EDDC leader welcomes healthy approach to education

East Devon District Council’s Leader has welcomed the offer of a woodland at Cranbrook for use by students at the new education campus where building work is about to begin as “an excellent example of promoting health and wellbeing”.

Councillor Paul Diviani gave a short address to a members’ briefing at Knowle on Wednesday, called so councillors could hear about the latest proposals from the NHS Clinical Commissioning Group that covers Eastern Devon.*

As a County Council ward member for Honiton St Paul’s, Councillor Diviani also has an interest in Devon County Council’s Health and Wellbeing agenda.

He told the Transforming Community Services (TCS) briefing at Knowle that he had just come from a visit to the site of the new education campus at Cranbrook. There, he had learned of an offer by a local farmer to open up a newly-planted woodland for use by students for field studies.

The TCS briefing was held so that every member of East Devon District Council had an opportunity to hear proposals from Devon’s new Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) about the future of the treatment arm of health services in the area.

The new Devon CCG is responsible for commissioning most healthcare services for the local population. The briefing made it clear that a healthy lifestyle can play an important role in reducing the pressure on medical services.

East Devon District Council has recently boosted its own contribution to the preventative side of health care by drawing up its own Public Health Plan, working with Devon County Council experts. East Devon’s new Public Health Projects Officer takes up her post on 23 October.

East Devon’s Public Health Plan has been produced with Devon County Council colleagues who have been supporting this Council (Public Health Specialist; Public Health Consultant and Public Health Analyst), and DCC are providing £20,000 towards implementing the Plan actions.

Councillor Diviani said: “The World Health Organisation defines Public Health as all organised measures (whether public or private) to prevent disease, promote health, and prolong life among the population as a whole. Its activities aim to provide conditions in which people can be healthy and focus on entire populations, not on individual patients or diseases. Public health is concerned with the total system and not merely the eradication of a particular disease.

“The new public health agenda links well with our corporate themes, which are based on living, working and enjoying the outstanding place that is East Devon. The challenge is to target our public health interventions where we can make a positive difference to individuals and communities by improving their health and wellbeing.

“I welcome any initiative that promotes a healthy lifestyle among all sections of the population – young and old. I’m especially pleased at this latest example of an area being set aside where local young people – the citizens of tomorrow – can learn about the environment and enjoy the great outdoors close to their brand new educational campus”.

* The notes of this members’ briefing will be reported to the next meeting of the council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 16 October.