How councils can lead the next phase of prevention
Planning for healthy places is moving firmly up the local government agenda.
That was evident at this year’s LGA and Association of Directors of Public Health’s annual public health conference, where four dedicated sessions focused on planning and the built environment, and many others touched on how neighbourhood design influences residents’ wellbeing.
Across three days, speakers returned to the same core message: the places where people live, work and travel shape their health long before they reach a frontline service – and councils hold many of the levers that influence those environments.
This growing focus presents a significant opportunity for local government at a time when prevention is rising rapidly up the national agenda.
But it also raises important questions for councillors about leadership, workforce capability and the long-term vision required to create healthier, more resilient communities.
Healthy places are not an abstract idea. They are the result of decisions made every day in planning committees, highways teams, regeneration programmes and environmental health services.
The width of a pavement, the location of a bus stop, the clustering of fast-food outlets or the availability of green space can all shape health outcomes as strongly as clinical care.
Throughout the conference, speakers highlighted how healthy environments support economic activity and local pride, increase children’s independence and mobility, reduce the risk of chronic disease, and improve mental health.
They also help to ease pressure on already overstretched health and care services. As one speaker put it: “If we want healthier residents, we must create healthier environments.”
While councils have many of the powers they need, the conference also highlighted a growing workforce challenge.
Healthy place making is a multidisciplinary effort, requiring skills that sit across planning, public health, transport and design.
Many local areas are responding by developing new hybrid roles, such as healthy places officers or planning for health leads, to bridge the gap between systems.
Practitioners emphasised that this capability is essential for embedding health early in the planning process.
Public health teams bring strong analytical skills and a deep understanding of population needs, while planners lead on development processes, viability, design codes and the complexities of plan making.
Where these skills come together, decisions are more robust and better aligned to long-term health outcomes.
There is growing interest nationally in developing clearer competencies, training pathways and joint professional development across both fields – an agenda councillors can support through strategic direction and investment.
During February’s public health conference, councils shared practical models that illustrate what is possible.
Dr Anjan Ghosh, Director of Public Health at Kent County Council (KCC), described how systems leadership enabled the creation of a principal planning for health officer role, jointly funded by KCC Public Health, Strategic Planning, and Active Kent and Medway, to ensure places and spaces in Kent are well designed, sustainable, and positively impact on the health and wellbeing of communities.
Amber Nyoni, Strategic Planning and Public Health Lead at Essex County Council, emphasised the value of matrix roles, operationally based within planning but professionally rooted in public health, which has strengthened collaboration on development proposals.
These examples, though diverse, share a common theme: healthy place making requires coordination, confidence and sustained political support.
Councillors can play a highly influential role in shaping healthy places. Key actions include:
- championing health consistently across local plan reviews, growth strategies and major development decisions
- supporting the use of health impact assessments, a tool that helps to identify the health and wellbeing impacts (benefits and harms) of any plan or development project
- asking for clear health considerations in planning committees and reports, cabinet papers and scrutiny meetings
- backing officers to develop joint training and shared priorities across planning and public health
- encouraging developers to demonstrate how proposals contribute to walkability, access to green space, local food environments and safer streets.
Across the conference, speakers highlighted the visible benefits of healthy place making: stronger high streets, safer public spaces, better connectivity and greater community confidence.
These outcomes resonate well beyond public health teams, and support wider local priorities, such as regeneration, economic resilience and local pride.
Looking ahead, planning for healthy places is no longer a niche agenda: it is a central part of delivering equitable, thriving and future-ready communities.
Councils already hold the tools, evidence and influence needed to lead this work, and councillors have a unique opportunity to drive this ambition locally.
Key resources
The LGA publication ‘Empowering healthy places: unveiling the powers and practices of local councils in fostering healthy neighbourhoods’ can be downloaded for free at the LGA website.
A practical guide outlining councils’ powers across planning and public health, the publication includes examples of how local areas are using these to create healthier neighbourhoods.
Presentations from the LGA/ADPH Annual Public Health Conference 2026 can be downloaded from our website.