Policy information sourced from the Richmond Upon Thames Local Plan

PBS6 Richmond & Richmond Hill (F)

Future development in this place is expected, where relevant, to:

  • Contribute to a sense of activity and vibrancy in the town and neighbourhood centres, to improve and restore high street frontages and the lanes to encourage a diverse range of uses, including independent shops and businesses, emphasising local makers and artisans.
  • Encourage the provision of office floorspace and new flexible workspaces within the town centre and intensification of existing employment sites to provide for jobs and support local businesses.
  • Facilitate the temporary reuse of vacant units to help diversify the town centre offer and activate underutilised frontage.
  • Enhance the public realm through creating high quality spaces in the town centre; reinforcing a retail circuit by upgrading Eton Street and Red Lion Street; creating a new destination hub at Whittaker Avenue Square; enhancing the triangle of land between Hill Rise, Petersham Road and Compass Hill as publicly accessible green space; enhancing Richmond Hill gateway; improving wayfinding and the sense of arrival at Richmond Station; and enhancements at Richmond Riverside and Richmond Promenade.
  • Promote routes for active travel and exercise, encouraging healthy activity and exploration of the Richmond area by local workers, visitors and residents via sustainable travel. Contribute to a reduction in car travel in the Richmond area and improve air quality. Support greening through tree-planting on the High Street (including the station) and Whittaker Avenue Square; introducing ‘green trails’ across the town centre through to the river and Old Deer Park; creating green walls on the lanes where appropriate; and enhancing the riverside environment.
  • Contribute to measures related to air quality, public realm and transport, to implement priorities informed by work around the pilot Clean Air Zone within Richmond Town Centre.
  • Ensure that any expansion and management of entertainment and leisure facilities is sensitive to the amenity of people who live in the centre and the wider functioning of the area; promoting the night-time economy through diversifying the range of cultural venues and offers; encouraging on-street al fresco dining and making a welcoming environment for all night-time economy users and workers.
  • Support the cultural and community offer for both residents and visitors around the Richmond Cultural Quarter, including bringing the reference and lending libraries together and enhancing The Museum of Richmond to create a cultural hub to provide a destination for visitors, and encouraging outdoor temporary and permanent art and theatre interventions.
  • Maintain and provide new public toilets within the public realm, supplementing the Richmond Community Toilet Scheme, and including provision at Richmond Station and to serve Richmond Riverside and Richmond Green. Improve North Sheen Residential area by improving the sense of arrival at North Sheen station, along with upgrades to the public realm and greening opportunities.

Within the town centre boundary, Richmond Station (Site Allocation 25) provides a major redevelopment opportunity, which could provide substantial interchange improvements as well as a range of appropriate town centre uses, with some opportunity to accommodate a landmark tall building within the heritage and other constraints identified, in accordance with Policy 45 Tall and Mid-Rise Building Zones.There is an opportunity to replace, upgrade, or better integrate, the multi-storey car park on Paradise Road, so that it better addresses the streetscape and is less prominent in views.The former House of Fraser site (Site Allocation 26) on George Street is expected to be repurposed to deliver a mix of uses, including retail, offices/workspace, and leisure/community use, with improved active ground floor street frontages including along Paved Court and at Golden Court.

See details in the Site Allocations within this area:

  • Richmond Station, Richmond Former House of Fraser, Richmond
  • Richmond Telephone Exchange, Spring Terrace, Richmond
  • American University, Queens Road, Richmond
  • Homebase, Manor Road, North Sheen
  • Sainsburys, Lower Richmond Road, Richmond

For more information please see the Richmond Upon Thames Local Plan