LLRA is pleased to advise that, following consultation with the community last year, project work on a potential masterplan of the Albion Works business area on Long Leys Road is now complete. The project outcome is a detailed analysis and indicative vision of how the Albion Works site could potentially evolve over the long term. To read the full report see:
Project Background
The Albion Works has been declining as a business area. With little recent investment and accelerated by the closure of the Curtis bakery in 2022 it now offers employment for only around 80 people and much of the site is disused. To review future options for the Albion Works site, LLRA requested technical support help from Locality, which manages Technical Support Neighbourhood Planning grants on behalf of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. Locality appointed AECOM, an infrastructure consulting firm, to the project. Over the last 10 months, an AECOM consultant urban designer has explored the site potential with residents, landowners and local businesses and taken into account feedback from the 2024 Long Leys Resident Survey, along with input at workshops held by LLRA in Autumn 2024.
Project Outcome
As well as the report, accessible above, AECOM has produced an Indicative Masterplan of how the Albion Works could be developed over the next decade. The illustration below shows one possible way the Albion Works could evolve, with a combination of small business units, residential homes, facilities and some mixed live-work units. It must be stressed that this is just one potential solution to the challenges of updating and improving the Albion Works. How and whether the area is developed over the coming years will depend on landowners, developers and planners. However, the Masterplan does give broad guidance on the type of development approach that the majority of the community would like to see.
What Happens Next
Locality has now signed off the project report. This will form part of the evidence base for the Long Leys Neighbourhood Plan which is currently being drafted for consultation in coming months and will be used by the Local Planning Authority to determine future planning applications in Long Leys.
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