The Broughton and Atterbury scheme - Milton Keynes

The Broughton and Atterbury scheme in Milton Keynes is the last part of original New Town plan. Part of a greater development, this proposal is for 134 new houses in a mixture of tenures.

The scheme has been designed by David Locke Associates, Planning and Urban Design consultants. In their submission to the Planning committee they outline the ideas of a woonerf, and how these relate to their vision.

Their vision is a "comprehensive application of woonerf principles to the secondary streets" of the development. "The opportunity to create these safe streets or 'Home Zones' is created by [their] Master Plan", this plan removes parked cars from the street to the courtyards created within the blocks. By doing this the designers claim that the streets can be designed as places without the clutter of parked cars. The plan also includes provision for children's play equipment and communal barbecues, within these communal courtyards.

In my opinion, whilst this sounds very promising, these ideas are let down by the urban form that appears to be full of cul-de-sac's and gated courtyards. If these dead ends are creating possible links to future development areas, this is possibly a good strategy, however if the truly are cul-de-sac's an opportunity has been missed, to create a good example of new build Home Zones.

This proposal is currently being considered by Milton Keynes Planning Authority.

Copyright: Matthew Bridgestock, Home Zones Good Practice in Britain and Henbury, Bristol Feasibility Study, Publication date March 2000.

If you are interested in the full publication, e-mail Matthew