Luton Borough Council has approved plans for a new football stadium and 40-acre town centre regeneration.
The planning application comprises a new stadium for Luton Town Football Club at Power Court, office space, retail, leisure, restaurants and bars, and a 300-bedroom hotel in the Bedfordshire town.
The redevelopment will be split over two sites.
A new town centre at the 40-acre Newlands Park site will see around 500,000 sq ft of office space, the hotel, a department store and additional commercial space.
The former industrial site at Power Court will see the stadium with capacity for 17.500 people, around 500 flats across five blocks, 50,000 sq ft of bars and restaurants, a cinema and a live entertainment venue.
The resolution to approve the plans comes more than a decade after Luton Town FC took the reins.
Luton Town FC’s 2020 Developments bought the land at Power Court and Newlands Park for £30m in 2015. Plans were submitted two-and-a-half years ago.
Gary Sweet, chief executive of Luton Town FC and 2020 Developments, told BBC Look East in a town hall interview: “It is probably the biggest moment in the history of Luton Town FC.
“My job is to keep my feet on the ground now and wait for the secretary of state to give his approval and ensure there is no challenge thereafter. We’ve still got three or four months to go, and then I’ll probably open my bottle of champagne. But I’ll insist that everyone else does so now.”
The plans will now go to the secretary of state for the final rubber-stamping, in which the scheme could be called in or revert to judicial review.
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