Muse has announced a partnership with Milton Keynes City Council (MKCC) to deliver a new mixed-use neighbourhood that will reshape Central Bletchley.
Muse has been appointed to deliver a masterplan for two large sites to the east and west of Bletchley station. The developer has worked closely with the council, Milton Keynes Development Partnership (MKDP) and the local community to shape the plans, which will deliver new homes across a range of tenures, including affordable housing, Build-to-Rent and open-market sale, alongside new retail space, active ground-floor uses and community facilities.
The partnership announcement builds on a £22million investment that has been committed to deliver a new eastern entrance to Bletchley train station. This includes £17million from the government’s Growth Mission Fund and up to a further £5million from Milton Keynes City Council.
The new entrance will create a direct link between the station and Queensway, Bletchley’s main high street, aiming to increase footfall into the town centre and benefit local businesses. Both projects aim to deliver a more vibrant high street and greener, safer and more inclusive neighbourhoods for local people.
MKDP will lead on placemaking on behalf of MKCC, as part of its role in the government’s Town Deal for Bletchley, managing the Revolving Development Fund to ensure developments meet local needs.
The town centre regeneration plans will aim to maximise the wider benefits of the new East West Rail link, which is planned to connect Oxford to Cambridge via Bletchley, cementing the town as a key destination in the Oxford-Cambridge Growth Corridor.
This new partnership for Central Bletchley adds to Muse’s expanding portfolio of complex regeneration programmes across London and the South, which includes over 4,400 homes, more than 800 affordable homes and over 2,600 BtR homes.
Muse says that the announcement also represents its latest partnership to deliver regeneration led by station redevelopment, after signing a development agreement on Stevenage Gateway earlier this year, being named as the preferred partner on Bristol Temple Quarter in January, and partnerships at Arden Cross in the Midlands, Stockport Exchange and Salford Central.
Andy Howell, development director at Muse, said: “Bletchley has the connectivity, the ambition and the civic backing to become a success story in the region. Station-led transformation such as this, is exactly the kind of community creation that Muse specialises in – enhanced connectivity and placemaking, complex partnerships delivering meaningful change, and a long-term brief to transform a town centre, not just a site. We hope to deliver the council’s vision to bring more life to the high street, provide greener, healthier and safer neighbourhoods with sustainable homes, retail space, public space and community infrastructure that will invigorate the town and unlock its potential. But, developments like this don’t succeed in isolation. They need the right partners, aligned around a shared vision from the outset. That’s exactly what we have in Bletchley.”
Matt Green, development director at MKDP, said: “This partnership with Muse marks a major step forward in our ambition to establish Bletchley as a true regional economic centre and one of the most compelling destinations in the Oxford-Cambridge Growth Corridor. Our vision is for a place that respects Bletchley’s distinctive heritage while being designed around how communities live today and built to accommodate the growth that’s coming. Muse brings exactly the kind of long-term partnership approach and delivery capability that this opportunity demands, and we look forward to working together to make this vision a reality and realise Bletchley’s potential.”
Cabinet member responsible for the Town Deal at MK City Council, Cllr Ed Hume, said: “This project is a major milestone in our vision for Bletchley and demonstrates our commitment to creating a thriving town centre that people are proud to live, work and spend time in. By bringing new homes, improved public spaces, community facilities and better connections around the station, we are creating the conditions for long-term growth and investment. With East West Rail and the investment in a new station entrance helping to transform connectivity, this regeneration will help unlock Bletchley’s full potential as a vibrant destination at the heart of Milton Keynes and the Oxford-Cambridge Growth Corridor.”
