It’s been an exciting few weeks for my community of Barnes, South West London. We’ve seen new placemaking and resilience projects approved and delivered, and to top it all off, we picked up a national Highways Award for Innovation.
With the Government launching its Pride in Place strategy and the New Towns Task Force recommending 12 new town locations, it feels like the right moment to share how we’ve been working in Barnes. Through the Barnes Community Association Town Team over 12 years, we’ve been able to bring local knowledge, creativity and energy into shaping our neighbourhood, working alongside partners to design and deliver projects that support local business and strengthen our sense of place.
Pride in Place is about creating healthier, safer neighbourhoods and making sure even the most disadvantaged communities are supported with long-term funding. As Secretary of State Steve Reid said: “The Government is putting power into the hands of communities, so local people decide how best to restore pride in their neighbourhoods, not us in Westminster.”
Cathy Parker from the Institute of Place Management welcomed the strategy and emphasised that, “Leadership has to come from the level of the place – this fund is talking about places and communities but at the moment the social infrastructure to do this is not there – you’ve got to build this up from the beginning, the shop owners, the community, obviously local council officers need to be involved as well. That’s quite a long journey to go and we know it takes places a long time to do that but it’s quite possible.”
That rings true for us. Back in 2011 things in Barnes weren’t looking good. High Street footfall was down, shops were closing, and the One Stop store had left. There was fear that long-established independents wouldn’t survive. A group of us decided we couldn’t just sit back, so we invited Mary Clear from Incredible Edible Todmorden and David Barry from the People’s Supermarket to spark ideas about what we might do differently. From that came Everyday Barnes, which in 2012 secured £10,000 from the Portas Pilot scheme. A condition of the grant was creating a Town Team. I suggested that, alongside council and business reps, we also include local residents – because if this was going to work, it had to be rooted in the community.
Our first big step was the Big Barnes Ponder in 2013, a community “Charrette” where hundreds of people came together to talk about what they wanted for the High Street, the wider village, and our green spaces. Our professional facilitation team helped us turn ideas into a shared vision – not just physical improvements but also ways of supporting businesses and attracting visitors. Out of it came action teams so residents could stay involved in delivering projects.
“We had to learn from the professionals. The placemaking agenda helped us think differently about the village – the shops, the traffic, the footfall. Traders now know what it takes to run a successful business, and the community knows that if they don’t use the High Street, they’ll lose it.” Steven Mindel, former Chair, Barnes Community Association
Over the next few years, the Town Team worked with partners including Richmond Council on projects like widening pavements, installing cycle parking, adding a parklet, and creating a natural playground. We also pushed to make the village more vibrant with events and campaigns. At the same time, the OSO Arts Centre was revitalised with help from the Portas funds, sparking a cultural revival. Slowly but surely, footfall rose, new businesses arrived, and festivals started to flourish.
By the early 2020s, Barnes felt transformed. When the pandemic hit, the stronger local economy and community networks gave us resilience. In 2022, ten years on from the first Ponder, we decided it was time to refresh the vision. Ponder 2 brought hundreds of people together in person and online to celebrate what had been achieved and plan for the future. Mary Clear returned to share her Incredible Edible journey, reminding us how food, creativity and community can transform a place. Out of that came a renewed commitment to “One Barnes” – making sure the benefits of projects are shared across the whole community, including those most in need.
Another important part of Ponder 2 was the work of Community BlueScapes, a partnership between the council, Barnes Common CIC and the London Wetland Centre. Together we explored how to make Barnes more flood-resilient while boosting biodiversity. With so many people now walking and cycling, there was also a strong focus on sustainable movement.
Two years on, we’ve seen real progress: rain gardens, widening Beverley Brook to increase flood storage, and the Kitson Road retrofit with porous surfaces, Hydrorock storage and EV-charging channels. The Kitson Road project recently won the Steve Berry Highways Innovation Award at the 2025 National Highways Awards – a fantastic recognition of community-led innovation. Work has also begun on improving The Terrace and Lonsdale Road for pedestrians.
After more than a decade of Town Team effort, we’ve built strong partnerships and real social capital. The council often tests new ideas here, knowing we’re a community with a clear vision and the confidence to try new things.
“The process showed that communities are best placed to shape their own destiny. Projects delivered with full community involvement always deliver the best results.” Emma Robinson, Barnes Town Centre Manager
In 2022, Barnes High Street was a finalist for the Academy of Urbanism’s Great Street Award and was highly commended in the Great British High Streets Awards. Footfall on Saturdays has way more than doubled since 2016, and our growing mix of markets and festivals has turned Barnes into a genuine destination.
As new towns and Pride in Place communities develop their own plans, I’d love to share what we’ve learned so do get in touch. For me, the biggest lesson is simple: when residents are fully involved, projects don’t just succeed – they thrive.