| National Bowl | |
| Former Names: | Milton Keynes Bowl (1979–1992) |
| Location: | Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England |
| Type: | Stadium Amphitheatre |
| Opened: | 1979 |
| Renovated: | 2012 |
| Owner: | Homes England |
| Operator: | Gaming International/Live Nation UK |
| Seating Capacity: | 65,000 |
The National Bowl (originally the Milton Keynes Bowl) is an entertainment venue located in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The site was a former clay pit (for brick-making), filled in and raised to form an amphitheatre using sub-soil excavated by the many new developments in the area. It has a maximum capacity of 65,000.[1] The arena is open-air grassland, without seats.
The venue opened in 1979, with gigs by Desmond Dekker and Geno Washington.
In 1992, Sony/Pace bought the venue and re-branded it as the National Bowl, building a massive permanent sound stage. They pulled out in 1996 citing profitability reasons.
English Partnerships, which merged with the Homes and Communities Agency in 2008, bought the site in 2000. From 2006 to 2010, it was leased to a Gaming International/Live Nation UK consortium.
On 23 January 2006, Gaming International/Live Nation won a further lease in a competitive tender. The consortium made proposals for major developments in a a development summary leaflet (previously linked from the 'Backstage' section of the National Bowl website, now removed).
Gaming International handed The Bowl back to Milton Keynes Partnership towards the end of 2010 – so it is unlikely that any of the plans outlined in 2006 will ever be undertaken – apart from a temporary structure built close to The Bowl in summer 2010 which has a temporary three-year planning permission.
In December 2011, Milton Keynes Council officially adopted proposals to make Milton Keynes an “International Sporting City” which included ambitious plans to redevelop the National Bowl into an international-standard sports training base suitable for hosting visiting international teams when they played at Stadium MK or elsewhere in the UK and also as a permanent home for MK Dons.[2]
Milton Keynes Council agreed to fund the training complex as part of a property deal with Inter MK, a property development company owned by MK Dons chairman Peter Winkelman, on land owned by the Council in Newport Pagnell that was earmarked for housing development and expected to increase substantially in value when planning permission was given. The funding plan involved sale of the site to Inter MK for £2 million, with half of any increase in the value of the site being used to fund the training ground development and the remainder being returned to the Council.[3] However, this plan was abandoned in early 2014 following some local residents beginning judicial review proceedings against the Council on the basis that the plan involved illegal state aid to Inter MK.[4] [5] [6]
Milton Keynes Council consulted on these plans in 2013 before ultimately deciding not to pursue the proposals the following year.[7] [8]
In February 2014, the BBC reported that an investment company had proposed a new development at the site of Milton Keynes Bowl. This was planned to include the UK's largest water park, and a range of sports facilities and enhancements to the arena.[9] In July 2015, the investment firm leading the proposal announced that it would not proceed with the plan.[10]
In June 2019, Milton Keynes Council replaced the previous objective in its Council Plan to "Revitalise MK Bowl" with an objective to "Support the MK Dons in delivering a high-standard training ground and academy".[11]
This allowed a deal to be agreed in September 2019 between Milton Keynes Council and Inter MK Limited for the National Bowl to be converted into a sports training ground facility partly funded by the Section 106 contributions from enabling commercial and leisure development at the site.[12]
This returned to the 2013 proposals which Milton Keynes Council had decided not to pursue. It followed the sale by Inter MK of land in Newport Pagnell to Milton Keynes Council for £11 million in July 2018.[13] [14]
Inter MK is expected to lodge its planning application with Milton Keynes Council by the end of 2020.[15]
In February 2023, Inter MK said that it had been granted planning permission for two full-sized football pitches and training grids on the site,[16] "with plans to still hold concerts at the site in future".[17]
The Bowl is in south central Milton Keynes, at the junction of Watling Street with Chaffron Way, just north of Bletchley. Parking on site (MK5 8AA) is very limited so fans are encouraged to arrive by public transport. In addition to the shuttle buses from Milton Keynes Central railway station, it is also an easy walk (about 2km (01miles)) from the station using Sustrans National Cycle Route 51 from the south side of the station building.