Improving health and wellbeing

In Camden, many people are living in poor health for many years of their lives and the gap in healthy life expectancy between the poorest and richest parts of the borough continues to widen. On average, those living in the most deprived areas spend 20 years of their life living in poor health and die around 10 years earlier than those living in the least deprived areas. 

We know that health is intrinsically linked to early life experience, education, employment, housing, leisure, and the local environment – otherwise known as the social determinants of health. These are the social, cultural, economic and environmental factors that shape the conditions in which we live.

Planning can play a pivotal role in influencing key health determinants. This policy seeks to ensure that development in the borough considers local issues relating to health and wellbeing at an early stage of the planning process in order to positively improve outcomes for the people of Camden.

Policy SC1 - Improving health and wellbeing  

A.    The Council will continue to work closely with its partners to improve the physical and mental health and wellbeing of all people who live, work in, study in and visit Camden, and reduce health inequalities. 

B.    To support healthier communities and reduce health inequalities in Camden the Council will require development to: 

1. Be designed to promote good health and wellbeing, minimise adverse impacts on health and wellbeing and reduce health inequalities; 
2. Provide a healthy living and working environment; 
3. Support healthy and active lifestyles; 
4. Be safe and accessible for all; 
5. Promote social and economic inclusion; 
6. Support the provision of new or improved health facilities, in line with the North Central London’s Integrated Care System and NHS England’s requirements; and
7. Be designed and constructed to meet the WELL Building Standard.

 C.    Health Impact Assessments must be undertaken for major applications and developments that the Council considers would have the potential to give rise to significant adverse health impacts.  

D.    Health Impact Assessments should be undertaken at an early stage and the results should be used to refine the design of a development, to maximise the positive impacts, and minimise and mitigate adverse impacts, on the health and wellbeing of both the existing and future population. 

The Council’s ambition is to make Camden the very best place to start well, live well and age well.  To support this ambition the Council has produced the Camden Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2022 – 2030. The  strategy sets out the shared principles, long term ambitions and short term priorities of the Council  for improving health and wellbeing and reducing health inequalities.

Central to the Council’s strategy is the 'population health' approach, which seeks to improve physical and mental health, promote wellbeing and reduce health inequalities across an entire population. This approach focuses on the social determinants of health and wellbeing and highlights the importance of creating a collective sense of responsibility across organisations and within communities to reduce inequalities and promote good health.

The Local Plan has a significant role to play in delivering the Council’s Health and Wellbeing Strategy. Health considerations are therefore integrated into all aspects of this Plan and many measures set out in other policies will play a part in promoting population health and wellbeing and addressing health inequalities, for example by:

• Promoting good quality, well designed, affordable and accessible housing (Policies D1, D3, H4 and H6) to reduce overcrowding, improve living conditions and support health and wellbeing. 
• Requiring developments to contribute to the mitigation of and adaption to climate change, to reduce the impact of extreme weather events such as flooding and heatwaves on health (Policies CC1 – CC13).
• Ensuring that buildings and places are designed to promote healthy behaviours and be inclusive and accessible to support the needs of different groups in Camden (Policies DS1, D1 and SC1).
• Protecting existing, and requiring the provision of new, social infrastructure to support communities, aid integration and reduce loneliness (Policy SC2).
• Promoting healthy lifestyles, increased physical activity and improved mental health through the design of new development (Policies DS1, SC1 and D1), the protection of existing and provision of new and enhanced open space, play and sports facilities (Policies SC2 and SC3) and investment in active travel (Policies T1 and T2). 
• Ensuring that developments are designed to reduce crime and the fear of crime, and improve community safety (Policy A2)
• Promoting a stronger local economy, recognising the links between income and health (Policy IE1)
• Improving and creating better access to education, training and employment (Policy IE1)
• Supporting healthy eating by improving access to healthier food choices and increasing opportunities for food growing (Policies SC4 and IE7) 
• Managing the impact of development on health (Policy SC1) and reducing exposure to poor air quality with the aim of improving health (Policy A3).

Development and Health

The creation of healthy environments will be a key consideration for the Council when assessing planning applications and the Council will expect applicants to take into account the needs of different groups when designing schemes, to ensure they meet the needs of Camden’s diverse communities and are inclusive and accessible. 

New development has the potential to support significant improvements in health but can also have considerable adverse impacts on health if it is inappropriately located, designed, constructed and/or operated. 

To ensure that development promotes and positively contributes to a healthy living environment in Camden, development will be expected to consider both positive and negative health impacts at an early stage, prior to the submission of a planning application, with actions to enhance positive impacts and mitigate negative impacts identified. Health Impact Assessments will be an important tool for this.

The Council will also expect new development to be designed and constructed to achieve the WELL Building Standard, a global rating system focussed on the ways that buildings, and everything in them, can improve comfort, drive better choices, and enhance health and wellness.  

Health Impact Assessments

A Health Impact Assessment (HIA) is a useful tool that helps to ensure that health and wellbeing is properly considered as part of the planning process. The scope of a HIA will vary depending on the size of the development and its location. A HIA should identify the likely health impacts of a development and include measures to improve health outcomes and address negative effects and inequalities.

Health Impact Assessments should be undertaken for all major applications. Major applications are regarded as developments of 10 or more homes (including student housing) or a non-residential development with a floorspace of 1,000sqm or more. For mixed use developments, major developments are regarded as a proportional combination of homes and non-residential floorspace. HIAs for developments of 100 homes or more, including student housing, will be expected to include details of the engagement they have undertaken with local health and community stakeholders in the community and how their input has influenced the development. Further information on HIA can be found in Camden Planning Guidance on amenity and the Mayor’s Social Infrastructure supplementary planning document.

In addition to the above, Health Impact Assessments will also be required for developments considered to have the potential to give rise to significant adverse health impacts. A HIA will also be required for developments, including those involving sensitive uses such as education, health, leisure or community facilities, publicly accessible open space, hot food take aways, betting shops and in areas where air pollution and noise issues are particularly prevalent.

As part of the process of undertaking a Health Impact Assessment applicants will also be expected to consider the risk of suicide, particularly in relation to tall buildings and structures, in accordance with Policy A2 Safety and Security. 

Health Facilities

The North Central London Integrated Care System (NCL ICS) covers five boroughs; Camden, Islington, Barnet, Enfield and Haringey. It brings together local health and care organisations, local councils and the voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector to work in joined-up ways to improve health outcomes for residents and tackle inequalities that currently exist. Within the Integrated Care System an estates team is responsible for all NHS health care buildings and facilities and must be consulted on any proposals for new or replacement public health care buildings in Camden.

Policy DM1 Delivery and Monitoring and Appendix 1 sets out the infrastructure requirements for the borough over the Plan period, including many that relate to improving health.

Policy SC2 Social and Community Infrastructure specifically states that we will resist the loss of community facilities (which includes health facilities), unless a replacement facility that meets need is provided or where evidence demonstrates that the facility, or similar facility, is no longer required. We will also require contributions towards supporting existing or providing for new facilities from developments that result in additional need for community facilities, such as those for health. In assessing additional need, the Council and NHS partners will use the NHS London Healthy Urban Development Unit’s Planning Contributions Model to assess the health service requirements and cost impacts of new residential developments.