Luton Town: Football stadium plans pass final stage

A shopping and leisure facility which would fund Luton Town's new stadium can be built

A retail and leisure park that would fund a football ground can be built after a four-year planning battle.

Luton Town FC wants to build a 23,000-capacity stadium in the town centre, which would be financed by a shopping and leisure facility next to the M1.

Capital & Regional, which owns the Mall shopping centre, fought the plans amid fears of harming Luton's town centre, but its judicial review was rejected.

It did not appeal against the High Court's decision.

The football club said it was "delighted" the Mall's owner, which had also argued the decision-making process was "unlawful", had "given up on contesting the decision further".

Luton Town FC wants to move from its Kenilworth Road stadium to a new ground at Power Court

The Newlands Park development near junction 10 of the M1 will be a mixture of retail and leisure space

Capital & Regional had seven days to appeal but Luton Borough Council said the High Court had confirmed an appeal had not been made within the deadline.

A spokeswoman added: "We have always maintained absolute confidence in the decision-making process undertaken to reach this planning decision and are pleased to confirm the planning permission is free from legal challenge.

"We will now be taking action to pursue the legal costs incurred through defending our position."

Luton Town FC is currently based at Kenilworth Road

The football club acquired land for the Power Court stadium in 2015 and set up 2020 Developments to build Newlands Park - the shopping and leisure park which would fund the 23,000-capacity ground.

The retail development would include offices, a hotel, shops, leisure facilities and a park-and-ride scheme at junction 10 and fund the stadium, which would also include a live venue, homes and shops - replacing its old ground at Kenilworth Road.

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Capital & Regional said the Newlands Park development would have a "detrimental impact on Luton town centre" and it believed "other forms" of development "could be viable" at junction 10.

It was "fully supportive" of the redevelopment of Power Court, a spokesman said.

Luton Town FC said in a statement: "We are finally able to move forward in refreshing the four-year-old plans to enable us build a new stadium for the football club and play our part in helping to regenerate our town with two developments that will bring thousands of jobs and millions of pounds of investment."

Capital & Regional, which owns the Mall in Luton, said it was concerned the development could harm the town centre