As you’ll know there’s growing concern about the future of the UK’s High Streets – the Government’s answer is the Portas Pilots which are looking to revitalise shopping areas across the country (we’ve covered the sterling efforts of SEE3, the Portas Pilot in South East London, in the recent past).
The Government-backed initiative isn’t the only one with the aim of transforming the urban landscape however – Sustrans (the sustainable transport charity) have today launched their Pocket Places initiative in Peckham. Their intention is to develop the forgotten patches and plots of land along Rye Lane with the help of the community – creating a community garden in one space, a safe children’s play area in another or a pop-up gallery in a disused retail space, for example.
If you fancy getting involved, the organisers will be outside the PeckhamPlex cinema until 3pm today, Saturday 23 March, offering hot punch to anyone who wants to come along and chat about their own ideas for the development of the area – there’s also a DIY smoothie station for the kids (although I’m not sure how popular that will be given the snow!). If you’re not prepared to leave the house today (and who can blame you) there will be more events coming up in the near future – see the Pocket Places events page for more information.
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