How does this impact on Community Wellbeing? The World Health Organisation, Public Health England and the House of Lords Select Committee on National Policy for the Built Environment all recognise that the way places are planned impacts, for good or ill, on health and wellbeing. Access to facilities and activities that promote wellbeing is not ‘place-blind’. The 2018 Scottish Household Survey makes this clear: Those who live in less deprived neighbourhoods are more likely to rate them as ‘a very good place to live’ and are less likely to have felt lonely than those living in the 20% most deprived neighbourhoods. It is clear that Scotland’s places can make a greater contribution to promoting health and wellbeing. National Planning Framework 4 is an important opportunity to make a statement of the role that the physical environment has to play in supporting community wellbeing. This would support the World Health Organisation’s Health in All Policies approach; something that is already a priority for Scottish local Government. Why should the Committee focus on this as part of their future work? National Planning Framework 4 will be subject to Parliamentary scrutiny and approval. Local planning policies will cascade from the National Planning Framework 4, and so the adoption of this strategy will be a key opportunity for the Scottish Government and the Scottish Parliament to support planners and the planning system to shape places that prioritise community wellbeing.
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