Healthy Place Making: Improving Public Health through Planning

P﻿ublic Health Intervention Responsive Studies Teams (PHIRST) are funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Public Health Research (PHR) programme. The PHIRST mission is to produce timely and accessible evaluations of public health interventions to local government organisations.Across the UK, organisations such as local authorities and councils are running public health schemes to improve the health and wellbeing of their residents. These cover a wide range of topics from healthy eating programmes, to smoking cessation services, mental health initiatives, school holiday activities or traffic interventions. In the past these organisations have reported issues trying to evaluate these interventions due to time and resource constraints. The NIHR PHIRST scheme aims to address this need for timely and robust evaluations.F﻿or more information visit our website www.phirst.nihr.ac.uk

NIHR PHIRST

This NIHR PHIRST webinar will explore how local government public health and planning teams can work together to improve our environments

Healthy environments support better population health. This webinar will focus on three PHIRST projects that showcase how local governments in England have been working to design and deliver healthier places. These include the development of hybrid and specialist posts across public health and planning departments, and developing guidance for developers on improving the quality of amenity space in new residential developments. The webinar will also include a panel discussion on the implications of this work for policy, practice, and the public. If you would like to submit a question for our panel in advance please email Ann.Fitchett@newcastle.ac.ukIn depth information on the evaluations being discussed can be found on the PHIRST website<ul><li>Building and facilitating system capability to create healthy environments in East Sussex and Southampton, <a href="https://phirst.nihr.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/ES-S-Healthy-Place-Making-Oct25-1.pdf" title="https://phirst.nihr.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/ES-S-Healthy-Place-Making-Oct25-1.pdf" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">view the presentation slides</a> (PDF) <a href="https://phirst.nihr.ac.uk/evaluations/building-healthy-environments/" title="https://phirst.nihr.ac.uk/evaluations/building-healthy-environments/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">full evaluation details</a></li><li>How ‘hybrid’ public health posts in local government support the delivery of healthier places in the Oxford-Cambridge Arc, <a href="https://phirst.nihr.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/OC-Arc-Healthy-Place-Making-Slides-Oct25.pdf" title="https://phirst.nihr.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/OC-Arc-Healthy-Place-Making-Slides-Oct25.pdf" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">view the presentation slides</a> (PDF) <a href="https://phirst.nihr.ac.uk/evaluations/hybrid-public-health-posts/" title="https://phirst.nihr.ac.uk/evaluations/hybrid-public-health-posts/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">full evaluation details</a> </li><li>Residential Amenity Space and Place Quality, Supplementary Planning Document at Brent Council, <a href="https://phirst.nihr.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Brent-Healthy-Place-Making-Slides-Oct25.pdf" title="https://phirst.nihr.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Brent-Healthy-Place-Making-Slides-Oct25.pdf" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">view the presentation slides</a> (PDF) <a href="https://phirst.nihr.ac.uk/evaluations/hybrid-public-health-posts/" title="https://phirst.nihr.ac.uk/evaluations/hybrid-public-health-posts/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer"></a><a href="https://phirst.nihr.ac.uk/evaluations/brent-space-place/" title="https://phirst.nihr.ac.uk/evaluations/brent-space-place/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">full evaluation details</a></li></ul> Confirmed panel members include:<ul><li>Adam Briggs, Director of the NIHR Public Health Research Programme and Deputy Director of Public Health at Oxfordshire City Council</li><li>Andrew Charlesworth-May, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government</li><li>Riham Lofti, Public Partner, Residential Amenity Space and Place Quality, Supplementary Planning Document at Brent Council</li><li>Andrew Netherton, Programme Manager (Housing, Planning and Environments for Health), Directorate for Prevention and the Public Health System, Office for Health Improvement and Disparities</li></ul>

Agenda

Welcome and Introduction

This PHIRST evaluation undertaken by PHIRST LiLaC with Southampton and East Sussex councils reports on the added value of specialist posts in bridging the gap between planning and public health in local government.  The presentation considers the ways in which the posts enabled intersectoral working on this agenda and increased capacity for the workforce. The presentation will also reflect on ‘what happened next’ including the longer term impacts of these posts’ introduction since the study reported in 2024. Questions will be taken after this presentation.

Building healthy environments – the role of  specialist 'Health Places' posts

Amenity space is the shared space within or between buildings and private space, such as balconies or gardens. It affects people’s experience of the place that they live and can impact their physical and mental health and wellbeing. The planning team within one local council have introduced changes to their processes to improve the quality of amenity space within new residential developments. This includes a new guidance document about place quality for developers, a template for developers to record how they are meeting the guidance, training for Planning Officers and the introduction of a community review panel. Within this presentation we will share findings about how well these changes have been working. We will also consider how to ensure good partnership between planning and public health teams in the future. Questions will be taken after this presentation.

Improving Amenity Space and Place Quality in a Local Council

While healthcare is important, the environment in which a person lives can have a long-term impact on their health. The planning system has significant implications for population health and health equity, shaping access to important ‘building blocks’ for health, including good quality housing, green space, active transport and healthy foods. Local governments in England are exploring how healthier places can be designed and delivered. One option being considered is to create posts that can support and improve collaborations between public health and planning departments. This presentation explores our evaluation of hybrid public health and planning posts working in Oxfordshire County Council and Milton Keynes City Council, Central Bedfordshire Council and Bedford Borough Council. By bridging specialisms for healthier places, we reflect on why planning and public health work better together, and consider what this demonstrates about the evolution of the healthy places agenda.

Why planning and public health work better together

Break

Our invited panel members will discuss the implications of this work for policy, practice, and the public. If you would like to submit a question in advance please email Ann.Fitchett@newcastle.ac.uk.  Confirmed panel members are:  Adam Briggs, Director of the NIHR Public Health Research Programme and Deputy Director of Public Health at Oxfordshire City Council. Andrew Charlesworth-May, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. Riham Lofti, Public Partner, Evaluation of the Residential Amenity Space and Place Quality SPD (Supplementary Planning Document) in Brent. Andrew Netherton, Programme Manager (Housing, Planning and Environments for Health), Directorate for Prevention and the Public Health System, Office for Health Improvement and Disparities. 

Panel discussion 

Closing remarks

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Healthy Place Making: Improving Public Health through Planning

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