The Focus team has been reporting litter black-spots around the ward, asking MK Council to clear them more often. The underpasses near Oakgrove School at Rayners Lane and near the V10, on Monkston Park, and the bus shelter on the V10 by Monkston are a disgrace!
Richard and Vanessa at the underpass between Monkston and Monkton Park near Oakgrove School
Jenni at the bus shelter near Monkston on the V10.
Jenni checking out the site on Simpson Rd near St Bartholomews.
Cllr Jenni Ferrans has arranged for a new dog bin to be put at this key redway junction in Simpson Road, Walton Park, as so many dog users go across to the lake. And the dog bin at the entrance to the lake near Wadesmill Lane will be replaced by a larger one. She has used some of her councillor’s budget to pay for them. Thanks to Walton Community Council who agreed to install them and – very importantly – to empty them!
MK Council’s winter pruning of its shrubs and trees is in progress. Hedges in Walnut Tree have been cut, and some other areas have been cleared, but many remain to be done.
And in Queensbury Lane, Monkston Park, the brambles are uncut.
Vanessa and Richard can walk to the shops now from Bluebell Close, Walnut Tree.
Vanessa got MK Council to clear the branches from the corner of Perivale, Monston Park.
In Monkston. Jenni and Richard have reported several areas of brambles, and are asking the Council to trace the owners of this patch near Wymondham.
In a shock decision, after Government interference, MK’s Labour Cabinet has decided to give the Government the whole say over who manages all our new schools including Kents Hill Park Primary.
Cllr Jenni Ferrans at Kents Hill Park Primary School
But the earliest the Government can appoint managers is Autumn 2017 – too late for the 2017-18 school year, and the Government’s last appointment was an academy that has failing schools! Oakgrove School has offered to accommodate the extra children in 2017-18.
Your Lib Dem councillors think MK Council should still go ahead locally with the primary school, to get it open on time, with a good academy managing it.
Please sign our petition or ask us for a paper petition, quickly, if you agree!
MK Development Partnership has appointed a developer to develop the site off Ladbroke Grove in Monkston Park. The site will be developed for general housing after plans for older people’s housing fell through. The plans should be submitted soon.
Please let us have your email address if you want the Lib Dems to notify you when they come in. We hope to have an exhibition of the plans on Monkston Park.
There have been reports over the last few weeks of a dangerous dog accompanied but off the lead.
This is attacking other dogs, and sadly, occasionally people, around Caldecotte Lake and on Walnut Tree. The dog is a black and white heavy-set dog. If you witness an attack of this sort, please ring the police immediately. It DOES warrant 999. Unless the Police can catch the owners, they can’t take action.
Please remember that ALL dogs should be kept on leads when on paths. Dogs who jump up at people can be a danger, even if they are friendly and well-behaved.
We have three sets of voting going on soon locally.
On May 5th we have the election for councillors on Milton Keynes Council. You can see the Lib Dem Manifesto for Milton Keynes here.
Our local candidate is Cllr Vanessa McPake, who has served this area as a councillor or campaigner for ten years, and is standing for re-election as a councillor. She is now campaigning to:
Also on May 5th we have the election for a Police Commissioner. This is the elected person who oversees the Police in the whole of Thames Valley. Lib Dems believe that one person cannot possibly represent the interests of such a wide area, but that is the system we have, so we have to work with it at present.
Our candidate is John Howson, who is campaigning to cut crime, not constables! He points out that if we can use modern methods to increase detection rates, and use the best methods of dealing with each category of offender to reduce reoffending, then we will reduce crime without needing to spend more! Win-Win!
You can see more about his campaign on the Thames Valley Police website at https://www.choosemypcc.org.uk/area/thames-valley
Finally, on June 23rd we have the big one – the referendum on whether to Remain In the EC or to Leave the EC. You can see the Lib Dem party comment on this here. After the Council elections, we’ll put more on this website about the issues for Milton Keynes.
The MK Local Plan designates the area around Walton Grange for development, and a number of plans and development briefs have been prepared that will shape the developments. This article gives you an overview, with links to more information about each part. It will be updated as things change.
The phase 1 plans (see below) are now out for consultation, until 25th October, so have your say!
Overview
A planning brief defines the development opportunities and constraints and suggests a broad general shape that the development might follow. For larger developments, Outline plans and Reserved matters (the rest of the detail) then follow, while for smaller developments, we go straight to a detailed plan. Both the development brief and the plans are consulted on, so you have the chance to express your views. However, it’s important to understand that what the Council is allowed to insist upon, and sometimes even what they are allowed to propose, is limited by planning law.
The area around Walton Grange is divided into two: the area currently owned by MSD, the company opposite across Hulwell Gate, and the area currently owned by MKDP, the Council’s development arm.
The MKDP land
The MKDP area, known as Walton Manor, was the subject of a Development Brief consultation last year. If you want to see what was consulted on, then please click here, and search for the keywords Walton Manor. The brief was delayed for a variety of reasons, and extra technical information has led to a change. The new version is being prepared at present, and will be published soon. We will update this article when it comes out. We’re not expecting any plans until well into 2016.
The MSD Land
MSD also want to develop their existing land, in three phases.
Phase 0 covers the land immediately across Hulwell Drive in front of the flats on Walton Grange. The plan is to build a very small water treatment plant (basically relocating one they already have), together with a small visitors car park, and a row of landscaping by the road to screen it a little from the flats. You can see the information we put out on it here.
Phase 1 will include building a new small production plant (to replace an existing one) on the land further in beyond the treatment plant, with landscaping to screen it, and extensions to the car parks near the V10. They will also add an extra lane to the HGV access within the site, so that vehicles can queue there, and not on Hullwell Gate. See our leaflet for more details and search for plan 15/02293/FUL on the Council’s website here. The planning application is out for consultation until 25th October 2015, so please get your comments in, and let us know if you still have any questions. We have obtained mock-up views of the plant from outside the Abells Close flats and the Harley Drive flats.
Phase 2 will cover two more buildings within their site, and a new large car park near the H9 and access from the H9. That may reduce traffic on Hulwell Gate. They have not finalised the planning application yet, so there is nothing to see, but they will do so soon and we will update this article when they do. The leaflet describes a little more about the phase 2 intentions.
The Council’s consultation on the planning brief for the developments on Kents Hill Park including both the housing and the schools will close this Sunday, Sept 13th, so please get your comments in to them! The development proposal comprises:
For more information on why it’s happening, and the process being followed, see our Development Special published early this year.
For more information on the proposals and the school proposals, see our KentsHillSpecial2.
Update: Heronsgate have agreed to take the 2016 intake to the junior school, and those children will then stay at Heronsgate until they move up to secondary school. It’s intended that the new school will open on the new site on Kents Hill in September 2017.
To see the questions residents asked at the meetings the Parish Council convened, and the answers, see our Kents Hill Questions and Answers.
To see the planning brief that the Council is consulting on, see MK Council’s website at
www.milton-keynes.gov.uk/consultations/Consultation/1361
The Focus team at Walnut Tree surgery where expansion is desperately needed
Many people locally can’t register for a GP or NHS Dentist, or have to wait ages for appointments. The Focus team is calling on NHS England to make more provision available either in Monkston ward, or on the estates immediately next to our homes.
NHS England have now confirmed:
We know there are hundreds, if not thousands, of local people, particularly in Monkston, Monkston Park, Kents Hill and Walton Grange, who have not been able to register at either Walnut Tree or MK Village. This means drastically increased journeys for them, with no direct bus, when they are ill.
If you want to protest about this, and to ask for MK Village and Walnut Tree surgeries to be expanded, and more dentist provision to be made available locally, please:
We have to keep the pressure up on this! We will be taking your complaints to meetings of the MK Health and Wellbeing Board, so please get lots of signatures!