Health and Wellbeing

llbeing of the population. SHW2 - Health and Wellbeing 1) All development shall be designed to maximise the impact it can make to promoting healthy communities and reducing health inequalities. In particular, regard shall be had to providing the necessary infrastructure to encourage physical exercise and health, including accessible open space, vegetation and landscaping, sport and recreation facilities, cultural facilities and safe, well promoted, walking and cycling routes. 2) Where new health facilities are planned these should be located where there is a choice of sustainable transport options and should be accessible to all members of the community. 3) To support healthy eating, community assets such as allotments and community orchards should be protected and planting of fruit trees on open spaces encouraged. Opportunities for food growing should be maximised within new developments. 4) Health Impacts Assessments are required for proposals that may have an adverse health impact on the immediate area and affect people living in the development and close by. Health Impacts Assessments should be provided as part of a planning application submitted for major residential proposals of 100 units or more, non-residential applications of 1000spm or more, and any other locally or nationally significant infrastructure project. Assessments should be prepared in accordance with Hertfordshire Public Health’s Position Statement on HIAs. Where a Health Impact Assessment has identified an issue that may have a significant adverse impact, the applicant should set out how this has been addressed and mitigated. Reasoned Justification: 13.6 The World Health Organisation and various Health and Wellbeing Partnerships suggest the numerous social determinants of health, these factors include: 1. Housing and living environment 2. Work environment 3. Transport 4. Access to health and social care services 5. Unemployment and welfare 6. Education 13.7 All of the above have particular links with planning. Many of the health issues relating to the above can be overcome by well-designed developments with consideration of the location, density and mix of land uses and the ‘designing in’ of health and wellbeing as an essential part of the development. Emphasis should also be placed on active travel, multi-functional open space and high quality urban environments to ensure that the setting of the housing and development within the neighbourhood area also contribute to the health and wellbeing of individuals. 13.8 HCC Public Health Department have produced a Hertfordshire Health y and Safe Places Framework (2025) to aid local authorities and developers in the delivery of healthy development and communities and focusses on the principle of “healthy placemaking” as an essential part of the planning process. The document sets out the key principles and aspirations of the Hertfordshire County Council’s Public Health Department focusses on seven core Healthy Placemaking Principles: • Healthy Homes • Healthy Movement and Connectivity • Healthy Community Infrastructure • Healthy Nature Environment • Healthy Economy • Healthy Places and Neighbourhoods • Healthy and Safe Communities 13.9 The guidance shifts the planning focus toward the wider determinants of health, such as housing quality, social connectivity, and safety, to ensure that new and existing environments actively promote physical and mental wellbeing while reducing long - standing health inequalities across the region. The guidance is available at https://hertshealthyplacemaking-hertscc.hub.arcgis.com 13.10 Further guidance on design is also available in Sport England’s ‘Active Design Guidance’ available at: https://www.sportengland.org/how-we-can-help/facilities- and-planning/design-and-cost-guidance/active-design 13.11 To ensure that health and wellbeing is considered in proposals for development we will require that Health Impact Assessments (HIAs) are submitted with planning applications for major residential developments of 100 or more dwellings and for non- residential developments of 1000sqm or more in accordance with the Hertfordshire Public Health’s Position Statement on HIAs, available at: https://www.hertfordshir