Projects & Priorities

CMK Alliance Business Neighbourhood Plan

Download the Plan

Please note this is a large file and may take several minutes to download, depending on your connection. If you have a slow connection or limited disc space you may wish to download one of the adjacent individual sections.

Sections 1-2 contain the background and the plan’s policies. Section 3 contains detailed proposals plans and monitoring information.

The CMK Alliance Business Neighbourhood Plan

The CMK Alliance Business Neighbourhood Plan 2026 (CMKAP) is a pioneering business neighbourhood plan prepared by an alliance of Central Milton Keynes Town Council and local business leaders, working in partnership with Milton Keynes Council.

The Plan celebrates CMK’s distinct design and heritage – its renowned grid of roads, wide pedestrian underpasses and porte cocheres (covered walkways), its generous and convenient car parking, its remarkable landscaping and stunning Campbell Park, all of which contribute to the commercial attractiveness and quality of life in our city centre. Just as important is the promotion of CMK’s emerging role as the centre of a prosperous and growing region, through greater and more diverse development that contributes to the economic, social and environmental well-being of Milton Keynes.

There are almost 50 hectares (120 acres) of land yet to be fully developed in CMK, where the Plan proposes to:

  • Expand and diversify the retail offer of CMK;
  • Build many more offices to create new jobs;
  • Reserve key sites for major opportunities, such as the proposed expansion of the University;
  • Complete almost 5,000 new dwellings; and
  • Enrich our social, sporting and cultural life with new facilities.

At the heart of a city well placed to drive the national economic recovery, what happens in CMK is of national significance. The CMK Alliance Plan 2026 prepares CMK to fulfil its role through a balanced approach, promoting growth and development whilst retaining its competitive advantage as a distinctive place with a high quality of life.

What is a Business Neighbourhood Plan?

The Localism Act 2011 created new ways for local people to achieve their own ambitions for their community or ‘neighbourhood.’ One way is a new approach to local planning policy, called a ‘Neighbourhood Plan,’ which aims to make the planning system more democratic by letting the people who know about and care about an area undertake the planning for it.

Neighbourhood planning is about building neighbourhoods and planning positively for development – not stopping growth. Business Neighbourhood Plans are neighbourhood plans for areas that are primarily commercial to ensure that the business community is fully represented and engaged in the plan-making process.

The CMK Town Council, local business leaders and Milton Keynes Council have come together to create an alliance of CMK residents and businesses to prepare a pioneering business neighbourhood plan – the CMK Alliance Plan 2026.

The Alliance looks forward to seeing local people, businesses and Milton Keynes Council rising to the challenge of transforming CMK into the centre of a regional city, a place of which we will all continue to be proud.

Why do we need a new plan for CMK?

The main planning documents for CMK were prepared over ten years ago, and since that time, much has changed. In particular, the 2001 CMK Development Framework and Local Plan 2005 proposed far-reaching changes to the original plan for CMK, including some that were not sufficiently tested or challenged at the time, and which are no longer considered achievable or even desirable.

In addition, over the past ten years there have been significant changes to policy at a national, regional and local level, including the removal of the regional tier of planning policy, the adoption of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), and the preparation of the Milton Keynes Core Strategy (2010) which was Adopted in summer of 2013.

Now approved at referendum, the CMK Alliance Business Neighbourhood Plan (CMKAP) has become part of Milton Keynes’ Local Development Framework (LDF) of planning documents. It is a statutory plan which is used by MK Council when making decisions on planning applications.

Perhaps more importantly, the CMKAP is a clear statement of intent in terms of how local people and businesses want to see our city centre develop in the coming years, providing guidance and certainty to investors, residents and businesses alike.

At a time when many town centres in the UK are declining and high streets fading, CMK cannot afford to rest on its past success. We must acknowledge and learn from our past mistakes. Our future prosperity is not guaranteed – we must actively work together to achieve it.