Interview with Keith Mason (part 1)
Keith talks of his appointment as CMK Divisional Engineer in 1977, and his first impressions, noting the will to spend money to achieve quality. He talks specifically about the choice of granite and paving blocks; also issues relating to supply. He comments: ‘A lot of stuff that was pioneered, I suppose, in Milton Keynes has become sort of commonplace since’. Keith’s role was to get engineering aspects of CMK designed and built: the remaining boulevards and gates, drainage, services and lighting, as laid out in the plan, the main challenge being to meet the programme for opening the Shopping Building. He explains the contracting process and describes his engineering team and the relationship between engineers and the overall CMK team. He recalls discussions in the Thatcher era on how to continue with a housing programme: getting developers to build infrastructure; the invention of shared ownership housing.
Keith talks of the wider role of Corporation staff in community development: setting up organisations such as Round Table, involving residents in community activities, etc. After retirement, he became Chair of MK Forum. Asked about his greatest achievement in CMK, he says: ‘getting it built, I think’. He also considers the Railway Station a milestone: ‘…British Rail (as it was in those days) went along with it and hasn’t it worked well?’ Keith remembers the excitement of working on CMK, the huge budget, the achievements: ‘Oh, I think it’s the highlight … of my career’. He recalls the day of the opening of the Shopping Building and the amazing success of McDonalds. In his opinion CMK has stood the test of time but the infrastructure is not maintained as well as it should be. He comments that in his view ‘the relationship between CMK and Central Area Housing leaves a lot to be desired in terms of pedestrian movement’. He also questions the fact that Boulevards, rather than Gates, have become main traffic routes so pedestrians find it more difficult to cross. Keith gives his views about planned changes in Milton Keynes.
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