Luton Councillors have voted to reject a planning application that would have seen an Aldi supermarket built on land next to Luton Town’s training ground that the club are keen to build an elite, domed, indoor facility.
The application had originally gone to the council’s development control committee with a planning officer’s recommendation for rejection, but councillors voted to approve it by one vote.
The application was then refereed to full council for a final decision, where all elected members were able to vote with the proposal getting rejected by 21 votes to five.
Luton Town Football Club’s chief executive Gary Sweet had written a strongly worded letter to the council outlining their opposition based on the proposal being against planning policy, with Venue 360’s former bowling green site designated for leisure use.
After the vote in Town Hall, Lutonians took to social media to congratulate councillors.
Earlier this year, the club had their Power Court development approved, which included a supermarket, so the Aldi application would have put another food store less than a mile away.
But the Hatters, who have already submitted a pre-application for their domed training pitch, are likely to press ahead with their plans to buy the site and transform it into a facility that will allow them to improve their already well-respected academy to elite level.
The facility would also be made available for community and school use.
