£22.7m investment in Bletchley: Town Deal funding

Public Consultation Information for Queensway, Aylesbury Street and Saxon Street Town Deal Development Projects

Have your say on Groundbreaking Bletchley & Fenny Stratford Town Deal Online or in person

Milton Keynes City Council secured just under £23m to create more healthy, attractive and thriving town centres in Bletchley and Fenny Stratford. Find out more about the project online.

This consultation closes on 22 September and it’s your opportunity to share your views on the proposals for works to Bletchley and Fenny Stratford High Streets and Saxon Street that are planned for summer 2025.

Learn more and complete the online consultation survey

If you would prefer to feedback on the consultation in person, you can do so at one of the pop up events available:

14 August - Bletchley Library 10am - 3pm

2 September - Duncombe Street Community House 6-8pm

11 September - Brunel Centre 12-3pm

15 September -West Bletchley Council Offices (Whaddon Way) 1-4pm

18 September - South-Central Institute of Technology 10am-2pm

MKCC aims to deliver safer and more accessible pedestrian crossings, new street furniture and planting, safer roads, enable space for shops to extend into the public spaces and increase business footfall through a healthier and more vibrant town centre. The aim is to improve access to Queensway and enhance the overall gateway into the town.

Following the conclusion of this consultation, MKCC will respond to all points raised and come back to the community with a ‘you said, we did’ report detailing how we have considered your feedback. They will then commence detailed design in preparation for an expected construction start in Summer 2025.

Town Deal Funding overview

For full updates on all projects linked to the Town Deal funding and regeneration of Bletchley, please see the MKCC website Groundbreaking Bletchley and Fenny.

In 2020 Milton Keynes City Council with the support of Bletchley & Fenny Stratford Town Council and West Bletchley Council secured £22.7m from the Town Deal government fund. This funding will go towards 9 key projects outlined below. See Milton Keynes City Council website for information on the funding bid.

Lots of work has already been going on behind the scenes to make improvements across our town and you can find out more here on the Groundbreaking Bletchley and Fenny website.

Your local Residents’ Association via COBRA will also be sharing updates on their Facebook pages and via email, so join in their activities to find out more.

The COBRA Chair is a Town Deal Board Member and COBRA will also be sharing key updates via email. If you would like to be kept updated on this important development in Bletchley, please sign up to our mailing list via our homepage.

Updates by Project Autumn 2023

Last updated 16.10.23

Whilst some projects are nearing completion, the remaining are still in the development phase as MKCC and the Town Deal Board work on the emerging schemes. Progress is being made, including technical survey work and consultation will take place on several schemes in 2024. Details on any events will be provided to local residents and we look forward to sharing more information about these projects with you in due course.

1. Innovation Hub: The innovation hub project will provide innovation focused commercial space for start-ups and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). The business case for this project was approved in 2023 and the programme team are now working to procure a suitable and ambitious operator for the hub. This procurement process will conclude in Summer 2023, when we can start moving towards creating technical designs for the scheme. These will be part of the wider scheme being developed on the former Police and Fire Station site, adjacent to the railway station.

2. Revolving Development Fund: This fund will help facilitate the acquisition and re-use of key strategic sites around the area that are key to delivering essential improvements in the area. Funding from this project has recently enabled the team to acquire the vacant Sainsbury’s site adjacent to the Brunel Centre. The fund will continue to identify development opportunities across the town.
   MKCC have produced a development brief which explores the opportunity to provide new housing, employment and retail opportunities - see the Bletchley Park Area Residents’ Association website for further information

3. Transport Hub: The Transport Hub will explore opportunities for upgrading Bletchley train station and providing enhanced connectivity to and from the town centre. This project has received match-funding from Network Rail, who are delivery partners in this scheme, and seeks to capitalise on Bletchley’s central position on the East-West Rail route. The programme team are exploring feasibility of proposals to help inform design options. The preferred design options are to be presented to the Town Deal Board soon, before public engagement gets underway.

4. Public Realm Improvements: This project will provide improved public realm along the main commercial streets, Queensway and Aylesbury Street. The programme team are currently creating a masterplan for these sites and testing options for what this project can deliver. The main part of this project will be delivered in 2025 as it is dependent on other schemes in the town deal programme concluding first, however, the team are exploring opportunities for smaller interventions to improve public realm in the interim. This includes removal of tree stumps and improvements to signage / wayfinding.

5. Redway: The Town Deal is contributing funding to deliver the Blue Lagoon Scheme Redways route. Detail designs of this route are now complete. The presence of protected species delayed the start date for construction, however, mitigation actions have been employed to relocate these species and construction is started in Summer 2023. This will provide new or improved Redway links between the Lakes Estate, Newton Leys and Blue Lagoon Nature Reserve to Bletchley Town centre, and is making great progress following mitigation to protect wildlife. The project is divided into 4 sections, with section 4 being delivered via the Towns Fund and sections 1 to 3 being delivered via several different funding streams. All sections are expected to be complete by Spring 2024.

6. Tech Park: Tech Park is part of the MK College South Central Institute of Technology and is about providing the delivery of hardware and equipment to support digital skills development for the town, helping to upskill residents and students. This equipment investment of hardware happened over the summer and will be ready to launch in Autumn 2023, welcoming schools, community groups, local business and residents.

7. Transformation at Bletchley Park: This project is complete and has helped in the regeneration and use of a significant wartime building (Block E), as well as renovating space at Bletchley Park to provide a new dedicated learning centre, with accessible classrooms and a high-spec learning facility. The new Fellowship Auditorium is already being put to good use and will be the venue for the Government’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) Safety Summit in November 2023.

8. Fibre Connectivity: This project will provide fibre connectivity to areas which have not been previously connected through commercial rollouts. The current scope of the project is dependent on what areas are to be covered under the UK Governments Project Gigabit, which seeks to extend connectivity across the UK. Once we know the results of this coverage, then we can begin to explore what premises we can cover under our proposal.

9. Active Marketing of Vacant Sites: We are proactively working with local businesses to promote Bletchley and support the development and growth of the local economy. If you know any businesses who might be interested in coming to Queensway in Bletchley town centre or Aylesbury Street in Fenny Stratford, please contact info@groundbreakingbletchleyandfenny.co.uk
   
   Several business engagement events have been held. Through engagement with local businesses, the programme team have identified upcoming priorities to improve the public realm in Bletchley & Fenny Stratford by removing old tree stumps, improve wayfinding to local toilets and explore opportunities to do a deep clean of the high-streets.