Agenda item

The Panel will consider a report setting out the approach taken in the draft Hot Food Takeaway SPD and the next steps for consultation and adoption of the SPD.

Contacts:

Steven Wright, Planning Policy and Strategy Group Leader.

The Panel considered a report setting out the approach taken in the emerging draft Hot Food Takeaway Supplementary Planning Guidance (SPD) presented by Hannah Morrison - Senior Planning Officer, Mathias Franklin – Head of Planning and Development and Johanna Scrutton – Planning Policy Team Leader, Planning and Development.

Lucy Wearmouth – Public Health Manager, Public Health, Beth Wallis – Project Officer, Public Health and Councillor Mussarat Khan Cabinet Portfolio holder for Health and Social Care were also in attendance.

Hannah Morrison gave a presentation which highlighted the following key points:

·       The SPD was jointly produced between planning, public health and environmental health.

·       It set out the framework on how planning applications for hot food takeaways would be assessed, and some of its principles would apply to existing takeaways who applied to vary their conditions.

·       The purpose of the SPD was to add clarity to exiting policies such as LP16 and LP47 relating to health , food and drink uses.

·       It was important to balance health and well-being issues and the needs of small business who were likely to be affected.

·       It was not a blanket ban on hot food takeaways, and public health intelligence data was used alongside other considerations to ensure that the approach was proportionate.

·       This was not the only solution to issues within the Authority relating to health and obesity and included signposts to all Council initiatives that were available to businesses and residents.

·       The SPD supports other council priorities such as improving health and its commitment to the healthy weight declaration.

·       The SPD set out 7 principles that any application for a hot food takeaway will need to have regard to including:

o   4 relating to Residential Amenities – noise, odours, waste disposal, takeaway design, community safety, highway safety.

o   Town Centre Vitality and Viability – impact on local towns and centres to avoid clustering of takeaways.

o   Proximity to School – restricting the opening hours of hot food takeaways that were within 400 metres of a school to help improve childhood obesity.

o   Public Health Toolkit – to support residents to live in and access healthy environments.

·       There was a relationship between deprivation and obesity. In the most deprived areas, there was likely to be more hot food takeaway clustering.

·       Public health intelligence was used to inform place-based decision making.

·       There were key indicators to show the impact obesity had within a specific area. If the indicators were significantly above the Kirklees average, the recommendation would be that the takeaway didn’t open.

·       Around 80% of postcodes would be accepted using this tool, but if they were rejected, mitigations were built into the process.

·       The next steps were public consultation on the 9^th November which would last for 6 weeks and be followed by a Cabinet decision to adopt the SPD mid-2022.

The Panel noted that 80% of postcodes would be accepted using the tool and asked in relation to public health if this meant there little problem in approving new takeaways. Lucy Wearmouth confirmed that the 80% accepted wouldn’t be significantly above the Kirklees average so it would be ok for those post codes to have a takeaway.

The Panel noted some of the figures around obesity and overweight children were quite significant in some areas and queried whether these areas were densely populated with takeaways and would fall into the remaining 20%.

Lucy Wearmouth advised it would be a combination of indicators, the public health indicator did not include the clustering of takeaways, but this was included in another section of the SPD and there would be a collation of data between all indicators. Hannah Morrison, Senior Planning Officer, Planning Policy, also added that for a place to be rejected it would have to have scored above the Kirklees average on all 7 indicators.

The Panel acknowledged the tool was proportionate but asked if the approach was too cautious.

Mathias Franklin advised this was the approach was evidence-based and was fair and reasonable.  It was a consultation to gauge people’s opinions on the implications of the balance between economic towns and tacking health. Mathias further advised that the document could be revisited in time and there was a commitment to review it periodically to monitor performance. 

The Panel highlighted that there were areas more densely populated with takeaways than others and agreed it would be useful in determining whether an application needed objecting to. Hannah Morrison added that the toolkit would be available online and would calculate the results so that all resident, councillors, and the applicant could use this tool before submitting an application.

The Panel raised some concerns relating to new takeaways opening such as additional litter and the need for additional parking. The Panel also noted the section of the SPD that made reference to avoiding clustering of takeaways (no more than 3 in a row) and questioned how this would affect the new development in Batley Town Centre which was predominantly for takeaways.

In response, Mathias Franklin explained that the issues were around the vitality of a centre and taking into consideration health, environmental issues which are relevant to planning considerations and the impact on local centres. Mathias highlighted the importance of having a range of types of business that people could use, that sustained the centre throughout the day and the evening. Mathias also shared that the purpose was to try to balance the number of clusters, plan for the future and manage future growth so that centres had a fair chance of staying viable, being attractive and having a range of services for people.

Councillor Khan highlighted that the policy demonstrated how we could use public health intelligence to tackle wider health inequalities and that one of the main benefits was to allow the Council to influence hot food industries to provide healthier food options. Councillor Khan advised that the FINE Team (Food Initiative and Education Project) could offer support and advice on how places could offer more nutritionally balanced menus and make improvements to their menu choices.

Responding to a question about whether village centres were included in the SPD. Hannah Morrison confirmed that all principles within the SPD applied to hot food takeaways across Kirklees, including district and local centres. This was apart from the principle regarding the proximity to schools and the tool kit, which would not apply within Huddersfield,  Dewsbury and Batley, Cleckheaton, Heckmondwike and Holmfirth.

The Panel highlighted that FINE was an advisory service (which couldn’t be enforced) and questioned the implications of this in relation to takeaways being able to get around regulations or planning considerations.

Mathias Franklin explained the need to work collaboratively with businesses to help develop opportunities and diversification. Mathias highlighted that planning was part of the journey but also education and choice, so that people could see viable business opportunities.

The Panel noted there would be some learning when the SPD was adopted and questioned if it was something that could be done without a formal process. In response Mathias advised the SPD could be updated but there would need to be a consultation process, highlighting the importance of asking people’s opinions.

The Panel requested that data regarding the 400 metre exclusions zone and how many takeaways were within that perimeter be provided.

Councillor Khan thanked everyone for their comments and noted overall the panel were in support. Councillor Khan highlighted the gap in the local hot food industry in terms of healthy choices and the opportunities for business to open and have healthy hot food on offer. Councillor Khan acknowledged we could not stop people feeding their children unhealthy foods, but we could try to influence the hot food market and raise awareness.

Councillor McBride highlight that this was an opportunity to use planning as a creative tool to make and support wider Council proprieties and control development. Councillor McBride advised there were a number of areas being transformed due to lack of planning or ability to control by planning. The SPD would be used wisely and affectively to ensure the exact location of a takeaways and the impact.

Hannah Morrison responded to the question asked relating to the 400-meter exclusions zone and advised there was lots of evidence and research carried out and other authorities use this. Hannah advised there would be more detailed information within the SPD setting out the justification for this. Hannah also shared that the SPD was based on evidence, including academic research and actual data.

The panel queried the criteria in relation to what was classed as a hot food takeaway and whether this could apply to larger multinational chains?

Hannah Morrison responded to the above question and confirmed hot food takeaways were defined by the planning used class (A5 used class) Hannah also advised that this applied equally to large multinationals, small businesses and drive throughs.

Lucy Wearmouth shared it was brilliant to be using public health to inform planning decisions across the council and agreed it was an innovative approach. Lucy also added, with regards to an earlier question about being too cautious, that it was important to be cautious at the beginning and take measures along the way to see how it goes.

RESOLVED: The Panel noted the draft Hot Food Takeaway Supplementary Planning Guidance (SPD) and it was agreed that:

1.    Investigative work was undertaken to determine how to expand and add to the benefits of the FINE programme.

2.    The public health tool kit was updated as required.

3.    An update be provided to the Panel following the consultation stage.

Clarification was provided in relation to principal and town centres.