Protestors armed with placards marched across Barnfield College playing fields to campaign against plans to build on the land.
About 200 people attended a public meeting of Bushmead Community Centre on Thursday before proceeding to the site where they marched with banners and placards.
They object to plans to build a new primary school, 88-bed care home, dependency unit, housing and floodlit sports pitches on the site, mainly on the grounds of increased traffic congestion and loss of green space.
Campaign committee member Sue Gold said: “It was a brilliant turnout for the meeting and protest – over 200 people which was great considering it’s summer holidays.
“We are just making sure everyone is submitting their objections. We are a community and we are coming together.”
The deadline for objections to the planning application is August 31, but Sue said there is a glitch on the council’s online system which means people are unable to register their objections properly.
She said: “The council are aware of the issue, it makes it even harder for us to object properly. It’s clear everyone is still quite fired up though given the attendance at the second meeting.”
Barnfield College said they are consulting with residents about the plans and take residents’ concerns very seriously.
However, residents who attended the meetings say they have never been approached by Barnfield for their views.
Sue said: “Putting a notice up telling us what they plan to do is not consulting.”
Alan Euinton, interim principal at Barnfield College, said: “Residents’ views are being listened to and taken into consideration and we plan to address these issues via the consultation process. This plan is intended to benefit our students and the local community as well as offer better quality sports facilities for all.”
David Hoffmann of Sherborne Avenue in Luton is objecting to the proposed development on the grounds of it not complying with the council’s street naming and numbering policy.
The policy states that buildings, including those on corner sites, are numbered according to the street on which the main entrance or letterbox is found and the manipulation of numbering in order to sescure a ‘prestige’ address or to avoid an undesired address will not be sanctioned.
Mr Hoffmann said: “Barnfield College, by giving its address as New Bedford Road, is clearly using this as a ‘prestige’ address and therefore it must provide its main entrance on that road. All its entrances in the proposed plans are on Barnfield Avenue.”
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