Cheshire East is to stop companies advertising unhealthy food and drinks on council-owned land, buildings and vehicles.

The new policy, which was adopted last week and will be rolled out by the director of public health, is an attempt to reduce obesity among children and adults.

It will require advertisers to swap pictures of unhealthy food and drink in adverts for their healthier options and non-alcoholic beverages.

Cllr Mark Goldsmith (Wilmslow, Ind) sought clarification at Thursday's meeting of the corporate policy committee on what could and could not be advertised.

"In Wilmslow, a couple of the roundabouts are sponsored by an Italian restaurant," he said.

"I'm just wondering whether this would stop them from advertising because they sell pizza."

Guy Kilminster, corporate manager health improvement, replied: "If they were showing the picture of the pizza, it would be just to ensure they have a couple of slices of pizza rather than whole pizza. The approach is a very pragmatic one."

Cllr Janet Clowes (Wybunbury, Con) said: "I'm just not convinced that the changes would make that much difference.

"What is the buy-in from these outlets, and what sort of feedback have we had from them?"

Mr Kilminster said in areas where this has been done for a while, advertisers had shifted to promoting healthier foods.

"In terms of the impact on public health and levels of obesity and overweight, that is much harder to measure," he said.

Mr Kilminster stressed this was one of several measures being taken across Cheshire and Merseyside to try and reduce obesity and overweight.

"On its own it won't make those changes," he said.

Cllr Jos Saunders (Poynton, Con) welcomed the policy but said the council needed to work with schools and leisure centres more on promoting healthy eating and getting people more active.

And she referred to vending machines at leisure centres.

"It doesn't make sense, if you have a good swim, you have a good workout, and then you go and have a Mars bar," she said.

This prompted Knutsford councillor Stewart Gardiner (Con) to check the vending machine at the council's Westfields offices which, on the day of the meeting, included chocolate, crisps, fizzy drinks, some of which were low calory, and an option for water.

Cllr Saunders also asked about health impact assessments when planning applications were submitted for fast food takeaways, adding there were some areas where every other shop is a takeaway.

An officer told her: "There is a policy in place regarding the hot fast food takeaways in the vicinity of local schools, and restrictions on their opening hours, in Crewe only though."

The Local Democracy Reporting Service asked the council, after the meeting, why it had given permission for a hot food takeaway close to Crewe UTC, which takes students from the age of 14.

The McDonalds which recently opened on the corner West Street and Vernon Way advertises that it is open 24/7.

A spokesperson for the council said this week: "A planning policy was adopted as part of our site allocations and development policies document (SADPD) in 2022, which seeks to provide specific controls on hot-food takeaways, particularly in parts of Crewe.

"The scheme on West Street, however, was approved in 2020 – before the SADPD was adopted by the council."

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