Labour leader Keir Starmer is facing fierce backlash over his housing targets, with critics warning his plans are doomed to fail. Conservative councillor Peter Geary has issued a stark warning, citing a large-scale, delayed housing project in Milton Keynes as an example of what could happen nationwide under Labour’s leadership.
“If this is an example of how Keir Starmer will deliver 1.5 million homes across the country, he will fail,” Geary stated. “This project is years behind schedule, has delivered no homes, has caused immense disruption to local people, and is a catalogue of broken promises of roads, bridges, and infrastructure promised, but never being delivered.”
The Milton Keynes development, named Keeper Place, is part of Labour’s ambitious plan to build 3,500 new homes along with infrastructure, schools, and community facilities. However, Geary claims the project has been plagued with problems, including 500 days of road closures and new schools sitting empty, told Daily Express.
Labour-run Milton Keynes Council reportedly secured a £96 million grant from Homes England in 2020 to build an access bridge for the development. But Geary now claims inflation has driven the cost up by an additional £30 million, causing further delays.
“The only things that have been built are warehouses, an empty school, and an empty doctor’s surgery. They’ve spent thousands boarding up these empty buildings. Meanwhile, there’s a shortage of school spaces, GP patient lists are full, and they’re turning people away. Zero houses have been built,” Geary said.
In an embarrassing turn of events, Starmer planned to visit Milton Keynes to showcase the project as an example of his vision for building 100 new towns across the UK. Instead, he was met with a furious protest by farmers, who lined up 40 tractors in defiance of Labour’s housing plans, forcing him to leave.
Geary went on to criticize the waste of taxpayer money, claiming, “A few million quid of taxpayers’ money [has] gone down the drain just on bridges built for construction purposes to avoid road closures, before deciding to knock them down again and close the road.”
Local residents have also voiced their outrage. “They are absolutely appalled that suddenly their rural village is now going to become a part of an urban development. They’re going to become urbanized,” Geary said.
“We aren’t just upset with the fact that houses are being built, but the fact that the things that were promised when this was going through planning aren’t coming to fruition.”
Public consultations for the Keeper Place project are set to take place in Milton Keynes and Central Bedfordshire in late February and early March, giving locals a chance to voice their concerns. However, with Starmer’s housing plans already under heavy scrutiny, Labour may struggle to regain public confidence.
