Caldecotte Lake
March 18, 2007
Caldecotte Lake was built in 1982 as a balancing lake and is the second largest lake in MK. The lake forms part of Milton Keynes urban drainage system by controlling flooding through storing the flood water from the River Ouzel as it enters MK.
The lake has an urban location with housing built on the southern end and therefore receives sewer discharge from the adjacent areas of Walnut Tree and Tilbrook. The lake has been enclosed by road and rail connections by the A5D, the Bedford to Bletchley railway line, Brickhill Street, and Simpson Road. There is also a four lane road, the H10 Bletcham Way (A4146), which crosses the lake on a bridge, dividing the northern and southern lakes.
Due to its location the lake has various uses. It has a hotel, restaurant and children’s play area, a sailing club, provides opportunities for people to walk, cycle and fish, and it also aims to attract the local wildlife, particularly water fowl. However, these cannot all mix together so there have been restrictions of boats to some areas of the lake to encourage the wildlife.
There have been plans to construct 109 new homes, a seven-unit hotel and nursery which began in October 2006 and is due to finish in September 2008 but this is a scaled down version of what was previously proposed. Local residents protested about the plans so the development has had to decrease. These protests were not based on the damage it would do to the wildlife but instead the loss of green space and the fact that people living by the lake do not want to be over looked by more housing.
