With one fast food restaurant for every 1,100 people, Birmingham takes a stand against the takeaway
The transition movement is a good means of linking rural and urban places. This story based on our second city urging a move away from fast food offers us much to learn from in terms of creating space in our cities for more interesting food options. There is also no reason why rural authorities cant take a leaf out of this book!
According to recent figures, 64 per cent of people in Birmingham are overweight, obese or morbidly obese, above the national average. There is one fast food outlet for 1,097 people in the city overall – and nowhere is it more obvious than in Lea Village, where 22 per cent of the shops are takeaways.
It was statistics like these that prompted Birmingham City Council to crack down on fast food. Just over two years ago it declared that only one in 10 premises in any shopping area should be a takeaway and began limiting the number of new openings. Since the policy came into force, the planning department has had 36 applications for hot food takeaways, refusing 15 of them.