Conservative Candidates for Milton Keynes Ben Everitt (MK North) and Johnny Luk (MK Central) have confirmed they will take the unprecedented step to ‘call in’ the Council’s new local plan that commits the city to building 63,000 additional houses.
Local plans typically go through a process whereby it goes to public consultation and then to a planning inspector for review. However, the controversial plan has seen widespread anger and criticism, and the local Conservative Candidates have been robust in their opposition.
If elected to Parliament they have promised to write to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government and request they urgently ‘call-in’ the Labour Council’s plan, immediately stopping the process until a review has taken place.
The reasons for the call-in will be:
• Complete lack of consideration for the pressure the sheer amount of additional housing would bring on local infrastructure and services
• Inconsistent messaging around the areas that will be included in the plan and when
• Concerns that sites removed in the last iteration will be returned after public consultation as evidenced in the Council’s last local plan
• The diversion from the ‘new town’ principles that made MK the success story it is today
• No consideration of the importance of the rural communities, nor the importance of the borough’s market towns’ culture and independence
Ben Everitt said:
“Labour-led MK Council have demonstrated time after time that they couldn’t care less about our rural communities. They want a big urban city that is like any other. That is not what MK has ever been about. We need to protect our amazing balance between urban and rural, green spaces, grid roads and unique villages, towns and estates. Labour’s vision for our future is the wrong one and I will do everything I can to stop this reckless expansion plan.”
Johnny Luk added:
“I’ve knocked on over 7,000 doors in the last year alone, without question the number one concern people raise is the speed at which MK is growing and the pressure that is putting on local roads, schools and our green spaces. Ben and I have fought for many months to oppose these plans but it’s clear Labour aren’t listening. This will be the very first letter I write if I am given the privilege of being a Member of Parliament.”
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