LTST & LLSC have issued a joint statement about the C & R and Luton News controversy.
On Facebook, twitter and the supporters' clubs' website.
STATEMENT FROM LUTON TOWN FC SUPPORTERS' GROUPS:
CAPITAL & REGIONAL AND THE LUTON NEWS
As the voice of many Luton Town fans – and Lutonians - Luton Town Supporters' Trust and Loyal Luton Supporters Club have reached the point where we cannot believe a word said by Mall owners Capital & Regional (C&R)...and we are astonished and angered by the stance being taken by the Luton News, too, after the ludicrous events of the last week.
First of all, C&R put forward a "back of a fag packet" vision for the future of Luton town centre, which would be laughable if it was not such a vital issue for the community and the next generations.
It has taken C&R ten years to come up with this so-called ‘vision’ for the town. Or maybe it was ten minutes? The ‘plans’ are so badly drafted and ill-considered that streets are incorrectly named, land developed which C&R does not own - and a tower block has appeared from nowhere, presumably replacing yet another demolished town centre car park; could this be "yuppie" flats like the ones C&R wants to build over the town square in Walthamstow against the wishes of the local community? It is also not clear whether C&R wish to destroy listed buildings as they suggested some years ago. You might almost think the designer had never been to the town, let alone lived here – yet they are claiming it as a vision for our future.
C&R has yet to discuss these so called plans with the Council and there is no planning application. There is also no sign of the urban park on the Power Court site in Luton promised by C&R just a year ago. The good news is that C&R's child-like ‘planning project’ does include glimpses of a football stadium in the distance. But as C&R knows this will be funded by the Newlands Park development.
It is no coincidence that this lazy, laughable vision for Luton emerged just hours before the final deadline for comments on 2020's plans to regenerate the town through the Power Court and Newlands Park developments. It is, after all, their stated policy to try and ‘kick the plans into the long grass’ for as long as they can, and this is yet another of their delaying tactics.
C&R has enjoyed its dominance in the town centre, with a lack of any competition for The Mall and the profits it has milked from its cash cow – without any significant investment - for many years. During this period C&R has done nothing to develop the empty and derelict site at Power Court, or the ugly parcels of land around The Mall.
The Mall owners also close off (and more or less kill off) the entire centre of the town every evening by locking the doors for the night. C&R's only agenda now is to protect its dominant position in Luton; a position it has abused, leading to dire stagnation which can only be reversed by the exciting regeneration proposed by 2020 Developments (Power Court and Newlands Park).
Secondly this week, our local newspaper, The Luton News, chose to ignore the fact that C&R, a London and Johannesburg property business, which paid no corporation tax last year, is doing everything it can to block plans for a massive regeneration of a town which regularly tops the UK's "crap towns" list. Instead it took a cheap shot at "football supporters" who it labelled "a vocal minority" challenging the newspaper's failure to investigate what is really happening.
The Luton News ignores the fact that 11,000 people supported plans for a new stadium in the town at Power Court, funded by a development at Newlands Park. This compares to the 400 or so comments on Tottenham Hotspur's new stadium development in London, now nearly completed.
Our two local MPs, most of our councillors, all parts of the local community, including Discover Islam and other faith groups, local businesses and organisations like BID, the Chamber of Commerce and the Bury Park Business Forum, sports clubs, celebrities, and Luton organisations across the board all support the plans.
• Has the newspaper actually read the comments on the #saveourtown social media pages?
• Does it realise what an incredible positive force the football club is in the town and outside the town?
• Is it not interested in 10,000+ new jobs and an injection of £250million a year into the local economy?
• On what basis does the Luton News believe that it is just "a vocal minority of football supporters" who are challenging what appears in the newspaper when there is overwhelming community opposition to C&R and support for PC and NP?
Instead of asking why this is happening and what tactics are being employed by C&R to delay the plans, the current Editor of our local newspaper refuses to investigate claims of ‘dirty tricks’ by C&Rs PR company, who are connected to malpractices exposed by both the London Evening Standard and Channel 4’s Dispatches programme....malpractices which are focussed on planning applications. Most people would, it is fair to say, see an important story in that!
Does the Editor - not a Lutonian by the way but happy to challenge the right of Luton born and bred people to voice their support for the 2020 plans, just because they no longer live in the town they love - have any idea what C&R's real agenda is? Does the newspaper know who it is really dealing with? Does it care?
This is a disgrace for a newspaper with such a great history and which lives on its status as providing "trusted news since 1891." It also makes nonsense of the claim by Johnston Press, owners of the newspaper, that its newspapers promise “to campaign on behalf of the communities we serve and be their voice.”
This is our town. Not yours C&R. And Luton News, it is time for you to stand up for the Luton you supposedly represent, and its communities, and support the regeneration we need and all want. This isn’t just about football, this is about the whole town.
Tony Murray, Chair Luton Town Supporters' Trust
Mark Bradbury, Chair Loyal Luton Supporters Club