Agenda item

The Director of the Built Environment to be heard.

Members received a verbal update of the Director of the Built Environment concerning local plan and health implications. 

Members received the following note:

On 3 October 2019, following committee business, a Member of the Planning policy team gave us a presentation on new policy on health Impact Assessments (HIA’s) in the draft Local Plan, which they are currently reviewing. They gave a PowerPoint presentation on HIA’s and their intention to create a new policy in the draft Plan which will require applicants seeking planning permission for developments to fill out a Healthy City Checklist, and for larger developments to carry out and submit a Rapid or Full HIA.  This requirement will help ensure that developments in the City consider how their development will affect the health of workers, residents, visitors and students. Policy officers will produce guidance for developers on what City-specific issues they should be focussing on and a checklist to ensure they have complied. They will consult with members of this committee when drafting the HIA guidance later this year.

The HIA policy has now been included in the draft Plan, which has been considered by the Local Plans sub-committee and will be going to Planning and Transportation Committee on the 31 March, followed by Policy and Resources Committee and Court of Common Council in May. It will then be subject to a further round of public consultation in the summer before being submitted to the Secretary of State for a public examination.

To help in developing this guidance, the Healthy Urban Development Unit (HUDU) are going to conduct a training session on 13 March in the morning at Walbrook Wharf to explain how to carry out Health Impact Assessments and how to adapt them to the City’s unique circumstances. If anyone is interested in attending, numbers permitting, please contact Lisa Russell at lisa.russell@cityoflondon.gov.uk.

A Member suggested that the GCI maps be updated to show the healthier food outlets in the City.

It was noted that the guidance was missing the health care needs of student accommodation and messaging for students on how to access healthcare provision. A Member suggested pushing S106 levy requests on developers.