As regards planning permission for take-aways and fast-food outlets, in the interests of public health protective measures, including obesity prevention, it is anticipated that a serious review will be undertaken to ensure a far more stringent and rigorous process will be required for the approval of such outlets in any area or community within the remit of the new Development Plan.
It is anticipated the consultation on the subsequent 2022-28 Development Plan may take into account the emerging evidence and re-consider 1) extending the 250m school zone and 2) proximity of parks, libraries, recreational, hospitals and other facilities for children and adolescents (i.e. a significant extension of the exclusion zones and the premises/areas included in the interests of public health).
The new Development Plan could further address excessive concentration of take-aways and fast-food restaurants (including major international chains) which may be particularly attractive to the youth population (e.g. review the current 1km radius per outlet and assess the evidence on compliance with FOG licensing).
Evaluating the environmental impact of new developments includes assessment of socio-economic, health and cultural impacts (Mareddy, 2017). More than a quarter of food produced is wasted and 10% of global carbon emissions is due to food waste. The new Development Plan could promote or actively welcome ZERO waste corporate policies for any new commercial developments and any new take-away or fast-food enterprise should raise the bar in supporting local sustainable development efforts. The Development Plan and ancillary local planning policies could seek to attract innovative developers whom are keen to act as leaders in waste prevention. This would have a knock-one effect as local employment of staff would further empower families and communities to make changes for sustainable living.
Advanced spatial and statistical functions in ArcGIS could be used to further explore the relationships between urban planning and the development of local sustainable food outlets which support healthier neighbourhoods, improved individual nutrition and dietary decision-making, especially in areas which may be considered socioeconomically disadvantaged.
Evidence from other jurisdictions suggest there is an adverse correlation between access to fast-food outlets in a locality and social deprivation (for both multinational and local establishments) with travel distances at least double that in the most advantaged neighbourhoods (Pearce et al., 2007). Another example is a recent Australian study indicating the availability of major fast-food chains near secondary schools appears to be instrumental in students’ fast-food consumption (45% of students purchased such foods at least weekly). It is concluded that restrictions on these outlets near schools may reduce such purchasing choices (Trapp et al., 2021). However, a UK-based retrospective 3 year analysis on 400m secondary school exclusion zones in one local authority has not found any significant impact (at least in the short term) in the food environment compared to non-controlled zones. This may be indicative to planning authorities that further measures (and/or arguably more stringent planning restrictions) should be implemented to promote healthier environments which in turn support individuals within communities to maintain healthy weight (Brown et al., 2021).
It is hoped Dublin City will lead the way for national best practice, forging a path to integrate public health goals in practice within planning policies.
Yours sincerely,
Ella (Edele) Tighe
BIBLIOGRAPHY & REFERENCES
Brown, H. et al. (2021) 'The impact of school exclusion zone planning guidance on the number and type of food outlets in an English local authority: A longitudinal analysis', Health Place, 70, pp. 102600.
Christian, W. J. (2012) 'Using geospatial technologies to explore activity-based retail food environments', Spat Spatiotemporal Epidemiol, 3(4), pp. 287-95.
Haase, T. and Pratschke, J. (2017) The 2016 Pobal HP Deprivation Index for Small Areas (SA) - Introduction and Reference Tables. Available at: https://www.pobal.ie/app/uploads/2018/06/The-2016-Pobal-HP-Deprivation-Index-Introduction-07.pdf (Accessed: 6 November, 2021).
Horner, M. W. and Wood, B. S. (2014) 'Capturing individuals' food environments using flexible space-time accessibility measures', Applied Geography, 51, pp. 99-107.
Lamichhane, A. P. et al. (2013) 'Spatial patterning of supermarkets and fast food outlets with respect to neighborhood characteristics', Health Place, 23, pp. 157-64.
LeDoux, T. F. and Vojnovic, I. (2014) 'Examining the role between the residential neighborhood food environment and diet among low-income households in Detroit, Michigan', Applied Geography, 55, pp. 9-18.
Mareddy, A. R. (2017) Environmental Impact Assessment: Theory and Practice. Kidlington, Oxford: Elsevier Ltd.
Pearce, J. et al. (2007) 'Neighborhood Deprivation and Access to Fast-Food Retailing: A National Study', American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 32(5), pp. 375-382.
Trapp, G. S. A. et al. (2021) 'Association between food-outlet availability near secondary schools and junk-food purchasing among Australian adolescents', Nutrition, 91-92, pp. 111488.