The legal document has been signed which will trigger a crucial six-week period in the future of Luton Town’s Power Court and Newlands Park schemes.
Hatters chief executive Gary Sweet said in an interview with BBC Look East last night, that the clocks start ticking in “a day or two” after the club and Luton Council signed off the section 106 agreement.
This confirms the planning obligations for the schemes that include a new 17,500-seat football stadium and 1,800-capacity music venue at Power Court and office space, leisure, entertainment and high-end retail at Newlands Park, by junction 10 of the M1.
The six-week period now allows for objectors to seek a judicial review, despite the schemes getting planning permission from the council earlier this year, and the Secretary of State giving his approval.
Sweet said on TV: “Once that six weeks are up, we’re through and we start to do some serious detail planning. Once we’ve found some investment in those other areas of retail and commercial, we can start building.”
Also, in his match-day programme notes for last night’s 4-0 Carabao Cup defeat to Leicester, the Hatters chief wrote: ’I have the pleasure in announcing that both Luton Council and we have now agreed and signed the Section 106 contracts for both Power Court and Newlands Park. This now means that our two planning applications, that are essential in facilitating our stadium relocation, will now be issued with a formal decision notice.
‘We thank you for your patience in getting us to this stage; patience which will still be required as we ride any challenges that may come our way over the next six weeks and as we then move on to updating and refreshing our schemes since they were conceived for years ago.
‘Once the ink dries on our decision notice I will communicate further details of what our next step are and what we can look to expect going forward.’
The Hatters have also announced that the club are moving their club store out of The Mall shopping centre to an expanded vacant new site on Park Street, which Sweet wrote is, ‘in a bid to boost Luton’s town centre offering’.
The shop will have an official opening event tomorrow evening with trading to start on Saturday morning.
