Issue - meetings

The Chair welcomed Allan Oldfield, Chair of Healthy New Town Board and Chief Executive of Fylde Council and Lancashire County Council Officer Andrea Smith, Public Health Specialist.

The report presented provided an update on the NHS Healthy New Towns Programme, its inception and up to date position, as well as an overview on the proposed Whyndyke Garden Village Healthy New Town in the Fylde district and the development of Homes for Life Long Living.

In response to questions it was confirmed that:

·  Currently there were no elected members or health representatives from NHS Foundation Trusts on the Board, however this could be considered at the annual review of membership.  The board did link in with NHS providers and Clinical Commissioning Groups and representatives were involved and attended meetings depending on the relevance of the discussion to their expertise.

·  Five expressions of interest had been received from developers and all were aware of the inclusion of the ten healthy living principles in the Section 106 agreement and the additional implications of the project as outlined in the report.

·  Members stated that initiatives such as community park runs and working to increase physical activity in schools were already in place across the county and questioned whether this would be encouraged within the project. This was an NHS initiative and the Board would work with developers to design the area and use the environment to support healthy and sustainable methods of travel. Health initiatives would be piloted to engage the community.

·  With regards to timings, the design and infrastructure would be finalised with the developer once this was announced. Additional grants for an early community facility would also be discussed at this stage to promote community cohesion from the beginning.

·  The current plan was for 1450 properties to home in the region of 3,500-3,700 people. However this could increase as there was some adjacent commercial land that may not be required for its original intended purpose.

·  During initial planning, the Board had looked at best practice and learning points from other similar successful and unsuccessful preceding projects. The key learning point was influencing behaviour change in terms of self-care of physical, mental and spiritual wellbeing. The programme aimed to improve attitudes, behaviours and lifestyle in terms of health, including the use of digital resources.

·  Environmentally sound innovations were also included in the principals of the Section 106 agreement for both the properties and the public infrastructure. Homes for Life Long Living included adaptations such as digital 'plumbing' to ensure homes were enabled for digital assistance as and when needed. National funding would be accessed for change management, for example ensuring families and practitioners were upskilled to use assistive technology.

·  The position of the site meant that it would easily integrate into the wider network of other local cycle routes. It was requested that the paths were made multi-use to incorporate the needs of all non–motorised users, not just walkers and cyclists. Currently the Board was debating how the site could be linked  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5