Don’t ruin life-saving ‘natural health service’

GROWING up in New Zealand, I spent lots of time outdoors in spectacular countryside. There, long-distance walking – or ‘tramping’ – is a national pastime.

I came to Britain in 1972 and have kept up the walking, recently completing the Capital Ring – 78 miles around London.

The route passes through lots of London’s parks and green spaces but, sadly, many were largely empty. We seem to have fallen out of love with our parks.

This is a worry for the NHS as parks are our ‘natural health service’ offering endless opportunities for us to live longer, happier, healthier lives.

Many of our cities have extensive green spaces. They should be full of people enjoying sports, walking dogs and playing games. But poorly maintained parks and green spaces do little to invite walking or play.

Parks can play a critical role in keeping us healthy – but only if they are kept open and maintained to high standards that make them places we actually want to visit.

Instead, our waistlines are expanding as we choose sedentary lifestyles that place a huge burden on our health. Six million people over 60 live with two or more long-term conditions. Obesity – which can lead to type 2 diabetes and 13 types of cancer – is on the rise. Many of these conditions are not inevitable but are associated with the way we live. And they are a heavy burden on taxpayers.

I have spent decades in planning and we all know well-designed neighbourhoods, towns and cities help us lead healthier lives.

It is essential to raise the nation’s ambitions a long way above the design of today’s housing estates. We need to design and develop higher-quality places to make it easier for people – especially our children – to live healthier lifestyles. For example, providing safe routes for walking to school or cycling to work and attractive green spaces.

Evidence suggests 37,000 premature deaths a year could be prevented through exercise and healthier lifestyles.

Health must be at the heart of planning policy and the NHS’s Healthy New Towns programme is leading a new approach. Working with a growing number of developers, we are exploring exciting ways to deliver health and care services.

Our ancestors built homes, villages, towns and schools around green spaces. They were central to community life and I believe we need to get back to our heritage.