Luton Council accept Hatters' minor amendments for Power Court

Luton Town's initial amendments to their plans for a new stadium at Power Court have been accepted by Luton Borough Council.

In December, documents appeared on the Council’s website for the stadium development, with the two changes regarding Blocks E and F of the design, moving them closer to the stadium and increasing the height of the buildings from four metres to five.

When publishing their reasons for agreeing to the alterations, the case officer's report stated: "The proposal is considered to be a non-material amendment to the original planning permission and is agreed by the Council of the Borough of Luton.

"All subsequent reserved matters applications submitted for the development hereby approved shall include details of a design code for the specific phase of development to which the reserved matters application relates.

"The plan shall identify all details to maximise the quality and legibility of the spaces, to help reinforce local character and accessibility, the details should ensure that these areas would be high quality and suitable for both match and non-match day use.

"In this regard the concourse areas and footpaths should be of high quality, with durable landscaping that has a good amount of detail and infrastructure.

"The construction of the proposed development shall then be carried out in accordance with the details set out within the approved Design Code."

Meanwhile, in the planning assessment section of the document, going into more detail on the changes, the officer's report added: "Blocks E and F are located in the west of the site and north-west of the stadium, block F is the taller of the two.

"As part of this application it is proposed to move the blocks south eastwards to be located closer to the proposed stadium.

"In terms of the amendment to the heights of the blocks, the height of the blocks remain below the maximum parameters permitted through the outline permission and there is only a

difference of 1 metre between the overall heights of the two blocks in the extant consent and the current proposals.

"The proposed amendments when considered in context of the wider scheme are considered non-material.

"Indeed, the blocks must be considered in the context of the stadium which has been approved immediately to the east of blocks E and F.

"The amendment to the siting and minor increase in height will not have a significant impact on the character of the area over and above what has been previously granted planning permission.

"Furthermore, the amended scheme will not differ materially from that as assessed through the Environmental Statement.

"There are therefore no objections raised to the proposed non-material amendments."

Also last month, 2020 Developments, the property arm of Luton Town FC, confirmed the club were looking to play their first match at the new 17,500 stadium, that they were awarded planning permission for two years ago, in 2024.