Sweet confirms rethink needed for Power Court but insists new Hatters stadium won't be delayed

Luton chief executive Gary Sweet has revealed that despite the ongoing coronavaris pandemic leading to a rethink in the club's plans to build a new stadium at Power Court, it should still go ahead on time.

2020 Developments, the Hatters' property arm, were awarded planning permission by Luton Borough Council for the 17,500 all-seater ground in January 2019, along with a mixed use scheme at Newlands Park just two months later.

However, the emergence of Covid-19 has forced the club into a major rethink about their original plans, with match-day revenue decimated since February and no sign of supporters allowed back to watch games, in any great numbers, soon after Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced yesterday a review of his plans to reopen stadiums in October.

With their income taking such a massive hit, speaking to the Luton Town Supporters Trust’s virtual presentation evening last night via video link, Sweet confirmed it will lead to alterations needed for their original plans at Power Court, but that the stadium will definitely still happen.

He said: It’s a real case of no news is good news.

“Just because we’re not talking about it every day, doesn’t mean to say that nothing’s going on.

"In fact, actually, it’s one of the most active areas of the business and my role at the moment is actually getting that going.

“Clearly, the Coronavirus situation has led to a situation where we need to rethink.

"Human behaviour’s different today than it was six months ago and that’s changed the markets.

“It’s not our will to change anything but the markets have changed. Demand for certain aspects that we’ve got planning for is just not there anymore.

“We have been rethinking how we can reshape that.

"There is a plan in place now, we’ve got meetings going on with the council where we are restructuring some of that, things that will become public in the not too distant future.

“But (they’re) things that, ultimately, that would mean we won’t see an eventual delay in terms of when we move into Power Court, it’s still going to happen.

“We may need to curtail some of the more desirable aspects of the stadium, just to squeeze that cost a little bit, moving forward but, ultimately, the supporters will still get what they’ve seen in the plans for the stadium, thereabouts.

“We’re quite excited with what we’re putting forward, with the view that, actually, we’re going to be putting something in place that is actually very deliverable.

“Without talking about timings, because we’re not quite there with everybody else yet, but we are pushing forward.”

Ahead of another season in the Championship, secured thanks to a wonderful run of form which saw Town fight back from a six point deficit to secure their second tier status after the campaign resumed following lockdown, Sweet knows that a new ground is vital if they are to become a force at this level.

He added: "We need it. If we’re going to become, not just an established Championship team, without that, it’s going to be increasingly difficult, in some ways, year on year.

"So, we certainly need that plan in place and we certainly need to be moving to a bigger stadium.

“It sounds bizarre when we actually can’t put 10,000 people in Kenilworth Road at the moment.

"But, certainly, by the time that we build Power Court, we’ll be able to fit however many we build for.”