Fire station demolition plan in Milton Keynes is put on the back-burner

    Fire chiefs have withdrawn a plan to build homes on one of their stations after the police and others raised concerns.

    One objection to the application to build 18 homes on the 0.2 hectare fire station site in Great Holm, Milton Keynes, came from a cancer patient who objected to plans for an access road near their home.

    The application for the site in Haddon is linked to the construction of the Blue Light Hub, in West Ashland, but the Buckinghamshire & Milton Keynes Fire Service says the delay “does not adversely impact the budget for the Blue-Light Hub.”

    A fire service spokesperson said:  “A number of comments were received relating to this application. Given current circumstances, we decided it was best to withdraw the application and resubmit at a later date.”

    The fire station covers a large area of Milton Keynes, from Stony Stratford in the north to Furzton in the south, as well as Central MK and back-up engines to Bletchley.

    Documents submitted to the planning department of Milton Keynes Council say that the principle of constructing the Blue Light Hub and relocating Bucks Fire & Rescue Service means the brownfield site is surplus to requirement

    And they add: “The demolition of the existing building is further justified on the basis that the existing structure has no architectural merit.”

    The new Blue Light Hub will also house South Central Ambulance Service and Thames Valley Police.

    The police also raised crime prevention concerns about the layout of the 18 new homes.

    Amanda Wareham, the Milton Keynes crime prevention and design advisor for Thames Valley Police, said she did not wish to object “at this stage.”

    But, she added: “I have fundamental concerns with this design and layout.”

    And she fired a shot across the bows.

    “Should this layout come forward at reserved matters I will likely object in its current design,” she warned.

    Loughton and Great Holm Parish Council similarly did not object, accepting the principle of residential development there.

    It made some suggestions about keeping roads open during the demolition and building work, and controlling parking in Haddon.

    They also want the design of the site to be looked at again, saying 18 homes would be an “over-development”, with not enough amenity land or parking space put aside.

    Residents gave the plans a mixed response during a consultation exercise in the autumn of 2019, with the majority opposing it for a number of reasons.

    A cancer patient wrote to the council to object on the grounds that a new access would be opposite their home, and the disruption was something they could do without.

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