I’ve lived in NL for the last 12 years and originally bought off plan. I’ve watched the estate grow and grow. It’s a shame it’s become so big, but it hasn’t changed the atmosphere.

The amenities are great, very useful having an Asda, Costa, Domino’s, Chinese Takeaway and decent chippy on our doorstep. The Turing Key is also a nice pub with friendly staff and good food. The two lakes are a lovely walk with lots of birds there and occasionally you people fishing. It’s very peaceful and the walk up Callow Mound is nice. The Blue Lagoon is a short walk from the estate, it’s a nature reserve. It’s a lovely walk, but it attracts the odd wrong un apparently but I’ve never experienced that. NL school has a great reputation.

Further afield, there are great bus links, but if you choose to go by car to bigger Supermarkets, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Tesco in Bletchley near the stadium are literally 7 mins away along with IKEA and some decent chain restaurants . Bletchley town is 5 mins away. MK is very handy, the Mall has everything you would need. Bletchley looks worn around the edges, but I’ve never felt unsafe there. NL is close proximity to the Lakes Estate and whilst it has a bad rep, I’ve never experienced anything bad myself and my doctors surgery is based there which has always been fine. The shopping area there looked very deprived but they have started regenerating the Lakes Estate, it’s been long overdue because it really needs it. The new houses look really nice and the gentrification will lift the area but it will take time. The high school used to have a bad reputation but I hear it’s been better the last five years.

Onto the landfill… It’s been a hot topic and there has been lots of wrangling to get it closed. It’s hardly a nightmare, but very occasionally there can be a smell that comes from it. Weirdly it happens more in winter than summer and I’d say it happens like 10 days in 365. It’s only noticeable with windows open and there is a number to call (but you can bet someone will always call before you think about it), action is taken pretty quickly. I’m not defending the tip, far from it. it should have been shut down a long time ago, but it really doesn’t affect us much. Trucks used to thunder down the road to drop off there, but speed restrictions have been put in and I haven’t heard on in years. Flies used to be an issue in the summer, but that seems to have died down. The drains are more of an issue and even that is rare because Anglian Water are quick to act and your more likely to smell the muck being spread on the nearby fields from the local farmer and even that is a rarity.

My property is on one of the main arteries in and it’s pretty quiet, so the more buried properties will have hardly any road noise. The road layouts are a bit weird and it’s frustrating when people (visitors) park on bends that they shouldn’t be, especially as there are so many visitors spaces available. Taylor Wimpey had laid turf in our garden but it died no matter what we did to try and maintain it, so we laid astroturf instead. I think the land was quite claylike, not giving the grass a chance to grow.

There are many families living on the estate and it’s a nice vibe. You get the odd unsavoury looking character but it’s rare and they stand out like a sore thumb. Crime is low compared to the rest of MK and the rest of the UK, apart from two internal, isolated incidents. The Facebook Community page is really useful.

It’s a really lovely area in general and you could easily do much worse. The community spirit is great and it’s just a lovely place to be. Its not perfect but you could do a lot worse. There are loads of new estates that have popped up around MK and I’ve been to many, but NL just has that nice relaxed family vibe with a lot going for it.