09/05/2024 - Carpark to close to facilitate major town centre re-development at Bute Street

The car park will close at the end of May with the last day of operation to the general public being 21 May. It will temporarily be used for designated and pre-bookable parking for Radio 1’s Big Weekend festival goers on 24 to 26 May. Large signs will be erected at the car park from early May informing people of the date of closure and nearest council parking alternatives Crawley Rd, Vicarage St and Hitchin Rd.

 

The plans for the Stage project on the site is to transform the Bute Street Shoppers’ car park into an area with homes, community space, retail, and a new public realm, providing an enhanced gateway into the town centre.

Councillor James Taylor, portfolio holder for Regeneration and Inclusive Growth at Luton Council, said: “We are at a really exciting stage of the regeneration of the town centre. Developing this important gateway will help create a positive impression and be more welcoming for visitors, workers and families with an improved environment, landscape and air quality.

“We know the car park is popular for people using the town centre, but plans have been to develop this space rather than it be used for parking and our recently developed draft car parking strategy shows we have already enough available spaces in the town centre. We hope people will appreciate how much more appealing this area will look once it has been re-developed. Just as people now appreciate Hat Gardens after we transformed the old car park and opened up the River Lea further down on Bute St.

“It’s these improvements which will help turn our town centre into a vibrant one which residents can be truly proud of. This is a crucial element of the Town Centre Masterplan, that has long been earmarked for development, to help us achieve our aims to reduce income inequality and eradicate poverty as part of our 2040 vision for the town”.