Luton awarded £19.5 m slice of Regional Growth Fund for infrastructure

The infrastructure funding means newspaper proprietor Richard Desmond can proceed with his plans for a media hub at Prime Point, a proposal that was rejected earlier this year due to inadequate infrastructure.

Desmond plans to establish the media hub in Luton by relocating all the staff from his West Ferry Printers company to a new building in the town. He plans to build a 120,000 square foot office building to house the staff- currently based at Docklands.

An application to relocate West Ferry Printers was rejected by the Highways Agency earlier this year because the current infrastructure in Luton was deemed inadequate for the increase in workers travelling to the site.

The biggest infrastructure concern to councillors is junction 10a of the M1. The improvements needed to support a major increase in traffic were valued at £26.5 million and prior to the RGF funding, only £3 million had been secured from private developers and the Council.

“In recent years the Highways Agency has issued holding directives on many development sites in Luton, instructing the council not to grant planning permission because of concerns over traffic levels at Junction 10a," said Councillor Davis, the Council’s portfolio holder for regeneration.

Luton Borough Council has published its preferred plan for the new infrastructure scheme, and a community consultation is currently in progress.  Following this, the Council has said it will apply for a Development Consent Order to gain the necessary planning consents.

It is hoped that the improvements to the M1 junction will help unlock further potential development that has stalled due to poor infrastructure. There are currently a number of potential developments in Luton that improved infrastructure could help facilitate, including two business developments next to Luton airport.