 |
Housing & MKSM |
||
|
|
|||
MKSM (Milton Keynes and South Midlands Sub-Regional Strategy)
Background (see table of proposed housing numbers)
Where are the Jobs coming from? Knowledge/science based industries or the expansion of Luton airport
Transport Congestion is already very bad. With all the new houses it will be even worse. The new proposals talk a lot about a big change to public transport and reducing car use but all the money is going into road schemes which will not remove the traffic problems and will only make the air quality worse. In Dunstable it is so poor that it breaks European Law. The incidence of childhood asthma in Bedfordshire has doubled in the 1990’s due to increased pollution from traffic.
Most of the rail schemes have been removed. The Western Section of East West Rail between Bletchley and Oxford already has the track bed and would only cost £65 million which is what Linslade Western Bypass will probably cost, and that is only one of four roads to link Milton Keynes to Aylesbury. East West travel in this region is a nightmare. The trains to London have been reduced by one quarter and you can no longer go direct to Birmingham from Leighton Buzzard. According to the Highways Agency, widening the M1 will leave it just as congested as it is and they also predict that Milton Keynes will be completely gridlocked by 2031.
There is no extra money for Public Transport despite all the fine words, so our town centres will be even more congested. In Linslade the buses have been reduced by half. 20% of the population does not have access to a car so they will be even more excluded. It is not fair on pensioners, young people and young families. There are no targets for anything other than houses. We need targets for public transport.
|
|||
|
|
home | ||
