‘No Fry’ campaigner is to address conference

Philip Moyles, who spearheaded the ‘No Fry Zone’ campaign in Greystones, has been invited to present at a conference on obesity. The presentation will take place on Monday, May 14, at the Royal College of Surgeons for the Association for the Study of Obesity on the Island of Ireland.

Mr Moyles will be talking about the journey taken by campaigners and how they helped Wicklow County Council to adopt No Fry Zones into the County Development Plan 2016-2022.

The policy means that fast food premises are not permitted to open within 400m of a school or playground in non-town centres.

‘I’ll be sharing our experience on what we did well, some of the challenges we faced and how we can support other counties in adopting No Fry Zones,’ said Mr Moyles.

‘It’s a positive example of grassroots advocacy progressing the promotion of health in planning to good effect.’

Wicklow County Council, as the first council in Ireland to adopt a No Fry Zone with a stated distance, will be recognised for commitment towards public health and the translation of research evidence into practice on the ground.

Meanwhile, the No Fry Zone group is working to create a leaflet to be shared with councils who are revising their development plans in the hope that they will adopt no fry zones.