Notting Hill Gate
Welcome to the Notting Hill Gate high street action plan. On this page you will find information about the area and how to have your say on future projects.
All about Notting Hill Gate
Notting Hill Gate is defined as a ‘District Centre’ in the Local Plan and London Plan. It is in the northern half of the borough – north of Kensington High Street and south of Portobello Road.
The centre is the fifth largest in the borough, comprising 251 commercial units located predominantly on Notting Hill Gate and Kensington Church Street. It also acts as its name suggests, as the gateway to Portobello Road market. The Notting Hill Gate Supplementary Planning Document (2015) notes that over 17 million people arrive or leave through Notting Hill Gate station each year, compared to 12 million at Kensington High Street. The high street was comprehensively redeveloped in the 1950s and is of a different scale and character to the surrounding residential areas.
The Local Plan recognises that the centre has a strong reputation for arts and culture and is home to several important venues including the Gate Theatre, the Gate Cinema and the Coronet Cinema and Theatre. The high street is well connected to the underground and bus routes, and benefits from cycle hire and now e-scooter hire bays. It is also home to several large office blocks that, when combined with the retail and service industry, host over 8000 jobs – making it one of the borough’s larger employment centres.
What is the vision?
The New Local Plan Review sets out the intended vision for Notting Hill in 2042, it will:
- remain as one of the borough’s most distinctive district centres.
- build upon its long-standing reputation for the arts, culture, and the evening economy.
- use the pull it has as a key employment area to provide the premises needed by agile business.
- be improved to make the area more accessible and attractive. Outdated buildings will be refurbished or redeveloped to improve the image of the area.
How we got here
Timeline:
- October 2022 - Event to launch the action plan process for Notting Hill Gate. Around 40 people attended, providing their feedback by voting on priorities, placing their concerns and ideas on a map, and having discussions with officers and Ward Cllrs.
- September 2022 to January 2023 - Online survey asked people how they feel about priorities identified for Notting Hill Gate (based on previous engagement), as well as inviting ideas and locations for potential future improvements.
- November 2022 - Community Working Group met for the first time. The first meeting had around 25 attendees and focussed on agreeing terms of reference for the group and developing a vision and objectives for the action plan.
- 2023?
We are gathering what changes the Notting Hill Gate community would like to see in the short, medium, and long term and what is needed to deliver these ideas. This evidence gathering will inform the development of an action plan for the area, based on priorities for intervention that are shared with the community.
Issues highlighted so far:
- Notting Hill Gate is not a destination and lacks unique identity.
- It lacks places to pause and activities to attract and retain visitors.
- Poor quality public realm and wayfinding.
- Poor provision for less mobile people.
- Vacant shop fronts have a negative impact.
- Poor lighting creating safety concerns.
- Surplus chain stores.
Solutions suggested:
- Regular events to drive town centre footfall, spend and interest (e.g. markets, food/drink festivals, music events, craft fairs, open theatre/cinema, fetes etc.
- Additional seating could be provided around existing as well as additional trees.
- Events and cultural activities that help enhance NHG as a destination.
- Better cycle friendliness, including better provision of bike parking, dockless bikes and scooters.
- More green spaces and planting - Existing and additional planters could have a wide ledge to double up as seating.
- More seating - places to sit and eat.
- Public toilets.
- Improved lighting for pedestrians.
- Improving air quality.
- Places for children to play (on the wider pavement areas).
- More public art - Given existing pressures on public space, there are opportunities for mural or façade art and lighting art (for building on streetscape)
A clear set of criteria for projects and a participatory framework for future interventions on the local high street will be developed, helping the community to have ownership over the plan. Find out more about the emerging vision for Notting Hill Gate in the New Local Plan Review interactive map using the Town Centres section.