Residents oppose plans to build four tall tower blocks alongside popular Milton Keynes park

Residentsare objecting to plans to build 450 flats in high rise tower blocks right next to a scenic city park.

Theproposed apartments at the north side of Campbell Parkwill be in four blocks and the highest will stand at 18 storeys – almost as tall as the recently-demolished Mellish Court flats in Bletchley. The other blocks will be 16, 12 and 10 storeys.

There will also be a proposed ‘Transport Hub’, projected to be around five storeys tall.

The residents group at neighbouring Downhead Park has expressed several concerns over the application, which comes from Regeneration company Urban Splash and Manchester-based developer Glenbrook.

The companies have bought the site fromMilton KeynesDevelopment Partnership (MKDP), which is the business arm of the city council and handles its land and assets. This means the planning application submitted to the council is almost certain to be approved as it is part of the wider plan to develop the Campbell Park area.

But the Downhead Park residents’ group is far from happy.

Their first concern is parking. Each of the 450 dwellings will have just 0.6 of a parking space each and residents fear overspill parking will affect the local road networks as well as neighbouring estates.

Regular events, festivals and concerts held at Campbell Park can attract thousands of people and this will exacerbate the parking problem, they say.

一个高造成的遮蔽块d loss of privacy is another concern.

“There will be a gap of 160m from the nearest existing house. There will be some shadowing from the taller blocks onto Downhead Park” said a spokesman for the residents.

Campbell Park is a Grade II listed park and the group feels it should be protected from disruption.

"In this case- it will be subject to shade, increased load on drainage and many new residents using the park. Its use will be affected. There is also a medieval road and hedgerow through the site. It has so far been ignored by the developers,” said the spokesman.

All the new apartments will be ‘buy to let’. This could lead to a “transient community, without a sense of ownership”, say the residents.

They are also questioning why the buildings need to be so tall.

“There is a planning framework in MK which states ‘No building should be higher than eight stories unless there is particular importance or aesthetic quality.’ We don’t understand the particular need in this case... This will be one of the first things seen on entry to MM from the M1 motorway. We do not feel it is the impression that we wish to portray,” said the spokesman.

Less than a mile away in the city centre, planningpermission has already been granted for a block of flats that will be even taller– a massive 33 storeys high.

The ‘Vertical Village' will be two and a half times the height of Hotel La Tour, which is Milton Keynes' current tallest building.