Health Issues in Planning

Best Practice Guidance
June 2007

Health is far more than the absence of illness; rather it is a state of physical, mental and social wellbeing. A person’s health is therefore not only linked to age and gender, but to wider factors such as education, employment, housing, social networks, air and water quality, access to affordable nutritious food, and access to social and public services in addition to health care.

The Mayor’s London Plan recognises that promoting health in London and reducing inequalities in health contributes to the aim of creating an exemplary, sustainable world city. This Best Practice Guidance (BPG) has been prepared to fulfil a commitment in paragraph 3.87 of the London Plan to work in collaboration with strategic partners to produce additional guidance to boroughs on promoting public health.

This BPG provides more detailed guidance for Local Planning Authorities, Primary Care Trusts and the Strategic Health Authority on how to implement the London Plan policies relating to health improvement and tackling health inequalities. It covers the key tools available for promoting health in planning, focusing on tackling health inequalities and providing information on better integrating health and planning practices. This Guidance is aimed at helping local authorities better address inequalities in health through the spatial planning process and to promote joint working between health and planning sectors to improve provision of healthcare for Londoners.

BPG Health Issues PDF
BPG Health Issues RTF

Launch and Implementation

The ‘Health Issues in Planning’ BPG was launched at City Hall on 31 July 2007. This has been followed by an implementation project consisting of a series of ‘Planning for health’ technical workshops to provide further practical guidance on addressing health issues in planning. The aim of these workshops has been to improve the integration of health and planning sectors to ensure that improving health and reducing health inequalities is effectively treated as an issue within the development of ‘sound’ and locally distinctive Local Development Frameworks (LDFs).

More information on 'Planning for health' technical workshops

Planning and Development

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