Gateway 2 holds-up put brakes on 300-homes development in Luton

Luton borough council has pinned the blame for delays to planning approval for a £136m town centre regeneration scheme on an “unresponsive” Building Safety Regulator (BSR).

During a finance review committee meeting last week, the council’s director of property and infrastructure Roger Kirk told councillors The Stage development, which includes three residential blocks, had failed to get its gateway 2 application approved.

Kirk told the committee: “The regulatory organisation has been unresponsive, despite lobbying at ministerial and senior civil servant level.”

building safety high rise

Hundreds of schemes have been held up by delays in getting safety sign-off

The planning application for The Stage was submitted in July last year and had a statutory determination deadline of last November.

The council said the BSR had requested three deadline extensions, with the latest being 11 July next month.

The BSR said the delays were due to “vital” building control processes introduced following the Grenfell Tower tragedy.

A spokesperson for the Health and Safety Executive, the umbrella organisation for BSR, told the BBC that the plans for The Stage “failed to demonstrate that the buildings, if constructed as designed, would meet legal requirements”.

>>See also: Building Safety Regulator considering taking ‘firmer approach’ to bad gateway 2 submissions

They said the plans around fire and emergency safety matters were not adequate or clear and there were a number of concerns over structural issues.

The regeneration plans consist of almost 300 homes, shops and a performance venue called The Stage. The contractor for the regeneration is Willmott Dixon, and the project is receiving £20m of government funding.

Kirk said the delay is costing the council £100,000 a month.

A spokesperson for the council said: “We take our responsibilities under the new building safety regime extremely seriously, particularly in relation to fire and structural safety. We are committed to working collaboratively with the BSR to ensure our application for the Stage development fully meets the required standards.”

The council said it had “consistently provided comprehensive information to support our application, responded promptly to any requests for clarification, and made adjustments where required” and that it “appreciates the pressures faced by the BSR”.

The BSR and Willmott Dixon have been contacted for comment.

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