The Leader of Milton Keynes Council will take a decision next week that will see the first major expansion of a grid road in Milton Keynes in over two decades.

The council is due to commit next week to extending the H10 grid road to ensure that the new South East Milton Keynes (SEMK) development is built in line with the original vision of Milton Keynes.

While MK has grown hugely over the past twenty years, larger expansion developments such as Fairfields, Brooklands and Oakridge Park moved away from the traditional grid road model. While many of those estates are still being built the main planning permissions being used to build them are now over ten years old and pre-date the current administration.

The Delegated Decision due to be taken on Tuesday 25^th January will highlight the Progressive Alliance’s commitment to re-establishing the grid road as a key feature of policy in the future growth of Milton Keynes, promises the council will extend the H10 grid road and will fund technical studies to develop options to do so, as well as establishing a local stakeholder forum to help guide future decisions.

Cllr Peter Marland, Leader of Milton Keynes Council said: “I am very proud to ensure that the Progressive Alliance running Milton Keynes will be the first administration on over twenty years to commit to, and deliver, a major extension of a grid road in Milton Keynes.”

He continued: “I have always been very clear as leader of the council that grid roads are essential to the success of the city and will be at the heart of any future growth. That is why they are highlighted in the Strategy for 2050 as critical for providing mobility for all. It is why they are a core of Plan:MK and why they will be a feature of the new growth areas of South East Milton Keynes and MK East as the city grows.”

He concluded: “The extension of the H10 as a policy of the council is a fundamental part of ensuring the success of SEMK. While others talk about how important grid roads are, we are still seeing the results of planning permissions granted under the previous administration that abandoned them. We are getting on delivering the next generation of grid roads and sustainable transport for MK.”