Potential for defence industry to become future focus for Milton Keynes
Image: Leader of Milton Keynes City Council, Cllr Peter Marland, speaking to Future Cities Forum about plans for devolution, new housing and the defence industry. - alongside contributors from East West Railway Co., MEPC, David Lock Associates, Sheppard Robson and Grimshaw
How can renewed interest and investment in the OxCam Arc from the UK government, be directed purposefully to ensure the Oxford Cambridge Growth Corridor begins to compete significantly with global centres of science and innovation, and how can we ensure housing and place are created sustainably for local needs and to attract world talent?
Future Cities Forum enjoyed an in-depth briefing to answer these questions from the Leader of Milton Keynes City Council, Cllr Peter Marland, the Director of Housing and Development at the Council, Paul Thomas and Will Gallagher, Director of Strategy at East West Rail. Sheppard Robson's Nick Ffoulkes spoke about the opportunity for new housing and mixed-use development in the centre of Milton Keynes, which has suffered during the Covid years.
This 'Oxford Cambridge Growth Corridor' discussion also involved developer MEPC, Grimshaw and David Lock Associates, who will feature in part two of this report to be published shortly, along with more insight from the Council and East West Rail.
Future Cities Forum Co-founder Heather Fearfield opened the discussion with reference to the ongoing headlines about the UK government's direction of funds to support the war against Ukraine and also in reference to the work of Bletchley Park, during the second world war, sitting not far from Milton Keynes and now a museum and cultural attraction. Could Milton Keynes build on that heritage for a new industry focus? How might greater devolution help Milton Keynes develop its unique sense of place?
Cllr Peter Marland said:
'I have just come off a call with Lord Vallance on the OxCam innovation Zone and I asked him how all the competing priorities for the Government can be joined up in one place. It concerns transport links, housing, population health and more and is better managed by devolved mayoral authorities. Without it, you will find places like Oxford and Milton Keynes are not in the conversation. We are not Oxford or Cambridge, but Milton Keynes. We are double the size of those other cities and a place in our own right, but the rhetoric is that if you live in Milton Keynes you can simply jump on a train to get to those other cities.'
After the UK government's announcement on new funding for the Oxford Cambridge Growth Corridor, Cllr Marland published his reaction to a lack of agreement on devolution:
“It is very disappointing that the government has decided not to take forward Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes as part of the Priority Programme for devolution at this time. We understand that the region has a complicated geography with a lot of uncertainty, with government required to ensure that no area is left without the potential for devolution. However, the Bedford-Luton-Milton-Keynes ('BLMK') footprint is the only combination of local authorities on which Milton Keynes expressed an interest or is willing to consider at present, and given recent announcements regarding the re-emergence of the Oxford to Cambridge Corridor and the pressing need for economic growth, we believe not progressing with a BLMK Mayoral Strategic Authority as quickly as possible is a missed opportunity.
"We remain committed to the potential that devolution brings and working with partners to move decision-making out of Westminster and closer to local people. We still feel that BLMK is the right economic, health and social geography. We understand that other issues mean it may be some time before a wider national picture is understood, but we will continue to work with the government to promote the benefits of a BLMK model and pressing for inclusion on that basis as quickly as possible because it is best for our city, region and national economy.”
Cllr Marland continued at Future Cities Forum's discussion:
'The mayoral discussion from the Government was disappointing. The BLMK deal is right for the city if we are to compete with Silicon Valley or the Shanghai Met Zone. We need a single devolution across the Arc but the Milton Keynes mayoral is part of it. If the Government's speech had come a month earlier on the OxCam Arc, the MHCLG would have had an altered priority matrix of devolution. It is not the Arc or Milton Keynes or devolution - all have to interlink to achieve the Government's ambitions. We need more places to expand businesses and there is a huge opportunity in Milton Keynes around defence and security with HMGCC. We need to spend on security in the UK and we need to know how to train and make sure people have the skills for this work. We need to make drones safe and learn how to interfere with Russian drones over Ukraine.'
HMGCC (His Majesty’s Government Communications Centre), is at Hanslope Park, outside Milton Keynes, and works with academia, private sector partners and international allies to bring engineering ingenuity to the national security mission.
This February HMGCC announced a new challenge launched by HMGCC Co-Creation around Drone detectors, small enough to fit inside a pocket or a hand. HMGCC Co-Creation is an initiative which invites applications from industry and academia to take part in funded work to help solve some of the toughest problems facing national security. In this latest 12-week challenge, organisations are being asked to apply if they can develop and demonstrate technology to meet the task. This challenge is seeking miniature detectors to spot drones, in a bid to cut potential risk of harmful drone use against the UK and its allies.
.In January HMGCC welcomed Minister of State for Security Dan Jarvis through its doors to hear more about the critical work for national security. His visit allowed him to glimpse the newly built Power Sources Centre of Excellence, which commissions and tests a range of power sources for electronic equipment deployed to users across the globe. The minister heard how innovation to support national security technology challenges has been found in often unexpected areas of research and industry, in turn helping boost economic growth.
Paul Thomas, Head of Housing and Development added:
'Our USP is the Government's communications centre. It has a need for engineering talent and they need to be known more for that. If it could move to the city centre it would give Milton Keynes something of a presence on a par with GCHQ in Cheltenham or similar in Manchester, as well as the growth of all the businesses that come with it. It would set us apart as a city from the life sciences sector in other places. We have a ten hectare site in the city centre and we need to encourage new businesses. We need to do more in the city centre as the commercial element suffered under Covid. We need to re-frame it. The original framework developed for MK has stood the test of time and will do with its clear location of housing and employment but we have more space than Oxford and Cambridge and could do more with the current push from Lord Vallance.'
Image courtesy of Sheppard Robson
A complex urban regeneration project located in central Milton Keynes, adjacent to the emerging Cultural District and the 46 hectare Campbell Park is now being developed. Sheppard Robson has a significant Hybrid Planning Consent (Block E3 West) within CMK for MEPC (approved in 2020) for 900 homes within the new residential neighbourhood, which aligns successfully with CMK heritage and emerging future needs.
Sheppard Robson describes the project:
'The purpose‑built neighbourhood comprises eleven buildings, including residential blocks - both Build to Rent/PRS and private sale - a 500‑space multi‑storey car-park and a new co‑working office.
'The development provides over 900 homes with a diversity of type, size, affordability and tenure, including family homes, designed to meet local needs. The design ensures a variety in the building heights, appearance and character to deliver an attractive new piece of the city which is diverse in scale and feel.
'The character of the neighbourhood has developed via active consultation with local stakeholders, who have helped mould it into a new part of central Milton Keynes. The proposal is underpinned by the original new town principles defined by the Development Authority.
'The public realm-led approach is intentionally inclusive and “opens up” positively to the surrounding city. The aim is to provide a series of new, connected and green landscaped spaces for residents, visitors and the wider local community to enjoy. The landscape includes a new public pedestrianised street at the heart of the neighbourhood, which is accessible for all and provides a new connection that does not currently exist.
'Residents’ facilities include rooftop terraces and gardens, and there is significant amenity for the local population at street level (including a wellness facility, co-working space, food-store and small retail offerings) to ensure activity and enlivenment throughout the day. On-site car parking and cycle storage are also provided.
Nick Ffoulkes, Partner at Sheppard Robson, said at the Milton Keynes forum discussion:
'We are only active in Central MK not the wider entity. Since 2017 we have been involved so we are quite new but we are hugely passionate about the city, and we have a long term relationship with developer MEPC who has been involved here for a long time and is an important partner and land holder for the city. We work across many UK cities - and we have offices in London, Glasgow and Manchester. What we see in other UK cities is that these places are struggling to get the infrastructure that MK has already. We find that fascinating. There are stereotype comments made about the city of course such as 'Last of the 32 New Towns' for instance. We see huge potential and we think the infrastructure is here to allow the city to grow.
'We think Milton Keynes is a very open city, and creative at its heart. The government security opportunity is a fascinating angle. On the housing front I see variety as central, with multiple facilities at different stages of life, and it's democratic. But housing development is complex as there are competing commercial and social demands. However it is about creating successful neighbourhoods, and a good example of this is the former Boots Centre project (Block E3 West) at Milton Keynes which is 900 homes and we are now working on the second phase with a design guide for MEPC.'
Image above: courtesy of Sheppard Robson - CGI of an urban regeneration project located in central Milton Keynes, adjacent to the emerging Cultural District and the 46ha Campbell Park, where MEPC with Sheppard Robson's designs have won significant Hybrid Planning Consent (Block E3 West) for 900 homes.
On new towns Cllr Marland was asked whether councils across the UK, receiving funding from the UK government, could learn for planning purposes from Milton Keynes?
' You couldn't recreate Milton Keynes now. Ten thousand is an urban extension not a town. In terms of scale, 'new towns' is used as a code to get back to 1945 style building of lots of houses. Modern new towns are not going to be on a big scale. What the new towns could reflect if planned properly - as Milton Keynes was - is the building of strong communities. Facilities were there in Milton Keynes as people moved in, it wasn't a case of delivering a dormitory town. You incentivised people to come rather than sending people there out of inner city slums. Milton Keynes was unlike other new towns and acted as magnet. it created its own uniqueness and community as opposed to being a housing extension. It created its own economy and was never meant to be dependent on other cities. We have an ability to flex too. The road system overlapped with the expansion of peoples' ability to buy cars. Can we look at repurposing grid lock now? Crewe was important once, next to the M6 and had lots of land, but it is not important anymore.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves' recent announcement on reviving the Oxford Cambridge Growth Corridor gave a strong focus to road and rail infrastructure. She confirmed funding towards better transport links in the region including funding for East-West Rail, with new services between Oxford and Milton Keynes this year and upgrading the A428 to reduce journey times between Milton Keynes and Cambridge. She also spoke of support for the development of new and expanded communities in the Oxford-Cambridge Growth Corridor and a new East Coast Mainline station in Tempsford, to expand the region’s economy.
Will Gallagher, Director of Strategy for East West Rail commented:
'We must not forget that the thing that will make the growth corridor successful is the opportunity to combine all of the places in the Arc by connecting them up. We haven't done that yet and it is the only place in the UK to get that level of growth. Once achieved, it will have stronger regional effects exporting regional opportunities but you have to get this corridor right first. It will create journey times of 25 minutes to Cambridge and 45 minutes from Bletchley and Milton Keynes. Cambridge is currently constrained. It creates an opportunity for a place with its own identity and to become another player in the growth corridor.'
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