NHS England publishes healthy towns guidance

The NHS has published its guidance on how developers and health providers can collaborate to deliver housing schemes and infrastructure projects which promote wellbeing among residents.

The guidance is based on the wide-reaching Healthy New Towns scheme, launched in 2015 to explore how the development of new places could provide an opportunity to create healthier and connected communities with integrated and high-quality services.

The programme worked with 10 demonstrator sites across the UK and involved a number of stakeholders – such as Public Health England and the Town and Country Planning Association – with the aim of exploring ways to create healthier living spaces and, ultimately, to use the learnings to influence policy in housing, planning and health.

The resulting guidance – published this week – has been divided across four separate books, covering topics such as design, planning and developing health care services.

Recommendations within the guides include creating compact, connected neighbourhoods; maximising active travel opportunities; enabling healthy play and leisure; inspiring and enabling healthy eating; and creating integrated health and wellbeing centres.

There is also advice on the roles that councils, developers, housing associations and the NHS should play in developing healthier towns and spaces.

• To download and read the full guidance on Healthy New Towns, click here for the NHS England website.

• To read an article on the Healthy New Towns initiative, click here for Sports Management Issue 4 2018.