Ball now in Aylesbury’s court to decide Milton Keynes border homes plan

    A controversial scheme to demolish barns and build homes on the edge of Bletchley is now in the hands of a neighbouring council after MK planners approved their part of the proposal.

    Jersey-based CASS Properties (UK) had to apply to both MK Council and Aylesbury Vale District Council (AVDC) because the plan to knock down barns and outbuildings on a 0.41 hectare site off Buckingham Road straddles the border.

    Sitting between Weasel Lane and Thirsk Gardens, the developers think it is an ideal spot for six two-storey homes. They plan to retain Dagnall House and to make changes to roads accessing the site.

    But both West Bletchley Town Council and Newton Longville Parish Council, objected to the plan. They say the site lies in open countryside, and Aylesbury Vale has enough land for housing for the next five years.

    The developers say an identical plan was given approval by AVDC in 2016 but “unforeseen and unplanned circumstances” meant that it was not put into action by a legal time limit.

    Cass Properties say there are no circumstances why permission that was granted in 2016 should not be granted now. They say that the Salden Chase development of up to 1,855 homes will be next to it, and it is a brownfield site.

    Milton Keynes Council planners were called on to make sure the road aspects of the application were fit for purpose. The majority of the site is in AVDC’s area.

    MK Council senior planning officer, Richard Edgington, in his report, said that the matters which fall within the boundary of Milton Keynes Council it is considered that the principle of development is acceptable.

    Officials checked over the plans and decided that they were acceptable.

    But the issue over whether the site should be considered to be in “open countryside” where developments can be rejected is not a matter for MK Council.

    “Whilst it is acknowledged that West Bletchley Town Council have raised an objection to the proposed development,” says the report.

    “This objection is due to the lack of reference to the adopted West Bletchley Neighbourhood Plan and the site allocations, with the development being proposed within the open countryside.

    “The principle objection is therefore not considered to be applicable to this part of the application, but rather for the outline consent under consideration at Aylesbury Vale.”

    AVDC has not yet made a decision on the application.

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