Newlands Park: Plans for land sold to fund Luton Town stadium on hold

A new 23,000-seat stadium is due to be built on the site of a former power station in the centre of Luton

A decision on plans to develop land near the M1 which was sold to help fund a football stadium has been deferred.

Plans for Newlands Park, near junction 10, were designed to fund Luton Town's new home and had been recommended for approval.

Updates were sent to Luton councillors hours before they were due to go before the council's development management committee.

The were unhappy with the lack of time to read them and decided on a deferral.

The Newlands Park site was purchased by the club in 2015 as an "investment strategy to deliver a new stadium", Luton Town's development company, 2020 Developments, said.

Outline planning permission for the mixed-use development at the 37-acre site was granted in 2019.

Last month, 2020 Developments agreed a deal to sell the 37-acre site, which it said would "go a considerable way towards securing funding" for its proposed 23,000-seat home at Power Court in the town.

An investment fund advised by Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing (MSREI) and developer Wrenbridge will now take over the land and in December, 2020 Developments said it had a "responsibility to help Wrenbridge see the current applications through".

The plans, which were revised in the light of market conditions following the pandemic, include office, retail and business space plus car and cycle parking and a park and ride facility.

Separate outline schemes for the north and south of the site were submitted and 38-pages of updates were sent to councillors on Wednesday, of which the majority related to Central Bedfordshire Council's initial opposition to the project.

The neighbouring authority had concerns that the latest proposal "isn't in accordance with the adopted (Luton) Local Plan", the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Planning team leader Clive Inwards told the committee that the objections had been resolved "late in the day" and so officers "thought we'd put it in front of members in full, as it was only received the day before".

"The objection is now effectively removed, so we feel comfortable we can proceed," he said.

But Labour Northwell councillor Anne Donelon said: "If there's any concern whatsoever among us that we can't properly scrutinise this, it should be deferred so there's a fair hearing of this matter."

A decision is now due to be made on 26 January.