On Wednesday, March 3, members of the Save the Portobello Road Market campaign joined together for a silent show of support outside a council meeting held at the Kensington Town Hall.
They handed in a petition of 7500 signatures objecting to the inconsistent planning decisions made by the Kensington and Chelsea Council – and specifically the recent decision to permit the fashion outlet All Saints to take over a key site on the corner of Westbourne Grove, where 150 antiques dealers had traded as the Lipka’s Arcade.
Protesters also have backing from 26,000 people via their Facebook website.
They want Kensington and Chelsea council to rescind permission for the 16,000 sq ft All Saints store, which opened in December.
A council spokesman said that some of the work on the store had not complied with the planning permission, but that the developer had been asked to rectify this.
But they also reiterated a previous statement that change of use from an antiques arcade to retail use does not require planning permission.
