ADPH Responds to NPPF

The Government has published its revised National Planning Policy Framework, setting out its planning policies for England and how they are expected to be applied.

The framework says that:

• Planning policies and decisions should aim to achieve healthy, inclusive and safe places which enable and support healthy lives, through both promoting good health and preventing ill-health, especially where this would address identified local health and wellbeing needs and reduce health inequalities between the most and least deprived communities – for example through the provision of safe and accessible green infrastructure, sports facilities, local shops, access to healthier food, allotments and layouts that encourage walking and cycling.
• Local planning authorities should refuse applications for hot food takeaways and fast food outlets within walking distance of schools and other places where children and young people congregate, unless the location is within a designated town centre; or in locations where there is evidence that a concentration of such uses is having an adverse impact on local health, pollution or anti-social-behaviour.

Darrell Gale, Chair of our Healthy Places Project Advisory Group, said:

“The newly revised National Planning Policy Framework, published today, is very welcome and is an excellent example of how cross-government working can effect real change to improve the places where we live, learn, work and play.

“As Directors of Public Health, we have long-since worked with partners to advocate for a holistic approach to improving and protecting health. To reduce the unacceptable gap in healthy life expectancy between different communities, we need to create places that give everyone access to the basic building blocks of good health – that means access to affordable good housing and education, affordable healthy food and drink and leisure options, a good environment and more besides – we can’t just focus efforts on changing individual behaviour. That is simply an impossible ask when the places we live in aren’t geared up to providing those things.

“This national framework recognises that and will give local areas the power they need to ensure places are planned with health and wellbeing in mind.”

The framework includes giving power to local authorities to stop new junk food outlets being opened near schools.

Alice Wiseman, ADPH Vice President, who is also Director of Public Health in Gateshead and Newcastle where restrictions to new junk food outlets has already been implemented, said:

“The vast majority of people, parents and grandparents, want us to protect children from junk food in their local area, but action, at a local level, is difficult to implement and often hampered by industry influence.

“Finally, we have a signal from the very top of Government that local leaders can create a healthy food environment rather than treating obesity once it is there.

“We look forward to going further and faster to stop the flood of junk food and the devastating consequences of diet-related ill health.”