Hatters supporters' groups attack Capital & Regional over '˜laughable, misleading and threatening' statement

Luton Town FC's two main supporters' groups have issued a fierce attack on Capital & Regional in response to the Mall owner's latest statement about the planning timetable for the proposed Power Court and Newlands Park developments.
An overview of the plans for Newlands Park , which Capital & Regional object to.An overview of the plans for Newlands Park , which Capital & Regional object to.
An overview of the plans for Newlands Park , which Capital & Regional object to.

In their statement issued this lunchtime, C&R said they too had been “very concerned” by the length of time it had taken Luton Council to set a timetable for a decision on the plans which were first submitted in August 2016. On Monday, the council announced a “realistic” date for the applications to be determined was week commencing August 20.

C&R added that “many businesses and their employees in Luton town centre under threat from the proposed very large out of town retail and leisure development at Newlands, have been desperate for a decision for many months”, and mentioned the possibility of “many months” of delays if the schemes were called in by the Secretary of State. Full story here...This afternoon, in response, Luton Town Supporters’ Trust and Loyal Luton Supporters’ Club issued a joint statement.

Tony Murray, Chairman of Luton Town Supporters’ Trust, said: “The C&R statement is laughable and misleading. C&R also continues to threaten further delays to a project which will effectively save our town.

“C&R do not care about the people of Luton, the town, or jobs in the town. They are treating Luton with contempt. C&R is only interested in preserving the dominant position of The Mall shopping centre, which has been a cash cow for them, and preventing new developments which will revitalise the town.

“The only people to blame for the long delay in getting a planning decision on the new developments are C&R who have threatened to kick the projects into the long grass and have fought the plans from day one.

“C&R is now threatening to further delay the desperately needed projects which will create 10,000 new jobs, provide a new soccer stadium on land which is currently derelict and contaminated and free-up the existing stadium site for much needed housing.”

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