Minute of Meeting between Luton Borough Council, Loyal Luton and Trust in Luton,
16 July 2007
Attendees:
Hazel Simmons (HS, Leader, Luton Borough Council), Robin Harris (RH, Luton Borough Council)
Stephen Browne (SB, TiL), Kevin Catlin (KC, Loyal Luton), Liam Day (LD, TiL), Kevin Rouse (KR, Loyal Luton)
Background and Introduction:
Trust in Luton and Loyal Luton jointly attended the above meeting with a view to ascertaining Luton Borough Council's view on the whole LTFC re-homing issue. Thanks to Loyal Luton for their contribution and thanks also go to Luton Borough for meeting with us and talking openly and honestly.
Feel free to get in touch with any of the Trust committee should you have any questions on this or any other LTFC-related issue.
Minutes
LD gave an overview of TiL including its history and and it's relationship with the football club and explained that he asked for this meeting as TiL and the wider fan base wanted to hear what the council had to say about the rehoming issue, particularly with regard to Labour's local election mainfesto pledge regarding a new home for LTFC.
RH and HS explained their recent work on the relocation issue and said that LBC have had a regular dialogue with the club and have offered them LBC assistance. However, they are in no position to force the club to do anything. Requests to LBC from the football club asking for assistance have not materialised thus far.
It was also made clear by RH and HS that the council have completed preliminary assessments of all possible sites in LBC, but they have not been able to find an option that is even close in terms of practicality / transport / cost / local benefit.
Discussions moved onto J12. HS stated Rosemound had a meeting with them showing the plans of the stadium. LBC said that they are not aware of any Plan B to the J12 proposal in the LBC boundary or outside it. KC made the point that companies such as Rosemound always go for several sites simultaneously and might only be successful in 1 or 2 applications. HS stated that she was receiving letters from people in Toddington, which she was forwarding on to the club.
LD stated that from the enquiries he's made within the Highways Agency, J12 is not beyond the realms of possibility. LD also raised the possibility of a 'split' development with the ground in Luton and the enabling structures elsewhere. RH said that that idea still has the problem of finding appropriate land for the stadium in the town.
LD raised J10. RH stated that he had been told the Highways Agency had problems with a ground going there due to the junction not being able to take the extra traffic with the on going expansion of Luton Airport. There are serious safety implications if traffic backs up from the local network onto the M1. No planning application has been received for the J10 site and they cannot make any comment, or give any guidance, until they have received this.
J11a has the problem of timing - the road/new junction is not expected to be ready until 2013/14. RH stated that an offer has come in from the private sector to fund a new stadium at J11a but questioned whether the club can afford to wait for J11a to be ready (assuming a planning application would be successful there).
LD alluded to the SKF site but RH said this was a commercial property and outside of the councils remit. Sundon Park was mentioned as was the Hayward Tyler site, but again it's not council owned.
KR mentioned the Brache/Vauxhall. The council explained that the old Vauxhall site was ear marked for social housing and also business use by General Motors. There was an action on TiL/LL to approach GM to ascertain whether there is any flexibility on this.
It was made clear that there is no council land available so it would be down to finding a willing seller of land - but LBC will help us to approach people if we find a site worth investigating. HS invited attendees to e-mail her ideas for sites so the council can further investigate.
On Kenilworth Road, Translink would cut into the ground around 2012. If Translink doesn't go ahead Government grants would not be forth coming and a time limit is in operation, which means decisions have to made very soon if that funding was going to be made available.
The council stated that don't have the sort of money to help build a new ground. RH and HS did say that they will work with all parties to secure alternative funding (sports council etc). LD said that councils up and down the country were helping out with new stadia for other clubs. An example given was Colchester United. Funding for their new ground has been secured through private enabling, council funding and through community trusts, etc. LD will forward the council the details of Colchester's stadium project, which were supplied to TiL by Supporters Direct.
It was agreed to hold further joint meetings by all who were present.
Liam Day, Chairman, Trust in Luton