---
title: Pioneering Local Development Order unlocks sustainable growth at Milton Park in Oxford
url: "https://www.systra.com/uk/project/pioneering-local-development-order-unlocks-sustainable-growth-at-milton-park-in-oxford/"
type: projects
date_published: 2026-06-23
date_modified: 2026-06-23
schema:
  @type: WebPage
language: en-GB
word_count: 1633
reading_time: 9 min
canonical: "https://www.systra.com/uk/project/pioneering-local-development-order-unlocks-sustainable-growth-at-milton-park-in-oxford/"
featured_image: "https://www.systra.com/uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2026/06/project_milton-park_hero-scaled-1.jpg"
type-market:
  - "Highways & Roads"
project-market:
  - "Highways & Roads"
project-location:
  - England
  - South East
---

# Pioneering Local Development Order unlocks sustainable growth at Milton Park in Oxford

![Illustrative design of buildings in the Milton Park Vision 2040 Masterplan](https://www.systra.com/uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2026/06/project_milton-park_hero-scaled-1.jpg)

### 󠀁**Building for future growth in harmony with local communities**󠁿

Milton Park near Oxford is a vibrant science, business and technology park, home
to 270 companies employing more than 9,000 people. Its unique single-ownership
model gives companies the flexibility to scale up and move easily to different
premises within the park as they grow and evolve. Owners MEPC wanted to expand
the park significantly in line with the 
_[Milton Park 2040 Vision](https://www.miltonpark.co.uk/2040-vision/) _document,
adding up to 390,000m^(2) of floor space and creating up to 10,000 more jobs.
The expanded park would include new amenities for employees and the local
community, while promoting sustainable transport.  

MEPC wanted to obtain an approved Local Development Order (LDO) for future
development at the park, which would grant permitted development rights at a
masterplan scale, without the need for plot-specific planning applications.
SYSTRA was appointed to provide transport planning consultancy and highways 
designs for the LDO application, using evidence from traditional transport
assessments.

The challenge was to provide compelling evidence to the Vale of White Horse
District Council (the local planning authority) and Oxfordshire County Council
(the local roads authority) that the expanded park could be delivered without
materially increasing traffic levels or requiring major alterations to already
constrained road networks. Plans were also required for upgrades to transport
infrastructure to encourage cycling, walking and sustainable travel,
particularly from adjacent residential developments.

The LDO enables this already successful employment zone to grow flexibly over
time into a pioneering research and innovation district, employing up to 20,000
people.

![Aerial masterplan of Milton Park 2040 vision](https://www.systra.com/uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2026/06/milton-park_01-1024x576.jpg)

### 󠀁**Flexible development strategy with transport monitoring and mitigation plaNS**󠁿

Local Development Orders (LDOs) are an unusual type of planning permission,
which require a bespoke approach to each application. The assessment methods are
not tightly defined, so our specialists worked closely with both the client and
Oxfordshire County Council (OCC) to achieve a balance between the need for
technical evidence and the inevitable unknowns associated with this type of
flexible proposal. The challenging project required expertise from our
Development Planning and Traffic Modelling teams, and benefited from the
detailed local knowledge we had gained from working previously with OCC. This
enabled us to apply pragmatic and persuasive planning arguments to support the
client’s aims.  

The solution we proposed included transport assessments underpinned by the
emerging ‘decide-and-provide’ approach to transport planning, which involves
first establishing a vision for the future and then designing the means to
achieve that vision, while acknowledging potential uncertainties. This enabled
us to present an optimistic case in favour of the _Milton Park 2040 Vision_,
while also setting out the potential mitigation measures required in the event
of a range of future scenarios. 

The evidence we presented to support the LDO demonstrated that the proposed site
extension could be delivered in a way that supported the expansion of active and
sustainable transport networks, without significantly increasing demand for
car-based travel. Using outputs from our transport assessment and modelling
exercises, we agreed a set of future transport mitigation measures and 
identified the trigger points for each of these interventions.  

To assure the council that flexible development at the site could be progressed
without the need for prior highways upgrades, we agreed an ongoing monitoring
and review programme to monitor traffic flows at key points within the site. If
traffic congestion was found to exceed agreed thresholds, it would trigger the
implementation of pre-agreed mitigation measures or upgrades. These mitigation
measures would be in addition to plans for new active travel links between the
site and new residential developments nearby.  

> **Philip Campbell, Commercial Director (Milton Park) MEPC**
> “Pioneering new ways of doing things is not without challenge, but I genuinely
> believe what we have collectively achieved is ground breaking.”

### 󠀁**Innovative decide-and-provide approach to future transport planning**󠁿

A Local Development Order gives the developer permitted rights to develop up to
an agreed threshold of floorspace, without the need to set out development plans
or phasing in advance. Consequently, many of the standard details that typically
inform transport assessments were not applicable to this project. The transport
assessment required an approach that balanced the applicant’s need for
flexibility with the local authority’s need to understand likely impacts and 
possible alternative outcomes. To fulfil these requirements, we combined 
innovative techniques with a collaborative, partnership approach. 

Through consultation with the client and the wider Milton Park team we gained an
understanding of the requirements and plans. We liaised with the OCC
transportation team and Highways England to agree the scope and parameters of
traffic modelling, and held regular meetings and workshops to ensure all parties
were engaged throughout the process.  

Both the client and OCC were keen to embrace the ‘decide-and-provide’ method to
deliver an innovative approach to trip generation and future scenario testing.
Fortunately, Milton Park had a best-in-class travel plan in place, based on data
from travel surveys, which provided a wealth of historic information on travel
patterns. This survey data was substantiated by VivaCity sensors throughout the
site, which automatically collect traffic data for all modes of transport. This
gave us a substantial evidence base from which to estimate future transport
demand associated with the proposed expansion. We derived three future-year
demand scenarios using this data, reflecting best-case, average-case and
worst-case assumptions on the use of sustainable transport.  

We used Paramics microsimulation software to model these future-year demand
scenarios, with the worst-case models used to identify appropriate mitigation 
measures and their associated trigger points. Using the decide-and-provide
approach allowed us to move away from setting trigger points based on
traditional metrics, such as built floorspace, and instead use observed traffic
flows and queue metrics to determine when mitigation was needed. The fact that
the site operates continuous transport surveys through its VivaCity sensors
enabled us to adopt this responsive approach.   A system is now in place to
evaluate the current state of the road network and compare this to defined
trigger points, with information relayed automatically to both the business park
and the local authority. The system ensures that all parties can monitor the
current traffic situation, reducing the risk of trigger points being breached
unknowingly and the necessary mitigations being delayed. 

![Timber buildings on he Milton Park site](https://www.systra.com/uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2026/06/milton-park_03-1024x576.jpg)

### 󠀁**Milton Park poised to boost employment opportunities and the local economy**󠁿

Following our extensive research and collaboration on the application, the Local
Development Order for Milton Park was approved and adopted. This enables MEPC to
embark on its planned substantial development of Milton Park in a way that
responds to market demand, without the need to gain individual plot-specific
planning applications.  

Our transport assessments, models and designs have given MEPC a greater
understanding of the relationship between development and transport needs, while
empowering it to support the uptake of active and sustainable transport as the
local workforce grows. MEPC and the local roads authority have also benefited
from the evolution of the VivaCity monitoring technique. The real-time data it
provides helps to balance the developer’s wish to avoid unnecessary transport
mitigation costs with the local authority’s need to ensure effective mitigation
is provided when and where necessary.  

The success of the project gives MEPC an opportunity to sustain and grow this
nationally important employment and research centre, creating local employment
opportunities and complementing future housing developments in the area. The
project serves as an example of how innovative thinking and emerging techniques
can be used to address complex planning problems for the benefit of businesses, 
communities and the wider environment.  

![Proposed areas of development for Milton Park.](https://www.systra.com/uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2026/06/milton-park_02-1024x576.jpg)

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