Portobello Road is in line for a £4.4 million facelift that aims to modernise the world‑famous Notting Hill street while tackling safety and flooding concerns that have dogged the area in recent years.
The £4.4 million cost will be funded through the Community Infrastructure Levy, a charge collected from property developers to support local projects.
The council has stressed that no money will be diverted from other frontline services to pay for the scheme, positioning the revamp as an investment driven by development gains in the borough rather than cuts elsewhere.
What’s planned for Portobello Road
Kensington and Chelsea councillors have signed off a package of works that will see:
- Wider granite pavements to make the street easier to navigate, especially on busy market days.
- New lighting and additional greenery along the road.
- More dropped kerbs to improve wheelchair and buggy access.
- More parking bays built into the redesigned streetscape.
- The current concrete anti‑terror barriers removed and replaced with sliding bollards designed to be less obtrusive while still meeting security guidance.
Work is scheduled to begin in January 2027, giving traders and residents a long lead‑in to prepare for disruption.
Tackling flooding on Portobello Road with new technology
Alongside cosmetic changes, the plans include a new approach to managing flood risk following severe flooding in 2021 that damaged homes and businesses around Portobello Road.
The council intends to use a system called Hydrorock, which relies on underground tree pits and absorbent materials to hold back rainwater and slow its entry into the drains. Trial holes will be dug first to test how well the system works in local ground conditions.
Johnny Thalassites, the council’s lead member for environment and planning, said more greenery and better drainage were “imperative” after the 2021 floods and that the new tree‑pit system is intended to prevent a repeat of that damage.
Consultation, phasing and disruption
A six‑week public consultation on the first phase of the project ran late last year and drew 246 responses from residents, traders and visitors.
Phase one focuses on improving the stretch of Portobello Road between Chepstow Villas and Westbourne Grove, including two junctions and the junction with Denbigh Terrace. Phase two will look at changes between Westbourne Grove and Elgin Crescent.
Thalassites has promised that the council will do “all we can to mitigate and minimise disruption” once construction starts, a key concern for a street that relies heavily on footfall and tourism.
The row over anti‑terror barriers on Portobello Road
The makeover comes against the backdrop of a bitter dispute over concrete anti‑terror barriers installed on Portobello Road in 2023, following Metropolitan Police counter‑terrorism advice.
Residents launched legal action last August, accusing the council of installing the barriers without proper consultation and of effectively trapping people in their homes for up to six hours a day, seven days a week, when the street was closed off.
Resident Patrick Somers, who led the legal challenge, told councillors that while locals supported robust anti‑terror measures, they felt shut out of the decision‑making process and frustrated by what he described as a “lack of communication and engagement” from the council.
Thalassites has argued that the authority had previously consulted on safety barriers as part of a broader programme known as the Strengthening Portobello Project, suggesting the new revamp is, in part, a reset of how changes on the street are communicated and delivered.