Milton Keynes Council gives green light to a major new neighbourhood shaped around a latticework of landscape
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Milton Keynes Council gives green light to a major new neighbourhood shaped around a latticework of landscape

Published on 1 April 2022

JTP’s masterplan includes up to 4,600 homes, 400,000sqm of employment space, 4 schools and a 63 hectare riverside park.

On behalf of our client St James (part of the Berkeley Group) planning approval has been secured for a landscape-led masterplan at Milton Keynes East. The new neighbourhood will provide for an inclusive community set within a rich network of open spaces and supported by a comprehensive range of community infrastructure.

A Community Hub will sit at the heart of the neighbourhood and will act as a fulcrum of activity – centred around a primary and secondary school, health centre, playing fields and a transport hub – strategically positioned on a future Mass Rapid Transit corridor. Meanwhile, areas for employment will facilitate the creation of approximately 5,000 job opportunities.

An unprecedented tree-planting initiative will be undertaken to aid bio-diversity net gain, including the planting of a least 50 trees for every new home. Tree-lined streets, a new community orchard and woodland planting will restore and enrich the natural environment. Actively supporting health and wellbeing, the new neighbourhood will connect people and nature, encouraging community spirit and a fostering a sense of belonging.

A landscape lattice will be interwoven with a hierarchy of green and blue corridors that will connect and protect the existing landscape features of the site and naturally embed them into the surrounding neighbourhoods. The ‘green grid’ is a 21st century response to the Milton Keynes structure of grid roads and will support the steady move away from reliance on the private car. The community will benefit from over 150 hectares of open green space including parks, green routes and village greens within a 5 minutes’ walk of every home. The 63 hectare linear park along the River Ouzel will provide a diverse landscape including wetland habitats, restored meadow grasslands and woodland, to allow native species to thrive and establish a place where wildlife and people can live harmoniously.

The proposals will also pilot Milton Keynes’ first dementia-friendly neighbourhood, creating a sensory place with a legible and familiar environment that is safe, accessible and comfortable helping people living with dementia to stay active and feel supported.

The masterplan has been designed to provide a comprehensive network of active travel links to make walking, cycling, and micro-mobility modes of transport the most attractive way of travelling around the neighbourhood. Green corridors have formed the framework for these active travel routes, with this interconnected network leading to key transport hubs and facilities.

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We are proud to have been involved in this major part of the planned growth of Milton Keynes, and to have been able to embed a landscape framework into our proposals. Our approach seeks to join up networks of nature at the same time as creating an environment where green routes and spaces are no more than a couple of turns away from everyone’s front door.
Graeme Phillips, Partner at JTP