Planning powers are increasingly being used to control a proliferation of hot food takeaways as part of a drive to encourage healthier eating and lifestyles.
Many local authorities have developed policies and guidance to control hot food takeaways in response to local concerns about a proliferation of takeaways and the effect on diets and eating behaviour and obesity, in particular childhood obesity.
This good practice guide focuses on the role of the planning system in particular, reviews the policy approaches taken and recommends a coordinated approach using planning policies together with other local authority initiatives.
Hot Food Takeaways also draws attention to some of the wider context of obesity, and highlights a number of sources of information and advice on other complementary initiatives, such as working with businesses and schools – see for example the Takeaways Toolkit (November 2012) developed by the London Food Board, the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health and the Mayor of London.