Cranbrook and Marsh Farm HIAs were opportunistic in the sense that they were prepared after important decisions had been made prior to assessment, However, they were still given space to develop recommendations (as introduced above). Both were exemplary in terms of how they were run procedurally [1]. Subsequently, we discuss normative effectiveness of the HIAs in the light of the results from interviews conducted in 2021 and web-based searches for evidence in 2023. The numerous quotes are all from the interviewees who included:
(1) Marsh Farm (Luton)
1 HIA consultant
2 Council Public Health Representative
(2) Cranbrook (Devon) interviewees
3; 4: Devon Council Planning Representatives
5: National Health Service (NHS) Public Health Practitioner
6: East Devon Council Planning Representative
7: HIA Consultant
HIAs assessed a range of social determinants of health, with employment, in particular of local people taking centre stage. The Marsh Farm HIA focused on normative impacts of health inequalities, and "members of the Community were engaged with thinking about health and about indicators of health, and how that might translate to the community. They talked about things that were troubling them. We also had workshops… the community were very much engaged in it". On the value of participatory approaches, "I noticed fairly early on… there's a disconnect from where the Council were, and where the community was in Marsh Farm. We hoped the HIA would bring some of these organisations together and would create a kind of common way forward".
The Cranbrook HIA found space to consider community cohesion through the provision of social infrastructure. Without an existing settlement, this was a challenge, and "there wasn't engagement with the developer, we never spoke to the designers… I think that if I was to do this again there would be more opportunities for public engagement".
Perceptions of the HIAs being able to inform and change decisions showed mixed results. In Marsh Farm "I don't think it's made a huge difference, but it has built in health and wellbeing, so it's an intrinsic part… HIA is good at influencing and shifting mindsets". On the decision of having a housing led focus, one interviewee remarked that at least initially "they'd forgotten all about it [the HIA]. There were some horror stories in the press about these developments, about how they were not working well.” This was due though at least in parts to a delay of the development of social infrastructure (which was eventually implemented with some delay, though).
With regards to housing and health, "they [initially] applied a 40% affordable housing target, which meant you had a terrible situation where everyone on the housing lists from both, East Devon and a fair proportion from Exeter were housed in Cranbrook. Without the community infrastructure that you needed to support people… It felt very counter-intuitive trying to make the case for less affordable housing and more community infrastructure".
Increased scrutiny of the monitoring stages of HIA can bridge a frequently existing evidence gap in providing HIA case studies illustrating health outcomes [5, 17, 18]. For Marsh Farm,
"the 25-year monitoring plan didn't happen, I left and there was no one to follow through". For Cranbrook: "I look at these health codes [proposed in the HIA] and wonder if they had any life beyond the HIA? That would be some interesting learning, if they didn't then why not?".
In both cases, there were individuals underlining how the HIAs positively influenced receptive institutional leaders. For Cranbrook, "the HIA was important, fitting into a larger vision of what this development should be". For Marsh Farm, "The public health realm in the local authority was increasing, and the authority understood poverty".
The 2008 global financial crash had an impact on HIA effectiveness in that "there was a rupture between all the work that had been done. The HIA lost a lot of momentum " (for Marsh Farm)" and "it made a difference to the power of the developers and what the Council wanted to be done and how much they felt they could… seek to impose health and wellbeing considerations on a market driven solution, as none of the land was publicly owned" (for Cranbrook).
Both cases had enthusiastic champions and leadership for the HIAs and developments. "Marsh Farm HIA had to be the flagship HIA, in which all the other HIAs base themselves". The Marsh Farm team involved local community stakeholders, but also built networks within the commissioning organisations. "It's very rare that you find planners who really can understand and visualise the impact that the plan can have on health and wellbeing, particularly the wider determinants. That's the bit we [public health] bring to it.".
Champions operated within arenas that had experiences with HIA, with individuals that understood HIA well. Luton also had a local HIA policy. Planning and public health actors had different roles, but could decide equally on funding, scope, and methods. The focus on the social determinants of health offered a bridge between planning and public health. In this context, it is important that both cases were of high procedural effectiveness [19, 20].
Cranbrook HIA recommended the priority scheduling of community infrastructure, which was accepted in the development plan. As mentioned above, a community outreach worker was employed in 2012, and a new Town Council was established. Also, the construction of a school (Cranbrook education campus) had been completed in 2015 (https://www.cranbrookeducationcampus.org.uk/). The school has allowed for community access, as had been recommended in the HIA. At the time of the interviews in 2021, it was not clear though when exactly community and childcare centre would eventually be delivered. However, this changed in August 2022, when work on Cranbrook Town Centre (including community and childcare centres) started (with delay). Importantly the 40% affordable housing target, which had raised concerns, was not kept. Instead, for the first stage of development, a 30% target was used. Subsequent stages then only applied a 15% target [21]. With regards to HIA recommendations on supporting the arts and cultural activities, it is observed that a ‘Cranbrook Festival’ initiative was started in 2012, with the aim of bringing ‘together the people of Cranbrook town, Devon, by staging one or more annual arts and community festival events during the year’ (https://cranbrookfestival.com/about-us/). Also, a Cranbrook Cultural Masterplan was prepared in 2015 (https://www.ginkgoprojects.co.uk/cranbrook).
On the Marsh Farm Estate, refurbished and new housing, a new supermarket, gardens and other community facilities with improved pedestrian and vehicular access were delivered. With regards to evidence on how health determinants have developed over time, indices of multiple deprivation (IMD) ranks are considered for the relevant seven lower layer super output (statistical) areas (LSOA), consisting of the following seven domains of deprivation (weighting in brackets; following [22]):
• Income (22.5%)
• Employment (22.5%)
• Health Deprivation and Disability (13.5%)
• Education, Skills Training (13.5%)
• Crime (9.3%)
• Barriers to Housing and Services (9.3%)
• Living Environment (9.3%)
Neighbourhood level data taken at the time of construction and on completion illustrate that domain rankings had improved between 2015 and 2019, with notable variations, including the impact on living environment during construction works (Fig. 1).
The overall rank change worsened during the construction works for all but two of the LSOAs. All but one LSOA had improved in rank from 2010 at the start of the development to 2019 at completion and resettlement of the 2nd construction phase (with the 3rd and final construction phase being underway).