The proposed development would be built next to the M1

Previously, Conservative central Bedfordshire opposition councillor Sue Clark said there was an "important principle at stake here".

In February last year she said: "If this is granted planning permission, it would be the start of the expansion of Milton Keynes into central Bedfordshire, and I will be calling on Central Bedfordshire Council to resist."

Hallam Land said it would "continue to work closely with officers at both councils alongside local community stakeholders to deliver a development which will provide the homes, jobs and infrastructure to benefit future generations".

The developers say 2,750 homes would be built in the Milton Keynes council area, and 750 in central Bedfordshire.

Primary and secondary schools, community facilities, "multi-model transport hubs" and "mixed-use employment areas" would also be set up, the proposals say.

The plans were submitted on 7 January and a decision is expected to be made by 6 May.

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