Press Release

UK’s first large-scale, hi-tech housing development announces BT technology partner

National regeneration agency English Partnerships, with lead developer Crest Nicholson/Hyde Group, today (30 June) announced BT as the preferred technology partner for Oakgrove Millennium Community in what will be the UK’s first, large-scale, ICT  enabled development.

Intelligent buildings and wireless technology will be integral to Oakgrove Millennium Community in Milton Keynes. The first homes at the development could be available as soon as 2007. Ambitious plans propose that residents, schools, and businesses, are connected to state-of-the-art technology, via a fibre optic infrastructure.

Stephen Hill, Head of the Millennium Communities Programme at English Partnerships, said, “High levels of interest from the house-building and technology sectors indicate a real passion for the possibilities that Oakgrove Millennium Community could open up for the UK housing market. English Partnerships is supporting exactly the type of groundbreaking research and development, with our private and public sector partners, that will transform our thinking about the development of sustainable communities of the future.”

Jeremy Stafford, managing director of BT government, said, “I am delighted that BT has been chosen by English Partnerships as its preferred technology partner and that we can help the residents of Oakgrove Millennium Community make best use out of the latest technologies. Its citizens will be able to enjoy all the convenience that modern technology can harness, and the community will act as an exemplar for further developments. We plan to work closely with residents to introduce enhancements to keep pace with an ever-changing market. Oakgrove will be a fun place to live with a strong identity enhanced through technology”.                             
English Partnerships and lead developer Crest Nicholson will work with BT and project partners at Milton Keynes Council and the South East of England Development Agency to raise the level of technology choice available to consumers and businesses. The 158-acre (64ha) community will pioneer new ways of building and planning to support up to 2,000 homes with a hi-tech, interactive, lifestyle.

Oakgrove Millennium Community is located on the eastern flank of Milton Keynes, one of seven developments in the national Millennium Communities Programme. This initiative aims to bring together new ways of planning, designing and constructing homes to enable a more sustainable way of living. The development is a joint venture with Crest Nicholson, which will be responsible for master planning, designing and constructing 50 per cent of the site. The remainder will be sold in parcels to a number of other developers, to help ensure a broad diversity of homes and an opportunity for companies to contribute to, and learn from, involvement in a Millennium Community initiative.

A new primary school for Oakgrove Millennium Community opened in 2004 and the first secondary school in England built to the BREEAM ‘Excellent’ Standard is currently under construction. 30 per cent of properties are earmarked as affordable housing and housing association Hyde are already on board. Work is expected to start on site in 2006.

Consultation on proposals for Oakgrove Millennium Community is undertaken with a steering group. It comprises representatives of the local community and local authority, as well as the other partners on the project. In future, a body of local people and partners will be created to undertake the longer-term management of the development and help foster a sense of inclusion and community.