Broughton Gate Milton Keynes

Developed in collaboration, Broughton Gate ia a 130 acre residential development site forming part of the Eastern Expansion Area of Milton Keynes. Outline planning consent was granted in 2005 for 1400 houses including mixed use development, public open space and infrastructure; a full consent for on site infrastructure and phase 1 of the proposed development was obtained in 2006 and work on site is now underway.

The preparation of a Development Brief for the area was undertaken in 2005, this included a weekend Planning Workshop event chaired by Oxford Brookes University at which local residents contributed to help determine the masterplan content and character area assessment. This was one of the first residential development schemes to undertake a workshop consultation that really engaged the local community; outcomes from the weekend event informed the evolution of a masterplan that met with approval from the local community.

The development of the masterplan and the grant of outline consent led to the inception of detailed Design Codes for the whole development site. The implementation of Design Codes ensures a consistant character and quality that the development must achieve on all phases.

Broughton Gate was one of the first development schemes in the country to employ a s.106 obligation package negotiated on the basis of a 'tariff' for the provision of infrastructure and community services. This approach has gained support in the industry and has since been adopted elsewhere in the country.

The expansion areas of Milton Keynes form part of the Sustainable Communities Plan for the South East. The Planning Authority for the expansion areas is the Urban Regeneration Agency 'Milton Keynes Partnership' - MKP.
MKP adopted an innovative approach as to how the infrastructure for the expansion areas was to be funded and more especially 'pump primed' . Treasury agreement was reached to early public investment in infrastructure to be delivered by a partnership between MKP and the local authority and guaranteed by a commitment to a 'pool' of developer contributions through the tariff.