Pupils have designs on top prize
A team of Year 9 and 10 students from Walton High in Milton Keynes has reached the national final of the 'Developing Sustainable Communities' competition.
The team now have to make a presentation to a panel of four judges at the Royal Institute of British Architects in London on 10 February.
To help them prepare for the competition, which required the students to design a new community of up to 20,000 people, the school called in expert advice from planners, surveyors and engineers at Milton Keynes Partnership (MKP).
Year 9 student Elizabeth Beale said: “We are all so excited to get the chance to go down to London for the finals. We have worked hard to achieve what we have done so far but we know we can do even better for the final. It will be a great opportunity and we can’t wait to present to the judges. Fingers crossed that we will win.”
MKP arranged for the students to visit Oxley Park, a sustainable community and one of the newer grid squares in the west of Milton Keynes. They were given a guided tour, showing them features such as Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems, as well as local services and facilities, open space and mixed housing. They also went to Taylor Wimpey’s development at Oxley Woods to learn about the eco-friendly features of the homes.
The MKP team gave a presentation at the school about how to masterplan a sustainable community and also participated in the students’ workshop sessions where five teams focused on transport, environmental impact, community and leisure facilities, planning and housing.
In December the Walton High students visited the MKP team to give them a preview of their ideas and the presentation and question and answer session were filmed so that they could be included as part of their competition entry.
Jennie Cook, planner with MKP’s development control team, said: “We were really impressed with some of the ideas the Walton High students had for their new community. They deserve to do very well in the final of the Designing Sustainable Communities competition and we wish them the best of luck.”
