Future High Street Programme
Our high streets are at the heart of our communities. They are places for social exchange and enjoyment, offering important services and shopping experiences, and for showcasing Kensington and Chelsea’s heritage, uniqueness, and culture. These ambitions, however, do not simply happen. It is vital that the Council and local communities act together to find solutions.
This has led the Council to look at the role it plays in helping to shape places, and facilitate a programme of support, innovation and change for our high streets.
The four key objectives of the long-term strategy:
- Informing
- Visioning
- Shared Delivery through Innovation
- Sustainable Local Management
These objectives feed into newly developed place shaping principles for our high streets. These have been drawn from extensive community engagement and were developed in partnership with Centre for London. They work to encourage healthy high streets which combine retail, hospitality and essential services in a way that is engaging and sustainable.
Our High Street Principles
- Be places people want to visit and spend time in by offering facilities, services and attractions as well as exploring opportunities for a twilight economy.
- Be adaptable and proactive to meet future needs by allowing for and supporting innovative and creative solutions.
- Work for everyone by ensuring the provision of accessible facilities, commercial space and public realm that meets the needs of all ages and disabilities.
- Encourage active travel by ensuring provision for cycle parking/hire, a pedestrian-friendly public realm and supporting traffic reduction schemes.
- Be places that celebrate their own individual character and history by supporting their communities’ unique needs and offering bespoke cultural events and activities.
- Be part of the solution to the climate crisis by reducing emissions and adapting to changing conditions, and encouraging greening.
- Be places for creativity, culture, and art by supporting festivals, events, and activities.
- Support existing businesses and encourage economic growth by working with and encouraging new Business Improvement Districts (BIDS), landowners and commercial tenants.
Action plans
We want our high streets to be places that are welcoming, where visitors want to spend time and where they want to return to again and again. One way we are working to support our high streets is through the development of a series of local actions plans.
Action Plans are guided by the high street principles developed by Centre for London. They list place-based projects which are identified and detailed with the community. Projects will be informed by key criteria to ensure that they are deliverable, impactful, and well maintained. Members of the community can choose to join a working group to oversee the work programme in partnership with the Council, or to provide feedback via online forms.
Projects can be short, medium, or long term, permanent or temporary, large, or small – depending on the community’s appetite.
Action Plans are not policy documents or legislation, but a continuously updated and agile place-based framework that will help shape ideas for further interventions.
Future High Streets Consultation
To help us understand priorities and build an evidence base for future ambitions and interventions to Kensington and Chelsea’s high streets, we asked anyone living, working, or visiting the borough to share their views on what they want to see improved and how they use their local high street.
The online survey we ran received over 1,000 comments between August 2021 and February 2022. In addition, workshops were held with Residents’ Associations and members of the Council Citizens’ Panel. This input has provided valuable insights and helped inform the work programme going forward. View the consultation findings in full.
Future High Streets Research
Centre for London (CfL) were commissioned by the Council to investigate the future of the borough’s high streets in light of the pandemic. Their research examined the effects on residents and businesses of temporary pandemic-era interventions that the Council implemented, such as al fresco dining pavement licences.
The first phase of work looked at looked at placemaking and high streets, with an in-depth analysis of Gloucester Road, Notting Hill Gate and Portobello Road. This led to a template for local action plans with proposed interventions such as more greening, seating, public art, events, and walking routes. The templates draw from the Council-led high street engagement and was supplemented with CfL’s own analysis and research. They are based on the eight placemaking principles listed above, which state that good high streets combine retail, hospitality, culture, and essential services in a sustainable and attractive environment.