In overview, the troubles with Strawberry Hill Village are obvious; conflicts between traffic, parking, service space for retailers, drop off/ waiting and pick up arrangements for the station, unsafe footpaths and  cycle thefts... Of course many things don’t work well around the station but also there is the  opportunity to make a lovely heart to the village. If we can agree some new balances in terms of parking and so on, then we can work on enhancing the qualities of the area as a place to meet : a safe pedestrian friendly landscape with seating and shelter; space for Sopa to spill onto the pavement, new soft landscaping to green and to help unify spaces both sides of the track, and a battle plan for sorting out the station with its tired platforms and bridge, and the unused old station buildings and their approach. Landscaping and lighting would enhance our village, making it accessible and a pleasure to be a part of for the increasing number of users. The new borough plan will last 5 years more years, and during the current plan period nothing has been done to sort the area out despite the current village vision. Our hope is that a detailed Masterplan will provide a basis for local residents and businesses to engage and hone a detailed Vision, and, once we have an agreed detailed goal, then it can form a basis for trying to get it done.

London Borough of Richmond upon Thames recently consulted (March 2017) a new draft 5 year plan for the Borough, and there was an opportunity to update the plan’s Vision for the future of Strawberry Hill Village. Architecture WK, a local architectural practice, has gifted a prospective Masterplan for the area around the station to test and gather local support for changes to improve it.    To have a vision is the first step towards realising it.  The next steps will involve discussions with additional stake holders, not least, Network Rail, as well as addressing costs issues.  We hope to be able to work towards achieving the main elements of the vision as a realisable goal to enhance our village.