Solar farm planned for Newport Pagnell

Green Energy UK has submitted a planning application for a 30-acre solar farm at The Kickles, north of Newport Pagnell. Milton Keynes council had earlier ruled that an environmental impact assessment is not needed for the scheme.

The application is for solar farm with a connection capacity of up to 7.5MW, comprising the installation of photovoltaic panels, boundary fencing, security and CCTV cameras, site access and electrical infrastructure including a switch station, inverter units and transformer and temporary construction compounds for period of 25 years (14/01068/FUL).

Each of the 28,368 panels had originally been planned to be three metres high, but that has now been reduced to two metres. 

Sony Stratford: Cofferidge Close saved

Campaigners in Stony Stratford are celebrating after winning a four year campaign to block a superstore at Cofferidge Close. 

Cofferidge Close is a new town development with a listed frontage on Silver Street. The planning inspector described it as:

An unusually successful intervention into the historic townscape of Stony Stratford… It stands out through its attention to aesthetics and its integration with the historic setting.

Developers were proposing a large supermarket which the Save Cofferidge Close Group said would have “killed-off town trade”. The inspector said the development would be harmful to the character of the Stony Stratford Conservation Area and the setting of the listed buildings in Silver Street. 

Appeal decision. 

Milton Keynes hits out at government’s affordable housing policy

Milton Keynes council has hit out at the government’s affordable housing policy in a letter to planning minister Nick Boles. 

Developers are allowed to appeal the level of affordable housing in new schemes and frequently negotiation for less than the 30% affordable housing level required by local policies.

The deputy leader of the council, David Hopkins, who is the portfolio holder for planning and economic development, said: "We are trying to build a city that is sustainable and we are not being allowed to," said David Hopkins, deputy leader of the council. "They are setting up problems not today or next year but in five years time, and there will be a shortage of affordable housing. That will lead to problems in the service sector and public sector because people won't be able to afford to live in Milton Keynes." 

Nick Boles told the Guardian that planning deals negotiated during the last housing boom are "economically unrealistic, meaning no development, no regeneration and no community benefits".  In a reply to David Hopkins, Boles refused an offer to meet and said: "We have been clear that the only grounds to reconsider previously agreed affordable housing contributions are economic viability and this needs to be evidenced and demonstrated for review.”

See also Milton Keynes Web.