Introducing TRUUD Standards for Healthy Environments: New Guidelines Unveiled
A New Practical Guide to Create Healthy Communities in England
The Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA) has launched a new practical guide to assist local authorities in England in creating places that promote health and wellbeing. The guide, titled "a practical guide for local authorities on embedding health in Local Plans and planning policies in England", was developed in collaboration with planning and public health officers from seven English local authorities.
The guide offers a process and support for creating healthy local plans, signposting to resources, and highlighting examples of high-quality adopted policy. Co-lead author Gemma Hyde, Projects and Policy Manager at the TCPA, stated that the guide aims to provide clear advice, evidence, and recommendations with specific examples from adopted Local Plans.
The guide outlines an approach to preparing healthy Local Plans organized under three guidance themes: universal, policy, and implementation. It emphasizes collaboration between planning, public health, sport and recreation, and transport sectors as essential to embedding health and wellbeing in local plans and policies.
The focus is on shifting from treatment to prevention, integrating health into broader social and environmental strategies, and working at a neighbourhood and community level rather than just health institutions. The guide also includes recommendations to address environmental determinants of health such as air quality, green infrastructure, and access to amenities.
The guide was created in response to research that found Local Plans can be weak and inconsistent on how to create healthy places. It provides options to cater to diverse district and borough needs and highlights opportunities to integrate health considerations within the Local Plan process.
The TRUUD research programme and the Town and Country Planning Association have collaborated on this initiative. Co-lead author Dr Emma Bird, Senior Lecturer in Public Health at the University of the West of England, stated that the guide is user-friendly for planning and public health officers, elected members, and other local and national stakeholders. Carrie Wood, Senior Public Health Lead for the Wider Determinants of Health at Surrey County Council, supported the development of the guidance from a two-tier authority perspective.
The TCPA is committed to supporting local authorities and can offer free training, support, and facilitated workshops to places and communities looking to plan, design, and build places for healthy lives. The guide is available for download on the TCPA's website.
In related news, a Cambridgeshire contractor has been shortlisted for a prestigious national award. The contractor's work focuses on creating sustainable and healthy communities, aligning with the goals of the TCPA's new practical guide.
- The new guide, developed by the Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA) with input from seven English local authorities, offers a process and support for creating healthy local plans that integrate health into broader social and environmental strategies, focusing on shifting from treatment to prevention.
- The guide emphasizes collaboration between planning, public health, sport and recreation, and transport sectors to embed health and wellbeing in local plans and policies, and includes recommendations to address environmental determinants of health such as air quality, green infrastructure, and access to amenities.
- In line with the guide's emphasis on sustainability, a Cambridgeshire contractor's work creates sustainable and healthy communities, aligning with the goals of the TCPA's guide.
- The guide provides clear advice, evidence, and recommendations with specific examples from adopted Local Plans, making it user-friendly for planning and public health officers, elected members, and other local and national stakeholders.
- The TCPA is committed to supporting local authorities in planning, designing, and building places for healthy lives, offering free training, support, and facilitated workshops for communities looking to implement the practical guide's recommendations.
