Lessons in healthy food
From: Coun Tom Leadley, Haigh Moor Road, West Ardsley, Wakefield.
MUCH is made of ill-health due to obesity and its burden on the NHS. Leeds City Council is about to take a small, though significant, step towards tackling unhealthy eating by adopting a Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) which will let it control the opening of new hot food takeaways within 400 metres of the gates of high schools, and the opening of new takeaways in areas where there are too many already.
This is a spin-off from an appeal by McDonalds against refusal of planing permission to build a drive through restaurant on the New White Bear site at Tingley, close to the back gate of Woodkirk Academy. At that inquiry, I successfully presented Morley Town Council’s case as its planning witness and the appeal was dismissed, but only on grounds that overspill parking outside houses would disturb neighbours.
When the policy is in place, it will give Leeds useful levers when controlling the siting of new hot food takeaways. Leeds is close to national averages in its levels of obesity, but they are growing and there is no room for complacency. Leeds has the second largest number of hot food takeaways in England, which isn’t surprising as it’s second in population only to Birmingham.
What is of much more concern is that it is ranked 15th out of 325 local planning authorities in terms of density of hot food takeaways per 100,000 people.