Hatters CEO assures Town fans that Luton won't give up on their dream of moving to Power Court

Luton CEO Gary Sweet has confirmed there is absolutely no way the club are going to give up on their dream of building a new stadium at Power Court.

It was way back in January 2019 that the Hatters received planning permission for a new 17,500 ground, and then eight months later, were granted outline planning permission for a gateway project at Newlands Park, which was due to fund the build.

They sold the 37-acre site at Junction 10 of the M1 to an investment fund advised by Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing (MSREI) and the UK developer Wrenbridge in December 2021, but have seen Brexit and then more significantly the coronavirus pandemic, plus a cost of living crisis, significantly hit their attempts to move home.

Back in October 2021, 2020 Developments, the property arm of the club, saw revised proposals, without the ground, unanimously approved by the Luton Borough Council development management committee and Sweet had hoped to unveil a detailed planning application last year.

Although that has not been possible, rather than shelving the proposals and staying at Kenilworth Road, as other clubs might have done, writing in his programme notes on Saturday, a defiant Sweet said: “I can’t deny that this is the most challenging project on our plate right now and has increased in its difficulty and complexity due to recent changes to the political and economic landscape.

“As I have mentioned previously, most - if not all others - would have given up, as many others such clubs have.

“But rest assured, we won’t! We are absolutely progressing.”

Going into more detail on when fans might get to see the plans in public for the first time, Sweet continued: “I understand many will see our detailed planning application as the key milestone to kick things on, but frankly whilst it is important and necessary, the timing of it isn’t crucial.

“In order for the stadium to be built we need the remaining buildings demolished, the subs-station moved, the river opened up and the residential scheme progressed to a great degree of certainty.

“As a precursor to that, we have now fixed firm plans for the remaining demolition works and then, the most time-dictating element of these matters has started, with the UKPN (UK Power Networks) project now underway with known deadlines for completion.

"Until this has been known, we have been unable to properly proceed with detailed planning.

“As these deadlines determine the ultimate timing of everything, and we’re now working to fit a programme around those schedules and any perceived delay in submitting a detailed planning application doesn’t impact the final delivery of the stadium, as matters stand.

“Asking for patience is indeed completely boring, for which I may apologise, but I can only reiterate that we remain committed to getting the stadium built as quickly as possible without taking massive, unnecessary risks on the club’s stability that we have been fighting for so long to successfully avoid.”