Portobello Road to be 'modernised' in £4.4m revamp

1 day ago

Adrian ZorzutLocal Democracy Reporting Service

News image — The west London high street will get wider granite pavements and new lighting

WSP/RBKC An animated mockup image of Portobello Road. There is a row of multicoloured two-storey buildings on either side of the road, some with shops and awnings below. In front of the road is a pedestrianised walkway with two traffic lights on either side. There are people on the walkway and on adjacent pavements. — The west London high street will get wider granite pavements and new lighting

Portobello Road is to be "modernised" after councillors agreed to spend £4.4m on upgrading the pavements, lighting and greenery.

Plans for the west London high street, which has appeared in hit films Notting Hill and Paddington, were approved during a recent meeting at Kensington and Chelsea Council.

Other improvements include dropped kerbs for wheelchair users, more parking bays, and replacing anti-terror barriers with sliding bollards. The works are due to start in January 2027.

The council said the funding will come from the Community Infrastructure Levy, which is collected from developers. They said no money will be taken from other services to pay for the scheme.

'Minimise disruption'

The council will also use a system called Hydrorock to mitigate flooding, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

This uses underground tree pits and absorbable materials to hold onto water and slow down its entry into drains. Trial holes are set to be dug to establish how the flooding mitigation will work on the street.

Johnny Thalassites, lead member for environment and planning, said: "Addressing the flood risk is imperative to this area, following devastating floods back in 2021 which damaged homes and property.

"We will ensure as construction begins, we are doing all we can to mitigate and minimise disruption."

The council ran a six-week public consultation late last year and received 246 responses for the modernisation.

Phase one of the project is to improve the infrastructure of Portobello Road between Chepstow Villas and Westbourne Grove, including two junctions with Denbigh Terrace.

Phase two looks at improvements between Westbourne Grove and Elgin Crescent.

EPA/Shutterstock A man and woman sitting on either side of a large white anti-terrorism concrete block on Portobello Road. In the background is a white wall with a balustrade with greenery. — The anti-terror barriers will be replaced with sliding bollards

In August last year residents of Portobello Road took legal action against the council for installing anti-terror barriers. They were installed the previous month following counter-terrorism guidance from the Metropolitan Police.

The residents had accused the council of installing the barriers without consulting them. They also claimed there had been "two to three crashes a day" into the barriers.

During a council meeting in October, Patrick Somers, a resident leading the legal challenge, said he supported the measures but felt what was being done was effectively "trapping" them in their homes for seven days a week, six hours a day.

Thalassites argued that the council had previously consulted on the use of safety barriers as part of the Strengthening Portobello Project.

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