Merton Council has unveiled plans that could see Mitcham transformed into an urban village.

An exhibition is on display in Mitcham Library that sets out ideas for the development of Mitcham town centre as an urban village. The main features of an urban village are an accessible, attractive local centre, which benefits from high quality design, cares for its local environment, fosters good shops and services and is a fantastic place to live.

The urban village concept for Mitcham builds on the centre’s heritage as an 18th Century village and coaching centre; and later, as a suburban London centre benefiting from public transport links into London, local shops and attractive public green spaces.

Mayor of Merton and Phipps Bridge Ward Councillor, Cllr Ian Munn said: “The urban village approach to the regeneration of Mitcham is designed to recapture the intrinsic qualities of Mitcham as an attractive local centre, placed within a highly accessible wider London context.”

The exhibition sets out measures to improve the local environment, reduce the impact of traffic on the centre, enhance public transport, and foster new residential and business developments. Comments on the exhibition from members of the public are invited.

Helen Hayes, Director of Town Centres Limited, said: “It is proposed that Mitcham urban village will be delivered through a partnership involving local businesses, residents, transport operators, potential investors and the Council, which can work to attract funding and develop project ideas.”

The Mitcham urban village exhibition will be in Mitcham library from 2 April 2001 until Friday 20 April 2001.
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Note for Editors:

The urban village’s approach to regeneration has developed over the past ten years. The approach is designed to create vibrant sustainable local communities, which benefit from high quality design, excellent public transport links, attractive public spaces and a wide variety of local shops and services.

The key qualities of an urban village include:

 a mixture of uses such as shopping, leisure, community facilities, businesses and housing within neighbourhoods, streets and individual buildings
 a concentrated residential community to support local shops and services
 a strong sense of place provided by well-designed buildings, and public spaces
 a maximum walking distance of 10 minutes to the centre for residents
 ease of access by a variety of means, including cycling, walking and public transpo