Harston Neighbourhood Plan Submission Version

The wider South Cambridgeshire Local Plan (2018) vision seeks to deliver sustainable growth and facilitate a high standard quality of life for its residents. An objective of this seeks to ensure all new developments provide or has access to services and facilities which support healthy lifestyles and well-being.

There is a well-established connection between planning and health, and the planning system has an important role in creating healthy communities. The planning system is critical not only to the provision of improved health services and infrastructure by enabling health providers to meet changing healthcare needs, but also to addressing the wider determinants of health.

NHSPS and Cambridgeshire & Peterborough ICS support the “Health First” principle (The Healthy City, Key Cities, 2022). In supporting a healthier population and prioritising good mental, physical and social health, it is necessary to recognise that healthy places and environments are underpinned by a number of factors. A holistic vision and approach to health in the built environment therefore needs to be adopted with the purpose of encompassing the central vision of the principle for places which are ‘Healthy, Attractive, Accessible, Adaptive, For All’.

We note that Policies HAR11, HAR13, and HAR22 seek to incorporate healthy planning through sustainable design, flood risk management, and active travel. In support of, and further supplementing these, it is our recommendation that the principle and specific requirements of Healthy Planning, as set out below, are incorporated within the Neighbourhood Plan.
Specific policy requirements to promote healthy developments should include:
• Provide access to healthy foods, including through access to shops and food growing opportunities (allotments and/or providing sufficient garden space)
• Design schemes in a way that encourages social interaction, including through providing front gardens, and informal meeting spaces including street benches and neighbourhood squares and green spaces.
• Design schemes to be resilient and adaptable to climate change, including through SUDs, rainwater collection, and efficient design.
• Consider the impacts of pollution and microclimates, and design schemes to reduce any potential negative outcomes.
• Ensure development embraces and respects the context and heritage of the surrounding area.
• Provide sufficient and high quality green and blue spaces within developments.