Milton Keynes City Council (MKCC) will launch a public consultation next month on the MK City Plan 2050, aiming to shape the city’s growth up to 2050. The council’s priorities include increasing affordable family homes, investing in infrastructure, protecting green spaces, and fostering job creation.

The Draft MK City Plan 2050 outlines a strategy for adding around 30,000 new homes, in addition to the 30,000 already approved under Plan:MK. The twelve-week consultation will seek local views on various proposals, including:

– Ensuring 40% of housing on new undeveloped sites is affordable for families.

– Implementing an Infrastructure First policy to secure maximum funding for hospitals, new health provisions, schools, and community facilities.

– Protecting existing green spaces and excluding rural areas of Milton Keynes from growth due to infrastructure challenges.

– Expanding the city’s economy with a focus on high-tech jobs, developing a city centre university, and regenerating Bletchley.

– Addressing climate change and enhancing sustainability.

The consultation will feature public exhibitions, meetings, mailouts, and a new online engagement platform designed for feedback on the MK City Plan 2050.

Councillor Peter Marland, Leader of MKCC, emphasised the plan’s ambitions and priorities. “The draft MK City Plan contains a clear set of ambitions and priorities about how to deliver the future growth of Milton Keynes to 2050. The City Plan housing figure is set by a government formula and the plan will need to pass an examination by a government-appointed inspector, but we can still seek to ensure we grow in the right way,” he said.

Marland added, “We know that local young families need to be able to get on the housing ladder or have the option of an affordable home they can rent. We are clear that on newly allocated undeveloped sites we want to see 40% affordable family homes being built.”