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A SOCIAL HISTORY OF MILTON KEYNES CASS SERIES: BRITISH POLITICS AND SOCIETY Series Editor: Peter Catterall ISSN: 1467-1441 Social change impacts not just upon voting behaviour and party identity but also the formulation of policy. But how do social changes and political developments interact? Which shapes which? Reflecting a belief that social and political struc- tures cannot be understood either in isolation from each other or from the histor- ical processes which form them, this series will examine the forces that have shaped British society. Cross-disciplinary approaches will be encouraged. In the process, the series will aim to make a contribution to existing fields, such as pol- itics, sociology and media studies, as well as opening out new and hitherto- neglected fields. Peter Catterall (ed.), The Making of Channel 4 Brock Millman, Managing Domestic Dissent in First World War Britain Peter Catterall, Wolfram Kaiser and Ulrike Walton-Jordan (eds), Reforming the Constitution: Debates in Twenty-Century Britain Brock Millman, Pessimism and British War Policy, 1916-1918 Adrian Smith and Dilwyn Porter (eds), Amateurs and Professionals in Post-war British Sport Archie Hunter, A Life of Sir John Eldon Gorst: Disraeli's Awkward Disciple Harry Defries, Conservative Party Attitudes to Jews, 1900-1950 Virginia Berridge and Stuart Blume (eds), Poor Health: Social Inequality before and after the Black Report Stuart Ball and Ian Holliday (eds), Mass Conservatism: The Conservatives and the Public since the 1880s Rieko Karatani, Defining British Citizenship: Empire, Commonwealth and Modern Britain Des Freedman, Television Policies of the Labour Party, 1951-2001 Marvin Rintala, Creating the National Health Service: Aneurin Bevan and the Medical Lords Mark Clapson, A Social History of Milton Keynes: Middle England/Edge City A SOCIAL HISTORY OF MILTON KEYNES Middle England/Edge City MARK CLAPSON Foreword by JEFF ROOKER, MP FRANK CASS LONDON • PORTLAND, OR First published in 2004 in Great Britain by FRANK CASS PUBLISHERS Crown House, 47 Chase Side London N14 5BP and in the United States of America by FRANK CASS PUBLISHERS c/o ISBS, 920 NE 58th Avenue Portland, Oregon, 97213-3786 Transferred to Digital Printing 2005 Website: www.frankcass.com Copyright © 2004 M. Clapson British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Clapson, Mark A social history of Milton Keynes: Middle England/edge city. - (Cass series. British politics and society) 1. Sociology, Urban - England - Milton Keynes 2. City planning - England - Milton Keynes 3. Milton Keynes (England) - Social conditions I. Title 307.7'6'0942591 ISBN 0-7146-5524-4 (cloth) ISBN 0-7146-8417-1 (paper) ISSN 1467-1441 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Clapson, Mark. A social history of Milton Keynes: middle England/edge city / Mark Clapson. p. cm. - (Cass series - British politics and society, ISSN 1467-1441) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-7146-5524-4 (cloth) - ISBN 0-7146-8417-1 (paper) 1. Milton Keynes (England) - History. 2. Milton Keynes (England) - Social life and customs. 3. Milton Keynes (England) - Social conditions. I. Title. II. Series. DA670.M66C65 2003 942.5'91-dc22 2003060309 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher of this book. Typeset by Servis Filmsetting Ltd, Manchester Contents List of Illustrations vii List of Tables ix Foreword by Jeff Rooker, MP xi Series Editor's Preface xiii Acknowledgements xvii Chronology of Events xix List of Abbreviations xxi 1 Welcome to Milton Keynes 1 2 Where Did Milton Keynes Come From? 26 3 The Suburban City Takes Shape 49 4 North Bucks and the New City 68 5 Who Moved to Milton Keynes? 90 6 Settling In 103 7 The Unsettled: Social Problems in a Suburban City 123 8 Sociability and Social Action in the Space Station City 145 9 Conclusion 167 References 180 Index 197 Illustrations Between pages 106 and 107 1 Map showing location of Milton Keynes in United Kingdom 2 Map showing the regional context of Milton Keynes 3 Icon of the Minoan double-headed axe within the shape of Milton Keynes 4 Smiley chart of 'First reaction to living in Milton Keynes', on Milton Keynes Development Corporation estates 5 Map of Milton Keynes, showing location of the gridsquares 6 Netherfield housing by the year 2002 7 A road sign; another signifier of the country-in-the-city 8 Canal fishing, Campbell Park 9 Graffiti spoils the appearance of this Meeting Place 10 Changing directions in household composition in Milton Keynes will require considerable thought on the nature of current and future housing provision 11 New City Magazine, 1975, cover 12 Beanhill housing for rent, mid-1970s 13 Milton Keynes Village housing for sale, mid-1970s 14 Page of a Milton Keynes Marketing brochure for overseas investors, mid-1990s The author acknowledges the permission of English Partnerships to reproduce figures 1, 2, 3,4, 5,11,12,13,14. Tables 1 Concerns of people living in the designated area, 1968 75 2 Previous residence of households moving to Milton Keynes, 1968-83 91 3 Previous residence of households from sub-region and surrounding counties 91 4 Socio-economic profile of Milton Keynes households, 1968-88 95 5 Ethnic characteristics of Milton Keynes new city, 1991 98 6 Reasons for moving to Milton Keynes 104 7 Reasons for homelessness, 1990 and 1991 129 8 Unemployment among ethnic minorities in Milton Keynes, 1984 136 Foreword The building of new communities is a major challenge for any society, in which a wide range of values and interests need to find expression. Experience from history shows that it can take many forms, from our own industrial communities such as Bournville or Port Sunlight to the Japanese 'science cities'. The post-Second World War British new towns were a bold attempt to provide decent homes, jobs and facilities such as schools, hospitals, parks, shops and leisure centres for a growing population. They were sponsored by a Labour government, but found continued favour with later Conservative governments. They had new legislation to provide the necessary funding and powers to support their delivery. The New Towns Act is still on the statute books, and gave rise, in amended form, to the Act under which the Urban Development Corporations were formed in the 1980s. Government provided the framework, the initiative, and the pump-priming investment, but relied on individual people and private-sector firms to provide the personal and financial commit- ments that brought the towns to life. Milton Keynes was the last and the most ambitious new town. Designated in 1967, its planning and delivery learnt much from earlier models, and the experience of its development has much to inform us in our new efforts to promote sustainable communities. All of the new towns were delivered through the use of purpose-designed locally based Development Corporations. These were accountable to government, but by the time that Milton Keynes was designated there was a clear understanding that local accountability was also essential. This was achieved through various means; about half the Board members were from Local Authorities, and several more were from local business and voluntary organisations. There were also regular formal liaison meetings with the Local Authorities, who were consulted on all planning and development proposals. xii A Social History of Milton Keynes The result was a vibrant, socially mixed and economically suc- cessful new community, one that has seen the fasted growth rate in England over the past 35 years. The fact that Milton Keynes is now embarking with confidence on a new phase of growth, likely to double its population over the next 30 years, is clear evidence that successful integrated development can produce an appetite for change and a belief that growth, properly managed, can produce real benefits for local communities. Much of this experience is still relevant today Though the cir- cumstances have changed, and some of our aspirations are dif- ferent, the lessons are there to be learnt and used. I commend this book to all who seek to understand what can be achieved by consistent, focused and inspired direction, taken forward in partnership. JEFF ROOKER MP Minister of State for Regeneration and Regional Development September 2003 Series Editor's Preface I was in a café in the sprawling and fast-growing Missouri town of Columbia in 2000, when I noticed a group of men huddled around a map. As it turned out, they were inspecting a plan for a system of cycle routes they intended to put up to the local authorities. When I observed that their plan looked a lot like Milton Keynes, they responded that it was based on Milton Keynes. It might seem odd that Milton Keynes, so often vilified for inflicting a slice of North America on England's rural idyll, should in turn be imitated as a way of bringing some order to the largely unplanned chaos that characterises too many American towns. But then, of course, there is much about Milton Keynes that is not American. It does not have the seedy strip developments, the prof- ligate use of land, or the impossibility, all too often, of even cross- ing the road without recourse to an automobile. The size and scale of some of the initial architecture in Milton Keynes, particularly because of the deliberate eschewing of vernacular styles, may have suggested a North American aspect. The road system certainly did, and so Milton Keynes has been termed 'the Little Los Angeles in North Buckinghamshire'. The comparison can be stretched too far, however. Anyone who has driven along the leafy main roads in Milton Keynes, with the surrounding urban developments all carefully screened off, and thinks that this reminds them of Los Angeles has obviously never been to Los Angeles.

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