Helen Hayes MP and Nicholas Padfield QC joined our last Loughborough Junction Neighbourhood Planning Forum and the Loughborough Junction Business Association on Thursday 20 August at the SIA Cafe to which LJAG invited staff from Network Rail to start a conversation about the future of the arches in Loughborough Junction. James Seabrooke – Portfolio Asset Manager, Matthew Ball – Senior External Affairs Manager for NR Property and Steve Taylor – Town Planning and Heritage Manager from Network Rail attended.
Arch owners sought clarification from NR about their plans for the arches in LJ. Arch owners highlighted NR’s plans could have serious effects on their business. NR has not formed a strategy for phase 1 of its development of arches on Ridgway Road, Rathgar Road and Wickwood Street. NR is at the very beginning of the consultation process and will start a one-to-one dialogue with arch tenants in October. NR said it wants to talk one-to-one with arch tenants and thereafter with the wider group of the LJ Neighbourhood Planning Forum and LJ Business Association.
Arch owners expressed discontent with NR’s communication on day-to-day issues like maintenance and rent. NR noted it had recently sent a letter detailing key contacts. A full copy is set out below.
NR does not want to rent arch space to any new garages due to the risk of fire. LJAG want to help existing garages in the area to be able to continue trading in LJ.
Helen Hayes MP noted LJ has an extraordinary mix of uses – it’s lively and vibrant, a delicate balance of commercial and not-for-profit organisations that we need to hang on to.
LJAG has been able to seek legal assistance from Nicholas Padfield QC who will advise the group on strategy.
NR will attend the next LJ Neighbourhood Planning and LJ Business Association meeting in November. We encourage LJ arch owners to attend this meeting. NR want to consult and engage meaningfully with arch tenants and the LJAG neighbourhood planning group.
LJAG has set up a survey to gather information from arch owners on Network Rail leases. If you rent an arch please copy and paste the link set out below in to your browser and fill in the survey. The survey takes just a few minutes. By working together we hope we will be stronger.
https://kbay.typeform.com/to/lk6aDB
Many who attended described it as a positive meeting and we hope this is the start of a process to build more trust between arch tenants in LJ and NR so LJ can retain its vibrant mix of businesses as well as encouraging new businesses to open up, building on what we have.
