PLANS to increase housing density in Milton Keynes, one of the government’s key growth areas in the South-east, have been hit by the Highways Agency’s decision to block a development in the town centre.

The agency has imposed an “article 14 notice” on a mixed-use retail and housing scheme by Abbeygate and J Sainsbury that was intended to be a key part of the masterplan to increase the density of housing in the town. An article 14 notice prohibits councils granting planning consent.

The agency has applied the notice on the grounds that the development will result in extra traffic, which would overload the nearby junction 14 on the A5.

Milton Keynes council leader Isobel Wilson said the imposition of the notice was especially frustrating because the authority had been in the middle of talks to solve the problem when it was issued.

Jane Hamilton, director of the Milton Keynes Partnership Committee, which has planning powers over Milton Keynes’ growth areas, said the agency could overcome these problems and had recently lifted a similar article 14 direction on the nearby Gazeley Properties’ Nova warehouse.

She said the committee was working closely with the agency to resolve outstanding article 14 issues.

The agency is also holding up work on a number of housing schemes across the growth areas including in Northamptonshire, Ashford and the Thames Gateway.