I think you will find most people here in Luton are actually pro airport. We need the jobs and money that comes from the airport or the town would die. Most of us will know someone employed there or use the airport for travel.
The whingers tend to be some wealthy 80 yr olds just out of town who cant plant their roses in absolute peace and quiet. Cry me a river, after what 15 years of endless protest all they could muster together was a group of about 50 folks to make utter fools of themselves in the town centre.
Also regarding space... the airport is rather unorganised, there is land here there and everywhere that could be used.. not to mention endless car parks taking up tonnes of space. The old terminal takes up a huge chunk also that could be far better utilised. The area behind the fire station, the tarmac.. the car park and the actual fire station itself could be moved to better locations. The engine bay could be moved and it and the grass alongside it could be used better. The area alongside the harrods ramp is open and unused.. The old spectators and the buildings around it should be utilised better. There are scraggyly one off buildings all around the airport hogging up space that could all be moved into 1 large multi-storey complex. (Yes before anyone mentions it I realise not all the ground is level, they can build island airports reclaimed from the ocean then they can fill in un level ground in luton).
Whether anyone can be bothered to invest the money to change all that stuff will remain to be seen.