Permission achieved for Milton Keynes East expansion

On behalf of St James Group (part of the Berkeley Group of companies), Lichfields has secured planning permission for Milton Keynes East (MKE); a new mixed-use neighbourhood east of the M1. The decision secures: outline permission for 4,000-4,600 homes, around 400,000 m² of mainly logistics employment space, community facilities and new open space, including a linear park along the River Ouzel; and full permission for new strategic highways including a new bridge over the M1.

The masterplan carries forward a number of the planning principles that have made MK one of the UK’s most successful local economies and builds on Milton Keynes Council’s long-held approach of ‘Infrastructure before Expansion’. MKE will strengthen the qualities that make Milton Keynes a special and unique place, with an abundance of green space and provision of MK’s first dementia-friendly neighbourhood. Details on the scheme can be viewed at https://miltonkeyneseast.co.uk/

Lichfields provided planning consultancy, economics and EIA co-ordination roles. In addition to Lichfields, the application advisory team included WSP, JTP Architects, Stephen George and Partners, HTA, Fabrik, Hankinson Duckett Associates, RPS, Hodkinson and Ashurst.

For Lichfields, the grant of planning permission is the culmination of more than 10 years advising on the site. The land was allocated in Plan:MK (the Milton Keynes Local Plan) in 2019, and Lichfields worked with Milton Keynes Council and St James to prepare the successful bid that secured £94.6m of HIF, awarded in 2020 for upfront infrastructure works. MKE is also the latest phase of Lichfields’ long association with the planning of Milton Keynes; one of the company’s early projects was as part of the team that prepared the original 1970 New Town plan.