6th August 2021

LOVE WOLVERTON PLANNING APPLICATION APPROVED.

6th August 2021

LOVE WOLVERTON PLANNING APPLICATION APPROVED.

Long-awaited redevelopment of the Agora Centre in Wolverton will start before the end of the 2021 after Milton Keynes Council’s planning committee resolved to grant permission for TOWN’s pioneering regeneration plans.

The Love Wolverton project will deliver 115 low-carbon homes, new independent shops, extensive public realm and green infrastructure and a renewable energy microgrid in the heart of Milton Keynes’s original railway town.

Planning approval comes shortly after the Council’s decision in July to invest over £36 million to acquire the vacant Agora Centre and fund delivery of the award-winning Love Wolverton project, and means that work to demolish the unloved 1970s shopping centre can finally begin before the end of 2021.

The new development will provide:

  • 115 low-energy homes including 86 for market and affordable rent which will be owned by the Council, and a 29-home over-50s cohousing community for Still Green Cohousing;
  • new small independent shops to grow and reinforce Wolverton’s high street offer;
  • extensive public realm, car-free streets, shared courtyard gardens and a public pocket park, providing new places for socialising and children’s play including the reinstatement of Radcliffe Street to reconnect Church Street and the Square;
  • a low-carbon mobility hub including improved bus stop, bike-hire schemes and electric car club; and
  • a renewable energy ‘microgrid’ which will generate around two-thirds of the scheme’s energy needs on-site and contribute to a 70% reduction in CO2 emissions compared with building regulations.

The Council will now work with developer TOWN to implement the scheme, with the latter also facilitating almost £6 million in private investment to deliver homes for Still Green Cohousing in parallel. Coming after the Council in June also committed a further £3.7m to supporting works to deliver complementary public realm and parking, this means over £45 million will be invested in the heart of this historic railway town over the next three years.

Councillor Rob Middleton, Milton Keynes Council’s Cabinet Member for Budget and Resources, said:

“Council backing for these ambitious plans is a mark of Milton Keynes Council’s commitment to delivering a fairer and greener recovery from the pandemic and shows what our goal of being a world-leading sustainable city means in practice. The lessons from across Europe are clear that successful regeneration and development needs a strong civic hand, so it’s right that we throw the Council’s weight behind a project that will deliver new, low-carbon, Council-owned homes for local people and should be an example of how to breathe new life into established town centres.”

The funding means that the plans, which were developed in close consultation with the Wolverton community during 2019-20, will be delivered in full along with a policy-compliant level of affordable housing and additional funding for local schools, health and play facilities.

The project, which was submitted for planning at the end of 2020 by TOWN working with architects Mikhail Riches and Mole and landscape architects URBED, was recognised in July with a prestigious Festival of Place / Design Council award for the UK’s best ‘future place’.

Neil Murphy, director of TOWN, said:

“Planning permission is a vital milestone in any project. Here, it’s the culmination of years of co-operative work between council officers and elected members, our team and above all the Wolverton community who have campaigned tirelessly to have the Agora replaced by a development worthy of the town. Reconciling the constraints of the site with demanding policy and community expectations of design, conservation, sustainability and affordability was a huge challenge but, with planning achieved and the Council’s investment in place, we’re looking forward to working with partners to make it reality”

Related news

Long-awaited redevelopment of the Agora Centre in Wolverton will start before the end of the 2021 after Milton Keynes Council’s planning committee resolved to grant permission for TOWN’s pioneering regeneration plans.

The Love Wolverton project will deliver 115 low-carbon homes, new independent shops, extensive public realm and green infrastructure and a renewable energy microgrid in the heart of Milton Keynes’s original railway town.

Planning approval comes shortly after the Council’s decision in July to invest over £36 million to acquire the vacant Agora Centre and fund delivery of the award-winning Love Wolverton project, and means that work to demolish the unloved 1970s shopping centre can finally begin before the end of 2021.

The new development will provide:

  • 115 low-energy homes including 86 for market and affordable rent which will be owned by the Council, and a 29-home over-50s cohousing community for Still Green Cohousing;
  • new small independent shops to grow and reinforce Wolverton’s high street offer;
  • extensive public realm, car-free streets, shared courtyard gardens and a public pocket park, providing new places for socialising and children’s play including the reinstatement of Radcliffe Street to reconnect Church Street and the Square;
  • a low-carbon mobility hub including improved bus stop, bike-hire schemes and electric car club; and
  • a renewable energy ‘microgrid’ which will generate around two-thirds of the scheme’s energy needs on-site and contribute to a 70% reduction in CO2 emissions compared with building regulations.

The Council will now work with developer TOWN to implement the scheme, with the latter also facilitating almost £6 million in private investment to deliver homes for Still Green Cohousing in parallel. Coming after the Council in June also committed a further £3.7m to supporting works to deliver complementary public realm and parking, this means over £45 million will be invested in the heart of this historic railway town over the next three years.

Councillor Rob Middleton, Milton Keynes Council’s Cabinet Member for Budget and Resources, said:

“Council backing for these ambitious plans is a mark of Milton Keynes Council’s commitment to delivering a fairer and greener recovery from the pandemic and shows what our goal of being a world-leading sustainable city means in practice. The lessons from across Europe are clear that successful regeneration and development needs a strong civic hand, so it’s right that we throw the Council’s weight behind a project that will deliver new, low-carbon, Council-owned homes for local people and should be an example of how to breathe new life into established town centres.”

The funding means that the plans, which were developed in close consultation with the Wolverton community during 2019-20, will be delivered in full along with a policy-compliant level of affordable housing and additional funding for local schools, health and play facilities.

The project, which was submitted for planning at the end of 2020 by TOWN working with architects Mikhail Riches and Mole and landscape architects URBED, was recognised in July with a prestigious Festival of Place / Design Council award for the UK’s best ‘future place’.

Neil Murphy, director of TOWN, said:

“Planning permission is a vital milestone in any project. Here, it’s the culmination of years of co-operative work between council officers and elected members, our team and above all the Wolverton community who have campaigned tirelessly to have the Agora replaced by a development worthy of the town. Reconciling the constraints of the site with demanding policy and community expectations of design, conservation, sustainability and affordability was a huge challenge but, with planning achieved and the Council’s investment in place, we’re looking forward to working with partners to make it reality”

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