Lib Dems Say 'No' to Downgrading the V10

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Tue 4th Apr 2006

Milton Keynes Council's Liberal Democrat administration is making public their objection to the proposals being developed by Crest Nicholson for the V10 at Oakgrove. This week sees the final stage of the consultation process carried out by Crest Nicholson before submitting a planning application to the Council in about a month's time.

Crest Nicholson are consulting on proposals to include moving and downgrading the V10, Brickhill Street, into a residential road that passes through the middle of Oakgrove, including through a square, with speed limits as low as 20 mph.

Liberal Democrat Council Leader, Isobel McCall, who sits on the Oakgrove Steering Group, said: "We have been working with Crest Nicholson, the developer for Oakgrove, and English Partnerships over the last couple of years to try to reach a compromise on the treatment of the V10 in Crest's plans but this has not proved possible.

"The Council's Lib Dem administration cannot support proposals that effectively get rid of a chunk of grid road, right in the middle of the grid system, especially as this is a key north-south route. We are happy about the other aspirations of the Crest scheme for the high profile Millennium Community but have been unable to reach agreement with them on the V10."

The proposals do not comply with the Council's planning policies that were agreed two years ago for Oakgrove. The Supplementary Planning Guidance set out plans for Brickhill Street at Oakgrove to be different from traditional grid roads but specifically said that deviations to the route were "not under consideration" and that Brickhill Street needed to accommodate through traffic.

Traffic modelling for the new Oakgrove development has shown that traffic levels along a diverted and downgraded Brickhill Street in the rush hour would be similar to Olney High Street. "Traffic at this volume does not create a pleasant environment for pedestrians and people accessing local shops," said Graham Mabbutt, Liberal Democrat cabinet member for Planning and Transport. "People in Olney have been campaigning for a by-pass for many years because of the effects of this level of traffic. Surely Crest don't want to create a similar environment in Oakgrove."