A recently published report found that Local Plans, the statutory requirement for local government, lacked consideration of health priorities and are in need of review. Lead author Dr Rosalie Callway of the University of Bristol discusses the findings
As part of Tackling Root causes upstream of Unhealthy Urban Development (TRUUD), we analysed the Local Plans across seven local authority areas to assess if their policies consider and implement the health implications of urban planning decisions.
Local Plans can have numerous benefits in the community
The review was an important part of our overall study as Local Plans offer a great starting point for embedding the health benefits of particular approaches associated with the quality of housing, transport, natural environments, food, and neighbourhood design.
As well as the review, we used evidence from interviews with 132 experts involved in urban development, such as local government planners, real estate investors, public health officials and property developers. The interviewees indicated that health was not considered a priority and policies were often inconsistent or weakly implemented. This contributed to our conclusion that Local Plans lacked incentives to target local health and wellbeing priorities.
Our research, published in the International Journal of Environmental Research & Public Health and in partnership with the University of the West of England, has some practical recommendations to tackle health inequalities.
- Requiring accessible walking and cycling provision to boost physical activity; promoting tenant rights in the growing rental market to address issues of tenure insecurity.
- Mobilising investment in insulation, green and energy efficiency measures to tackle fuel poverty that affects both mental and physical wellbeing and cut carbon emissions.
- Enhancing access to green spaces to reduce urban overheating and improve mental health.
- Safe, decent, and affordable housing that is designed to meet the needs of individuals and families at different life stages with differing needs.
- Locating development sites that are well connected to local services, amenities and public transport to improve social interaction, safety and wellbeing.
I’d now like to see further research on how policies are interpreted by developers and national reform, such as for the Planning Inspectorate to better support the integration of health requirements through the Local Plan.
Improvements in local health are needed
The seven Local Plans we analysed were very good in many respects but there were clear opportunities where health requirements could be strengthened, especially to target the implementation gap where developers can compromise on conditions once planning consent has been achieved. A requirement for developers to create health management plans and improve local engagement in the design and ownership of new sites could help address this.
TRUUD is a research project based at the University of Bristol and funded by the UK Prevention Research Partnership, looking at how urban centres can be planned to reduce health inequalities. It brings together experts from academia, industry, and government to recommend and create new tools and processes for healthier cities. The project counts the cost of poor health, works with communities to communicate the issues they face and maps out the decision-making process in creating urban centres and includes two active case studies in Bristol and Manchester.
Integrating Health into Local Plans: A Comparative Review of Health Requirements for Uban Development in Seven Local Planning Authorities in England by Rosalie Callway, Anna Le Gouais, Emma Bird, Michael Chang and Judi Kidger was published in the International Journal of Environmental Research & Public Health.
Dr Rosalie Callway
Senior research fellow
University of Bristol
