For any development that does occur, we support the idea of “high quality people-focused spaces” being created but would like the Greater Cambridge Shared Planning team to explain in more detail what these might look like. The possibility of a policy which “restricts the development of new hot food takeaway premises close to schools or leisure centres” and “limits the concentration of hot food takeaway premises in city, town, neighbourhood and village centres” seems sound in light of the worrying rise in obesity amongst children leaving primary school. Measures should be taken to safeguard our children’s health, particularly those being raised in our more impoverished neighbourhoods. How can we encourage and enable local families to eat a balanced and sufficient diet? Sustainable food shops selling organic fruit and vegetables, such as the ones sold on
Cambridge market or via home delivery companies such as Cambridge Organic Food Company or sustainable local enterprises such as Full Circle, tend to be located in the centre of the city or via home delivery which is much more expensive than the fruit or vegetables you can pick up in the supermarket. Nourishing, organic food and the culture of making one’s own dinner with locally grown food seem to be restricted to our middle classes. We would like to see local businesses who already produce healthy food for the residents of Cambridge having a presence in local shops in Chesterton, Arbury, Abbey and Kings Hedges. We feel the Council should be approaching these local businesses and provide incentives for them to trade in areas where all local people can access them; not just those who live in Market or Petersfield or Trumpington.
We also feel it would be effective to encourage existing takeaways to offer healthier options so that children and young people might benefit from a better diet. This has already been done in Tottenham where local takeaways had the chance to take part in a competition. Taster’s Chicken Shop in Tottenham’s [1] new healthier children’s menu featured grilled chicken, salad and chunky chips in controlled portion sizes for the same price as the existing fried chicken and fries options.
Due to the declining health of our more disadvantaged families, we would like to see the Local Plan delivering interventions that help to reverse this trend like those set out in the ‘Encouraging Healthier Takeaways in Low Income Communities’ based on research by the Cities Institute, London Metropolitan University, October 2014 [2]. For example, in the East Midlands, Indian
restaurants were targeted by the Eat out Eat in Healthy project and asked if they might try altering the ingredients of their curries with dry spice mixes and less oil. When consumer tasting sessions demonstrated that most customers preferred the taste of the healthier curries, these restaurants were converted to providing a healthier menu. In another initiative, the Healthier Takeaways project in Antrim, the fat and salt content of 12 fish and chip shops were tabulated and the results were shown to the owners. The ones who were higher up on the table were shocked into making changes to their cooking techniques. Further, in the London Borough of Haringey, it was found that promoting the Healthier Catering Commitment in the same street meant that, once some
businesses on that street had signed up, the others did not want to be left out. [3] This evidence demonstrates that once the message has come from local authorities that local businesses need to step up their game in helping their customers make healthier choices and ultimately lead longer lives, then local businesses respond and take action. We all know that this issue is particularly poignant in Cambridge where the difference in life expectancy between the richest and the poorest
is an alarming 11.6 years [4]. We feel the impetus for action from our council to start tackling this startling inequality in Cambridge has never been greater.
[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/case-studies/healthy-high-streets-challenge-and-tasters-friedchicken-
shop
[2] https://www.cieh.org/media/1242/encouraging-healthier-takeaways-in-low-incomecommunities.
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[3] https://www.cieh.org/media/1242/encouraging-healthier-takeaways-in-low-incomecommunities.
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[4] https://consultations.greatercambridgeplanning.org/greater-cambridge-local-plan-firstproposals/
explore-theme/wellbeing-and-social-inclusion