A plan that could see two gigantic warehouses built on the outskirts of Milton Keynes is set to be decided at a crunch meeting.
The scheme to build warehouses on an area of land bigger than 11 football pitches (81,293 sq metres) bordering MK and Newport Pagnell would bring investment and jobs to the area.
It’s all proposed for a 19.3 hectare parcel of land which sits in the massive 461 hectare site that MK Council has earmarked on the eastern side of the M1 for the next big expansion of the city.
The council calls it MK SUE – the Milton Keynes East Strategic Urban Extension.
Developers SEGRO (Newport Pagnell) Limited have told planners at Milton Keynes Council that they don’t need to wait for Government money for infrastructure and are ready to go.
But officers have recommended that the council’s development control committee of elected councillors should refuse the application. They want it done when they are ready.
Set perpendicular to one another, one warehouse would be about 21 metres (68 ft) in height. The other 18 metres (59 ft) in height.
The planners say the application is “contrary to policy” because it was submitted before the council was ready for it, without considering how the whole of the area will be developed.
But they are not saying it is a forever refusal because “further information is required” to overcome reasons for refusal and all the objections it has caused.
They have advised the company to “work with the local planning authority and other developers of the site, to bring forward the development of the SUE in a comprehensive manner.”
In their submission to the council, Oxalis, on behalf of SEGRO and Newlands Developments, say Milton Keynes is “extremely attractive to logistic operators” and they have received a “number of enquiries”.
And they add that MK has lost out in the past because the sites they need are not available.
“The market continues to be buoyant and the form of development proposed through this application would help to meet this existing demand,” the developers say.
But three town and parish councils, covering Newport Pagnell, Campbell Park, and Moulsoe, say that they want to see the infrastructure built before the development starts.
Campbell Park Parish Council say: “Due to the concern about potential impact on Willen residents, the committee would like to emphasise the importance of the completion of the necessary infrastructure prior to development on this site.”
Next Thursday’s (June 18) meeting of the council’s development control committee will be broadcast live on YouTube, when councillors will be invited to vote on the plan.
Objectors and supporters can speak at the meeting by emailing dc-speaking-requests@Milton-keynes.gov.uk by 12 noon on Monday, June 15.
