Projects
Accelerated Capital Projects:
Background
In July 2020, while the Town Deal Board was preparing its bid for the Towns Fund, the Government offered Milton Keynes a grant of £1 million to fund capital projects, associated with the Towns Fund Programme, that could be delivered quickly by the end of March 2021.
The Government was particularly keen to see projects that could support towns responding to immediate challenges, including:
- Improvements to or delivery of new parks and green spaces and sustainable transport links
- Improvements to town centres including repurposing empty commercial properties
- Demolition or site remediation where this will have an immediate benefit
The Board put forward the following projects to be funded from the £1 million:
- Three new redways to link Newton Leys and the Lakes Estate to the Blue Lagoon and on to the town centre
- Demolition and other remediation works at the old Bletchley Fire Station site
Redway Links Project
Lead Organisation(s): Milton Keynes Council, Highways
This project will see the delivery of three new links in the redway network, improving connections between the Lakes Estate, Newton Leys and Bletchley town centre and railway station.
Using the Accelerated Capital Projects funding, 3 new redway links will be provided from the Lakes Estate to the Blue Lagoon; from Newton Leys to the Blue Lagoon and a new link running from north to south alongside the Blue Lagoon. The new redway links will help to encourage active and sustainable travel and improve connections between the Lakes Estate in particular to the town centre and beyond. The delivery of these three new links paves the way for the successful delivery of a fourth new redway link from the Blue Lagoon to the town centre and railway station as one of the successful Town Deal projects
Former Bletchley Fire Station
Lead Organisation: Milton Keynes Development Partnership (MKDP)
The demolition of existing buildings on the site of the former fire station site is an important first step in preparing the site for redevelopment.
Policy SD16 in Plan:MK proposes the development of a residential-led, mixed use development with commercial floorspace, which brings opportunities to create jobs, widen training opportunities and provide employment during its construction.The site’s prominent location on the approach to the town centre and at the exit from the train station is expected to help to stimulate regeneration interest and opportunities in the town.
Town Deal Projects:
The Government announced £22.7m in Town Deal funding to help transform the Bletchley and Fenny Stratford area and provide new opportunities for its residents and businesses. 7 of the 9 projects submitted in the Town’s Investment Plan have now submitted business cases and have received approval. The remaining 2 cases (Innovation and Transport) are due to be submitted later this year. Once the funding is released the projects will move in to the delivery stage.
Innovation Hub
Lead Organisation: Milton Keynes Development Partnership (MKDP)
The project will provide innovation focused commercial space for existing and new start-ups and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).
The investment in the business infrastructure will deliver innovation and entrepreneurial focused employment opportunities. The Hub will provide a high-quality space for businesses to establish themselves, have access to business support and grow. Once developed, the Innovation Hub will mature into a space that is capable of attracting and housing scale-ups and larger enterprises seeking digital and creative support services and talent. The Innovation Hub will link in with the Institute of Technology/MK College – further details on this partnership to follow. The project is still in the business case development stage which will need to be approved later this year before funding is released.
Revolving Development Fund
Lead Organisation: Milton Keynes Development Partnership (MKDP)
The Revolving Development Fund will facilitate the acquisition and re-use of run-down and dilapidated sites for new and improved uses (such as housing and commercial uses). Once the initial tranche of key sites in central Bletchley have been re-purposed, it is anticipated the fund will facilitate further development over a ten-year fund operating period.
The Revolving Development Fund is a new and exciting approach to help deliver the objectives in the Town Investment Plan. The Fund will provide cash-flow to enable the Council and the Town Deal Board to acquire, improve and redevelop land and buildings in the Town Deal area.
The ‘revolving’ nature of the fund means that income from sale or rental of property acquired using the Fund will be re-invested in further regeneration work in the area.
Transport Hub
Lead Organisation: Milton Keynes Council, Highways
A key focus of the Towns Fund is the improvement of connectivity as a means of transforming areas. As part of the business case development, the Council is engaged in discussion with East West Rail on plans for a transport hub/interchange. This project is still in the early stages of planning. More information on this will be published when available.
Public Realm Improvements
Lead Organisation: Milton Keynes Council
The Towns Fund investment will enable the establishment of a Public Realm Improvement Fund to deliver public realm interventions in Bletchley and Fenny Stratford to improve the appearance, attractiveness, safety and usability of these areas. The area of operation will be the Town Deal Boundary.
Investment will be coordinated with other Towns Fund projects, particularly the Revolving Development Fund, to maximise the impact of spend. The project will seek to bring about wider structural change to the layout and movement patterns within Bletchley town centre, improving the visual and physical connection between Queensway and the railway station and town to the west of the railway, making the town centre more visible and accessible to visitors arriving by train and tourists visiting Bletchley Park.
This intervention, together with the improvements to the quality of the town centre public realm will generate increased footfall and dwell time in the town centre and support increased diversity of the retail and leisure offer.
Redway Improvements Project
Lead Organisation: Milton Keynes Council
The Towns Deal will provide funding to deliver Section 4 of the Blue Lagoon Scheme Redways route. This scheme is part of the Highways Committed Scheme to support current and future development. It will provide the link from the existing Redways in Bletchley from the Lakes Estate, Newton Leys and Blue Lagoon Nature Reserve to Bletchley Town centre via the highways infrastructure at Water Eaton Road. This section of the route is critical in unlocking the wider benefits and usability of the proposed sections of the route, Sections 1, 2 and 3, which would otherwise be disconnected from the wider road infrastructure.
The delivery of the new section will provide a safe and active travel route for residents of the area to easily access the public transport, shopping and employment opportunities in Bletchley and the wider area.
Tech Park Bletchley
Lead Organisation: South Central Institute of Technology
Towns Fund investment will support the delivery of hardware and equipment to support digital skills development. The resource will be delivered in the enterprise lab of the South-Central Institute of Technology and will have the capability to be fully self-contained, flexible and mobile. The unit will enable the resource to be transported to other education settings to extend its use and impact across the area. The resource could also be used by other groups in the community such as the Rivers Centre and other local Community Centres that support adults as well as young people.
The Tech Pak will also be linking in with the Innovation Hub project – more details to follow.
Transformation at Bletchley Park
Lead Organisation: Bletchley Park Trust
Bletchley Park was the top-secret home of the World War Two Codebreakers and is widely acknowledged as the birthplace of the modern-day computer.
This project will involve the redevelopment of a significant wartime building (Block E) at Bletchley Park to facilitate the creation of a new dedicated learning facility, with eight new fully accessible classrooms and a high specification lecture theatre. The project is a key component of a wider scheme to renovate historic wartime Blocks A & E including major new gallery spaces and a collection centre. The renovation of these heritage assets is a unique opportunity to shed light on a crucial part of British WW2 history and open more of the site to the public. The project will provide learning opportunities and experiences to attract onsite and outreach visits, expanding the reach of the Bletchley Park stories and achievements.
Learning activities at Bletchley Park are currently delivered from two permanent and two temporary classrooms. Planning consent requires these two temporary classroom spaces to be removed in Spring 2023. Not progressing the investment would result in a reduction of current learning capacity at Bletchley Park to circa 9,300 learners.
As a result of the limited school learning spaces, the Trust does not actively market its learning programme and cannot accommodate all enquiries. The proposed investment will increase capacity on site and enable Bletchley Park to work with neighbourhood schools to build engagement and increase visits from Bletchley and Fenny Stratford schools.
Fibre Connectivity
Lead Organisation: Milton Keynes Council
This project will provide fibre connectivity to areas within the Town Deal area that are not yet connected to a fibre network. This will enable effective home working, encourage local investment, support education and increase opportunities for local people to benefit from learning and skills development.
Whilst there have been significant improvement in fibre connectivity across Milton Keynes as a whole in recent years, not all parts of Bletchley and Fenny Stratford have benefitted from those improvements to date.
Improved availability of fibre broadband provides a range of benefits, including:
- Increased opportunities for education; learning and skills
- improving access to healthcare and social support as a result of easier, more efficient communications.
- helping to reduce local traffic congestion by supporting home working
- increasing productivity by increasing business efficiency and attracting new business investment
Active Marketing of Vacant Sites
Lead Organisation: Milton Keynes Council,
The strategic driver for this project is to attract more businesses to locate in Bletchley and Fenny Stratford by actively promoting the regeneration programme and showcasing the commercial opportunities arising from the Town Deal. This will emphasise the commercial advantages of the location such as good connectivity and price competitiveness compared to central Milton Keynes.
This project recognises that whilst Milton Keynes has enjoyed strong economic growth in recent years, a more focused approach is required in Bletchley and Fenny Stratford.
This project will play a role in supporting the wider programme of investment through the Towns Deal to showcase the investments being made in Bletchley and Fenny Stratford around fostering an improved public realm, enhanced connectivity and accessibility, improvements to skills & training and the supportive environment for start-up companies in the digital and media domains. This seeks to develop an awareness in the business community that Bletchley and Fenny Stratford as a business environment is now on a more forward-looking ambitious growth trajectory and that, therefore, there will be distinct advantages to being an early adopter.