Policy information sourced from the Kensington and Chelsea Local Plan

CF3 Diversity of uses within Town Centres

The Council will secure the success and vitality of our town centres by protecting, enhancing and promoting a diverse range of shops and by ensuring that these uses will be supported, but not dominated by, a range of complementary town centre uses.

To deliver this the Council will:

  • protect all shops and shop floorspace at ground floor level in primary retail frontages of:
    • Knightsbridge, King’s Road (East and West), Fulham Road, Brompton Cross, South Kensington, Kensington High Street, Earl’s Court Road and Westbourne Grove town centres unless the change is to another town centre use and where 80 per cent of the ground-floor units in the relevant street frontage will remain in an A1 (shop) use and the non-shop use is not adjacent to another non-A1 use;
    • Notting Hill Gate unless the change is to another town centre use, but not a hot food takeaway (Class A5) use and where 80 per cent of the ground-floor units in the relevant street frontage will remain in an A1 (shop) use and the non-shop use is not adjacent to another non-A1 use;
    • Portobello Road Special District Centre;
  • protect all shops and shopping floorspace at ground floor level within the secondary retail frontages of:
    • Knightsbridge, King’s Road (East and West), Fulham Road, Brompton Cross, South Kensington and Kensington High Street, Earl’s Court Road and Portobello Road town centres, unless the change is to a town centre use and where 50 per cent of the ground-floor units in the relevant street frontage will remain in an A1 (shop) use and there are no more than 3 non-A1 uses in a row;
    • Notting Hill Gate District Centre unless the change is to another town centre use, but not a hot food takeaway (Class A5) and the change is to a town centre use and where 50 per cent of the ground-floor units in the relevant street frontage will remain in an A1 (shop) use and there are no more than 3 non-A1 uses in a row;
  • protect shop uses above or below ground floor level within town centres unless it is successfully demonstrated that their loss will not adversely affect the essential shopping character and function of the centre;
  • protect all shops within neighbourhood centres, unless the proposal is to change to a social and community use, and where 66 per cent of the relevant street frontage remains in an A1 use (shop).

For more information please see the Kensington and Chelsea Local Plan