Streatham may become Transition Town and business improvement district (From Your Local Guardian)

Streatham may become Transition Town and business improvement district

3:24pm Monday 21st March 2011 in Streatham By Thais Portilho-Shrimpton

Streatham could become a Transition Town and a business improvement district (BID) it emerged at the weekend.

Members of Sustainable Streatham met residents at the White Lion pub on Saturday (March 19) to discuss become a Transition Town (TT), where all elements of a community are encouraged to work together to find local solutions to environmental problems.

The group decided in favour of becoming a Transition Town, but is due to consult with other members on Wednesday (March 23) before reaching a final decision. Brixton and Kingston are among a number of other centres across London that have already taken steps to become Transition Towns.

Scott Ainslie, from Sustainable Streatham, said at the meeting: “We have been trying to get disparate groups in Streatham to come together and work together and I am really hopeful we can do that going forward.”

At the meeting the chairman of the Streatham Business Board, Lee Alley, told the group that Streatham was looking to become a BID, which would make the High Street more attractive for business and give local businesses incentive and support.

Mr Alley said becoming a Transition Town would help draw businesses to the area and assist the board’s plans to create the BID.

He said: “One of the key points is waste and recycling. If we took forward this initiative to become sustainable we could have waste coming out of some businesses taken into other businesses which could use that as raw material, for instance.”

For more information on how to join Sustainable Streatham and take part in their activities go to sustainablestreatham.org.uk.