Environmental factors

The Evidence

The environment in which we live, work and play is a key determining factor of our health and wellbeing in Torbay.  

Environmental ‘stressors’ such as air pollution, noise, light, town layout and changes in climate, can all have a part to play in our health and wellbeing. Urban planning that aims to reduce air pollution, light and noise pollution, extreme heat and other consequences of climate change, can therefore all improve our overall health as well as our heart health. 

Evidence points towards the environmental factors which create the conditions to enable sedentary lifestyles and promote unhealthy foods as being particularly important for increasing the risks of cardiovascular disease. 

We can think about how healthy our environment is at different levels. The most immediate environment for most people will be their own home or living space. But the environment in which we live may be extended to the garden, the street, the workplace, the town centre, the routes we take when we move from place to place. This environment can support us to keep healthy. Conversely, it can restrict or harm our ability to follow healthy behaviours and activity, leading to poorer health outcomes and harming both the individual and society. 

How do we shape up?

Through the land use planning system, Torbay Council as a planning authority has a key role to play in shaping how our environment changes by creating the conditions for health promoting development to take place. Local policy documents such as the Local Plan, Neighbourhood Plans and supplementary planning guidance are important tools to manage and influence how Torbay develops. More broadly, the wider development industry, landowners and asset holders have a contribution to make themselves on shaping healthy environments within and outside the planning process.   

Active travel, which includes walking, wheeling and cycling, are forms of travel which require physical activity to occur in order to take place. Generally, it is one of the simplest and most effective ways to enable adults and children to meet recommended levels of physical activity. However, there is a disconnect between the actual levels of active travel in Torbay against the ideal number of trips taking place. 

An engagement exercise in 2021 on transport in Torbay identified that most people felt the provision of cycle paths was the weakest element of Torbay’s transport network and a vast majority of people wanted to see an increase in the number of trips which are walked or cycled. In order to achieve this, Torbay’s infrastructure needs to increasingly make walking, wheeling and cycling routes coherent, direct, safe, comfortable and attractive so that people feel able to carry out more of their travel in an active way.

There is strong and robust evidence indicating that the more people are exposed to green spaces, the more health benefits they will receive, including improved cardiovascular health. Green and blue infrastructure provides society with a range of multifunctional benefits, including an opportunity for people to connect with nature, engage in physical activity, interact with other people creating social cohesion and undertake recreational activities. 

Many would agree that Torbay has an outstanding natural environment. Its green infrastructure (parks, green spaces, trees, sports pitches,) and blue infrastructure (beaches, sea) are valuable assets which provide vital services to many people, including in promoting good health and wellbeing.  

What can we do?

Spatial Planning

Planning policies can be used to ensure for new planning developments tackle the causes of ill health and promote healthy lifestyles. This includes managing the proliferation of hot food takeaways, using healthy urban design approaches and strengthening the status of local health evidence in decision-making, as well as focusing more on active travel.

Active Travel

Workplaces (private and public), places of study (schools) and retail (shops) have important opportunities to help support active travel by providing facilities which make active travel easier, for example: bicycle parking, showers and lockers. Travel plans are can be used to systematically assess the travel needs and demands of occupants and visitors before putting actions in place which can make a difference to travel habits.

Green and Blue Space

There is more that can be done to promote and enable existing green and blue assets to be used more often and provide greater access for people of all ages, living across the whole of Torbay. We want to ensure that the green and blue assets we have are maximising their potential to offer spaces for relaxation, enjoyment and physical recreation. The task for Torbay is to better connect and improve these spaces, and create new spaces, using existing resources in the community, the public and private sectors. The benefits of access to green and blue infrastructure can then be further unlocked and harnessed for our whole population.