Sundon Park is a suburb of north Luton, in the Luton district, in the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire, England. The area is roughly bounded by the edge of Luton to the north, Leagrave Park to the south, the Midland Main Line to the west, and Spinney Woods and the footpath from the woods to the edge of town to the east.

Sundon Park
Sundon Park Shopping Parade
Sundon Park is located in Bedfordshire
Sundon Park
Sundon Park
Location within Bedfordshire
Population7,585 (est.).[1]
OS grid referenceTL055255
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townLUTON
Postcode districtLU3
Dialling code01582
PoliceBedfordshire
FireBedfordshire and Luton
AmbulanceEast of England
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Bedfordshire
51°55′N 0°28′W / 51.92°N 0.47°W / 51.92; -0.47

The name is taken from the nearby villages of Upper Sundon and Lower Sundon, and the estate was originally built as a self-contained community serving the SKF ball bearing factory.

Local area edit

The "official" entrance to Sundon Park is through the "Sundon Arch", the railway bridge which connects Sundon Park Road to Toddington Road. The estate is in two distinct parts, divided by Hill Rise. The older part to the south (known colloquially as "the Avenues") consists of a number of long, straight avenues which are numbered ("Fourth Avenue", etc.). Fourth Avenue was the first to be built in the 1920s, followed by the other Avenues in the 1930s. North of Hill Rise, are the newer houses, built mainly in the 1950s and 1960s. Most of the roads here are named after hills and mountains e.g. Grampian Way, Pennine Avenue. These were all built as owner-occupier properties.

Shopping is provided around the junction of Hill Rise and Sundon Park Road, with a precinct featuring convenience stores, takeaways and a petrol station, and a large Aldi Superstore as well as a community centre. There is also a smaller parade of shops on Ashwell Avenue. The SKF factory has been largely turned into industrial units, with other large industrial facilities concentrated in the strip between Sundon Park Road and the railway line.

 
Luton, Sundon Park Baptist Church

Education edit

There are two schools in the district. Parklea Primary School, on Cranbrook Drive and Kinross Crescent, caters for 4-11 year olds; and Lealands High School on Sundon Park Road is for 11-16 year olds. Next to Lealands is the City Learning Centre for Luton, elearning@luton.

Politics edit

Sundon Park is within the Sundon Park ward (of which the southern tip also contains part of Leagrave) and is represented by Cllr Anna Pedersen (Liberal Democrats) and Cllr Clive Mead (Liberal Democrats).[2]

The ward forms part of the parliamentary constituency of Luton North and the MP is Sarah Owen (Labour).

 
Map of Luton showing Sundon Park

Local attractions edit

Key
  Abbey/Priory/Cathedral
  Accessible open space
  Amusement/Theme Park
  Castle
  Country Park
  English Heritage
Forestry Commission
  Heritage railway
  Historic House
  Places of Worship
 
 
Museum (free/not free)
  National Trust
  Theatre
  Zoo

Local newspapers edit

Two weekly newspapers cover Sundon Park, although they are not specific to the area.

  • Herald and Post[3]
  • Luton News[4]

References edit

  1. ^ http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=3&b=5940132&c=sundon+park&d=14&e=15&g=405125&i=1001x1003x1004&m=0&enc=1 [dead link]
  2. ^ "CMIS > Councillors".
  3. ^ Herald and Post
  4. ^ Luton News

External links edit