Revealed: £10m plan to transform Portobello market

“Improved spaces”: the Acklam car park will be transformed into flats with small independent shops underneath
Picture Plane Ltd

New plans are unveiled today for a £10 million “community-friendly” modernisation of Portobello market which aims to preserve its “raw urban” appeal.

The latest proposals, which include an arts centre, an indoor market hall, shops for independent traders and 13 affordable homes, replace a scheme that was scrapped after being compared to “a provincial Eighties shopping mall”.

The planned investment by the Westway Trust centres on a stretch of the market close to the A40 flyover.

The Trust, which owns 23 acres of land under and around the motorway, said it had taken “a deep breath and had a rethink” after the strength of the reaction to the original proposal.

The thousands who signed a petition of opposition included Richard Curtis, who wrote Notting Hill, and his partner, broadcaster Emma Freud.

Preserving character: plans for a new arts centre in Acklam Road, next to the market

In a key symbolic change of heart the Trust has reversed a decision to remove the market’s 20-year-old canopy.

Angela McConville, chief executive of the Westway Trust, said: “Portobello has a unique appeal. It is this character and distinctiveness that we want to preserve and celebrate in our new proposals. We have listened to local people and their views are reflected in our plans to provide improved spaces to enhance the area’s cultural life and benefit the community.”

Details of the proposals, drawn up by the Trust and architects Stiff + Trevillion, will be unveiled tomorrow. The public exhibition runs until the weekend and follows 18 months of consultation.

The new arts centre in Acklam Road, next to the market, could be used for film screenings, live music and theatre, as well as preparations for Notting Hill Carnival. The shopping arcade under the Westway will be redesigned to create a new market hall. Flats will be built on Acklam car park, with small independent shops underneath.

Community groups welcomed the rethink. Andrew Kelly, of Westway Community Transport charity, said: “Having had a look at an early version of the new presentation it’s clear to me that Westway Trust have listened to the feedback they got last year. I think what they are trying to create will inevitably be a tremendous enhancement to the local environment.”

But campaigner Tim Burke said the plans were still “mediocre and ill thought out”.

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