Flats changes to Vauxhall site

The redevelopment of part of the former Vauxhall car plant site in Luton is set for some retuning over changes to the original blueprint.

Apartments and a hotel are part of a mixed use scheme for the Kimpton Road site, with the detailed proposals approved just over a year ago.

The project includes retail, health and leisure facilities, and a casino, as well as the 209-bedroom hotel and 685 flats.

Outline planning permission was granted in 2015 on the seven-acre Napier Park site, which also included a small piece of land south of Kimpton Road.

The land has been cleared ahead of its redevelopment, with the plans featuring 424 one-bedroom and 261 two bedroom apartments.

But there are several minor changes applicant SSRE Investment 2 Limited wants to make to the scheme.

They include some switching of one-bed/two-person flats to one-bed/one-person flats, and the introduction of two-bed/three-person apartments.

Luton Borough Council’s development control committee is being asked to approve these requests next week.

The alterations will not change “the scale, mass and bulk of the development permitted”, says the report.

The amount of affordable accommodation is set to remain at ten per cent, while “the future of the war memorial is assured”. The memorial in Kimpton Road honours Vauxhall staff killed in the two world wars.

A further bid for 520 new homes is still to be considered.