之前和之后的照片显示惊人的变化illen Lake, Milton Keynes' most popular beauty spot, over the decades

Before and after photos show how much development has happened directly around the city’s most popular beauty spot over the decades.

The first picture shows the lake when it was first built in the1970s, nestled in undisturbed and scenic countryside.

It was framed by the newly-built MK grid roads but, apart from a handful of old houses, the farmland, fields and trees stretched for miles around.

This was Willen Lake shortly after it was built in the 1970s

The second photo shows the lake today – an oasis among dense commercial and residential development.

Both photos are courtesy ofMK City Discovery Centreand were published this week on the popularMilton Keynes Past and Present Facebook page.

The basin for Willen Lake was excavated out of farmland in the 1970s to provide part of the balancing system that would control the flow of run-off into the River Ouzel with the building of the new city.

It was one of the largest purpose-built stormwater balancing lakes in the UK, with capacity for an additional level increase of 1.3 metres – equivalent to a once in 200 years event.

This is Willen Lake almost five decades later

The lake is an official conservation area, but this did not stop development around it happening as the city grew and grew.

New estates of houses sprang up at Willen, Willen Park and Pineham and then there was a steady flow of commercial properties.

In 2016 MK councillors made the“reluctant” decision to allow a six-storey concrete plantalongside of the lake, admitting it could set a dangerous precedent for the city's biggest beauty spot.

Theready-mix plant, which people feared would cause noise, dust and 240 lorry movements a day, was built at scenic Willen Lake North, less than 500 metres away from Willen Hospice.

There were vociferous objections from the public, hospice bosses and the Parks Trust, but councillors said they had no choice but to approve it.

“Our hands were tied. It was a horrible situation,” said planning committee chair Andrew Geary at the time.

“If we’d refused it, the applicant could have gone to appeal and won. But the appeal may not have imposed the conditions we did to minimise any noise, disruption or visual impact.”

Another big development came in 2020, when planning permission was granted for anew four-story, 120-bedroom Premier Inn hotel建在湖边,立即uth of the Unify office building. The multi million pound scheme also included the new Willen Dragon pub and restaurant.

Then in 2021 it was announced that astate-of-the-art warehouse developmentwas to be built on the edge of the lake.Developerand investor GLP went on to build two units totalling 254,859 sq ft on the 13.2 acre site, which is called G-Park. They demolished an existing warehouse on the site because it was "outdated", they said.

The previous year MK Council had published a lengthy‘Willen Area Conservation Review’. This stated: “The appearance and character of the conservation area as it is set out in this review should be demonstrably understood in proposals for new development.”