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36 Phonebox Magazine | August 2025My plans for the future of Milton KeynesFor most of its existence, Milton Keynes has been a fast-growing city, both economically and in terms of new homes and developments. I have always believed this is something we should be proud of, as it shows the success of our local area that families and businesses want to set up and grow here.But we must also be honest that a fast-growing city brings challenges to the local community, both through disruption and when that expansion does not come with the infrastructure needed to support it.We have seen this with unacceptable delays to road closures, such as the A509, which has caused disruption to local communities. But most clearly, we have seen it in our healthcare system, where GP surgeries have not been given the resources to cope, and Milton Keynes hospital now has far fewer beds than a city of our size deserves. Our local integrated care board, which commissions local health services, is now the most underfunded in the country.As a local MP there are two ways I could respond to this. Firstly, I could campaign against new housing developments and the growth of Milton Keynes. But, if I am honest, we have seen many of my predecessors try that again and again with no success. Or we can start by recognising that Milton Keynes will continue to grow. We are a city that is too well designed and in too desirable a location to stop that growth.So instead, I choose to start from the position that we cannot stop that growth, any more than I can stop the tides. Instead, it is more fruitful for me to spend my time focusing on what we can do to minimise disruption and to maximise the amount of infrastructure the city receives going forward, so it works for both existing and new communities.There are a few key principles that guide me through this. Firstly, new development should focus on brownfi eld land fi rst, such as unused spaces within Milton Keynes itself. Beyond that, development should mostly be urban extensions on the edges of Milton Keynes, rather than smaller developments on the edges of smaller towns and villages. While each place will always have some small sites that want to develop, we have seen dramatic extensions to Hanslope and Olney that have caused a lot of disruption while not providing as many new homes as extensions to Milton Keynes would.Secondly, we need to protect what is special about Milton Keynes. That means making sure we continue to build in beautiful blue and green spaces, we keep the grid road and redway system so the city remains quick and easy to get around, and we ensure we have good strategic planning so that everything is properly joined up.Thirdly, we need to protect local services, most importantly our hospitals and our schools. Along with the other Milton Keynes MPs, we have already managed to secure funding for a new hospital, with construction set to begin in the coming years. But we also need to make sure that new developments come with new GP surgeries and schools, so that an unfair burden is not placed on existing services.Finally, we need to think about what else will be needed for a larger city that was not needed for a smaller Milton Keynes. In my previous job I worked for a business that grew from small to medium-sized, Chris CurtisMP for Milton Keynes Northand it was always clear that the structures you built for the former did not always work for the latter. The same is true for a city. Most importantly, we are on track to become one of the largest places in the country without any form of higher education, such as a university. Our public transport system is also not up to scratch and is too reliant on old-fashioned buses.For me this is not just about setting out a vision, it is about working to make it happen. We have already seen some progress, for example with the new hospital fi nally signed off . But I want to go further, and I have been working with the government%u2019s New Towns Taskforce to develop a plan that would take Milton Keynes back to those original principles of good strategic planning. I want to make sure our city is once again developed with infrastructure before expansion, and that we are fi t for the future.We are expecting to hear back from them in the coming months, and I hope this will set out clear plans for how we can achieve this vision. But whatever happens, as someone who was born and grew up locally, I have always been frustrated that our city and surrounding areas have not always had the support they deserve. I will keep fi ghting to fi x that.If you would like to get in touch with me or attend one of my surgeries, please feel free to email me at chris.curtis.mp@parliament.ukAs always, you can follow my Facebook page (@ChrisCurtisLabour) for regular updates on what%u2019s happening in Westminster and across our constituency.