Milton Keynes set to approve ‘controversial’ warehouse scheme
A near-840,000 sq ft warehouse development in Milton Keynes has been recommended for approval by planning authorities, despite officers acknowledging the “controversial” nature of the scheme.
Newlands Developments is seeking outline planning permission to build two warehouses on a 50-acre site in Newport Pagnell. The council’s planning officers said in a report that the development had been brought before the committee “as it is considered controversial due to the scale of the proposal and the level of public interest arising”.
The site is part of the Milton Keynes East strategic urban extension, which will include 5,000 homes, new workplaces, schools, local centres, green and public transport infrastructure. Council officers acknowledged in their report that “concern has been expressed by various interested parties regarding the ‘cohesiveness’ of the MKE allocation between the various developers and land ownerships”.
A near-840,000 sq ft warehouse development in Milton Keynes has been recommended for approval by planning authorities, despite officers acknowledging the “controversial” nature of the scheme.
Newlands Developments is seeking outline planning permission to build two warehouses on a 50-acre site in Newport Pagnell. The council’s planning officers said in a report that the development had been brought before the committee “as it is considered controversial due to the scale of the proposal and the level of public interest arising”.
The site is part of the Milton Keynes East strategic urban extension, which will include 5,000 homes, new workplaces, schools, local centres, green and public transport infrastructure. Council officers acknowledged in their report that “concern has been expressed by various interested parties regarding the ‘cohesiveness’ of the MKE allocation between the various developers and land ownerships”.
SEGRO had teamed up with Newlands to bring forward a two-warehouse plan for the site in 2019, but this was refused the following year on grounds including funding concerns and the impact on nearby residents. A spokesman for SEGRO told EG the company no longer had an interest in the site and was not involved with the new application.
Newlands was founded in 2018 by the former senior management team of Roxhill Developments, following SEGRO’s acquisition of Roxhill’s management platform.
The officers’ report said the National Planning Casework Unit received a request last November, asking the secretary of state to call in the application. The casework unit officer then advised that they will not act on a third-party call-in request until the application has been heard by the relevant planning committee. Council officers have now recommended the scheme for approval, “subject to the secretary of state not calling in the application for their own determination”.
The new plans have attracted criticism and objections from parties including Berks, Bucks & Oxon Wildlife Trust over a lack of biodiversity net gain, as well as the MK Forum and Newport Pagnell Town Council over traffic management and transport infrastructure.
Officers said: “It is acknowledged that the proposal will have an urbanising effect on an area that is currently almost completely rural. However, in the longer term it would sit within a wider urban parcel generated by the rest of the MKE allocation, and it is considered that the site can ultimately deliver a high-quality development which can have a positive impact on character, mitigating the urbanising effect where possible, established along sustainable principles and shaped by green infrastructure.”
Newlands Developments had not responded to a request for comment on the scheme by the time of publication.
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