When the Secretary of State for Transport approved Luton Rising’s Development Consent Order in April 2025, it marked more than a planning milestone, writes Paul Kehoe, Luton Rising’s chairman. It challenged the assumption that major infrastructure must be privately owned to succeed.
Luton Rising became the first fully council-owned company in UK history to secure a DCO. The real significance lies in what this demonstrates: public ownership can deliver national-scale infrastructure with social purpose at its core.
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A different kind of growth story
Most UK airports followed a familiar trajectory after the 1986 Airports Act: sell to private operators, maximise returns for shareholders, manage community concerns as externalities. Luton took a different path. The council created a wholly owned company that could operate commercially whilst remaining accountable to the community. London Luton Airport would be run by an operator under concession, but ownership – and strategic decisions – would remain in public hands.
Since 1998, more than £500 million has flowed back into Luton’s frontline services and community organisations. That’s 20 times more per passenger than any other UK airport. When your sole shareholder is a local authority representing one of the most economically challenged towns in Britain, profit and purpose become inseparable.
Now, with a £2.5 billion expansion programme ahead, that model is scaling up dramatically.
Growth with guardrails
The DCO approval authorises phased expansion to 32 million passengers per year by the mid-2040s: a second terminal, additional aircraft stands, improved surface access. But what makes this genuinely distinctive is what comes with it.
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By GlobalDataLuton Rising has committed to Green Controlled Growth – legally binding environmental process that limits noise, carbon emissions, air quality and surface access. These aren’t targets to aim for; they’re hard caps that cannot be breached. An independent body will monitor compliance, with the power to halt growth if limits are approached. If the airport fails to stay within its environmental envelope, expansion stops.
This is infrastructure consent reimagined: growth yes, but only if it can be delivered sustainably. It’s a recognition that an airport’s licence to operate comes from the community it affects, not just the passengers it serves.
What success looks like
The expansion will deliver up to 11,000 new jobs, with around 4,400 of those in Luton itself. These aren’t minimum-wage roles. Average salaries are projected at 34% above the national average. For a town where nearly a quarter of primary school children arrive at school hungry, this represents transformative economic opportunity.
The £1.5 billion annual GDP contribution will flow through the regional economy. And crucially, the community benefit scales with growth: £1 per additional passenger above current capacity goes directly into the Community First fund, building on the existing £7.4 million annual community investment programme.
This is infrastructure driving inclusive growth, creating quality employment, and ensuring prosperity is shared in the places most affected by development.
A blueprint for public infrastructure
Luton Rising’s achievement matters beyond the Luton and Bedfordshire region. It demonstrates that councils can lead major infrastructure projects whilst maintaining democratic oversight and community benefit. Public ownership doesn’t mean inefficiency – it can mean exactly the opposite when the structure is right.
I the DCO approval as validation of a different approach. This isn’t just about expanding an airport – it’s about proving that public ownership can deliver major infrastructure that drives economic growth whilst ensuring communities benefit directly. We’ve shown that you don’t have to choose between commercial success and social purpose. When done right, they reinforce each other.
As the government grapples with delivering infrastructure whilst meeting net-zero commitments, Luton Rising offers a worked example. Not theory, but a functioning business that has already delivered decades of community benefit and is now scaling up responsibly.
The question other local authorities should ask isn’t whether Luton’s model can work. The DCO approval settles that. The question is: where else could this approach unlock infrastructure that serves both national need and local prosperity?
Luton Rising isn’t just the first council-owned company to secure a DCO. It’s setting a standard for how publicly owned infrastructure can grow responsibly, deliver national benefit, and ensure that growth means opportunity for the communities that make it possible.
