What's happening in Richmond

Open House London showcases great design in every London borough. Click here to find out what you can see in Richmond this year.

Below, you can find out all about the local context of this borough's architecture, areas undergoing change and projects under construction.

Richmond upon Thames is well known for its historic heritage and open spaces and the emphasis is on challenging the development sector to achieve high quality traditional design.

The Council has recently adopted a Development Management Development Plan Document which sets out its policies for the management of development in the Borough.  These policies emphasise the retention of local character and open space, traditional high quality design and provision of on-site car parking.  The main pressure on the Borough is for residential development hence the policies seek to retain a mix of uses important for meeting peoples’ needs and to retain local character.  

The Council is committed to ensuring that planning and service development meets the priorities of local people.  Through an ‘All in One’ consultation every household in the Borough was asked about their local priorities and these have been encapsulated in 14 ‘village plans’

The major centre in the Borough is Richmond and major townscape improvements funded by Transport for London will be completed in 2013.  These will lead to a very high quality design-led public realm which will help to ensure the centre remains such an attraction for shoppers and visitors.  The economy of Richmond town centre will be re-inforced by recent high quality new office developments.

The Council is committed to the regeneration of Twickenham Town Centre and an Area Action Plan for Twickenham will be subject to Examination in public later in the year.  The main aims are to ensure the co-ordinated development of key sites including the Royal Mail Sorting Office site; to improve the public realm particularly to reduce the dominance of through traffic and to consolidate the retail core.  The opening of a new Travel Lodge, townscape improvements, the refurbishment of existing offices and, most importantly, the new Diamond Jubilee Gardens at Twickenham Riverside, will have an immediate impact in increasing the attractiveness for residents and visitors alike; the aim is that other improvements will be complete in time for the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

The Council has also identified a number of Uplift areas in the Borough where some rejuvenation and development can create new opportunities.  These include;

  • Whitton High Street,  where the aim is to make major improvements to the public realm and retail experience;
  • Mortlake, where the redevelopment of the Stag Brewery will provide the major opportunity for high quality mixed use development  linking Mortlake to the Thames (a Planning Brief for the Brewery site was approved in 2011);
  • Hampton North where there is potential for regeneration of the district centre;
  •  Barnes/Castelnau where there is the potential to improve the shopping areas; and;
  •  Ham, where in the longer term there is the opportunity to create a new community hub, housing and improve open space.   
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