New practical guidance to help local authorities in England promote health through urban planning has been launched by the TRUUD research programme and the Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA).
Local Plans, which outline how areas will develop, are key statutory documents for local planning authorities. However, research by TRUUD shows that while these plans have the potential to nurture healthier communities, they often lack clear strategies on how to achieve this.
The new 48-page guide, “Planning for Healthy Places: A Practical Guide for Local Authorities on Embedding Health in Local Plans and Planning Policies in England“, provides specific advice, evidence, and recommendations—illustrated with examples from adopted Local Plans—on how to develop health-focused policies.
It discusses the importance of planning in creating healthier places and provides a Framework for preparing healthy Local Plans organised under three guidance themes:
- Universal guidance considers how health should be characterised and justified in the Local Plan and explores the role of collaboration and health impact assessment at the plan-making stage.
- Policy guidance examines strategic and specific health-related policy areas that developers should be expected to consider when making planning applications.
- Implementation guidance covers how policies and other mechanisms in the Local Plan can support policy implementation for better health outcomes.
Co-lead author Dr Emma Bird, Senior Lecturer in Public Health at the University of the West of England said:
“Our research identified a clear gap between what local authorities want to achieve in terms of creating healthier places and available guidance on exactly how to do this. As well as being a user-friendly guide for planning and public health officers and elected members, it will be useful for other local and national stakeholders such as people working in transport, sustainability and community engagement.”
Co-lead author Gemma Hyde, Projects and Policy Manager at the TCPA added:
“We know from our work with local authorities that there is a desire to better embed health and wellbeing into local plans, but often officers find it difficult to know where and how to begin. This guidance, which is evidenced based, practical and inspirational, offers a process and support for creating healthy local plans, signposting to resources and highlighting examples of high-quality adopted policy.”
A collaborative research-based project
The new guidance is part of a wider TRUUD (Tackling the Root causes Upstream of Unhealthy Urban Development) £10m research project based at the University of Bristol. TRUUD aims to investigate how urban places can be planned to reduce non-communicable diseases such as cancers, diabetes, obesity, mental ill-health and respiratory illness.
Led by TRUUD and the TCPA, the guidance was also created in partnership with planning and public health officers from seven local authorities in England – Bristol City Council, Guildford Borough Council, Medway Council, Northumberland County Council, Southampton City Council, Surrey County Council, Walsall Council.

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