Concerns over housing growth

About 133,000 new homes are to be built in the region by 2016

A Bedfordshire MP has warned that plans to double the number of homes in Milton Keynes will affect jobs, traffic, and the environment.

Conservative MP Andrew Selous told the Commons there were grave concerns about government plans for a big increase in house building.

He said local people were worried the county would not be able to cope if the plan went ahead.

Mr Selous said: "There will not be the local jobs; there is no way we can provide local jobs for this number of people.

Road congestion

"That will mean commuting on already very crowded roads and crowded railways."

In anticipation, the government is committed to widening the M1 between the M25 and Milton Keynes, widening the A421 between Bedford and the M1 and a new Dunstable Northern bypass to tackle congestion.

But Mr Selous said he was also concerned about the environmental impact of thousands of homes.

He said: "This building will happen along wide stretches of the greenbelt, which has always been protected."

A government report published in September last year stressed the need for affordable housing in the region.

Development is to focus on six areas: Milton Keynes; Aylesbury; Bedford; and Luton and Dunstable, as well as Northampton-West Northamptonshire and the North Northamptonshire area (Corby, Kettering and Wellingborough).