Land use planning is primarily undertaken at the local level through local plans and development management decisions by local authorities. Planning includes objectives around promoting healthy and safe communities so public health considerations and involvement are necessary. A rapid review was undertaken of reports specific to the planning system between 2010 and 2024 and based on methods focused on gathering professional views. The reports were from academic papers, professional practice reports and parliamentary inquiries. There is a need to take a systems thinking approach to health focusing on the connections across the system, context and capability. This can help identify connected themes and gaps. In this context, the analysis found consistent themes for discussion: uncertainty in the reform process, clarity in national policy, complexity in plan-making and the local plan, delays in decision-making, politics in planning, reduced resourcing in local government, decreasing capability and skills, and concluding with reflections on improving public health consideration and involvement to drive local planning for health. The implications for public health involvement and consideration of health and wellbeing issues in planning as a key influence of the wider determinants of health can be profound with challenges and opportunities presented for future policy and practice.

The authors have declared no competing interest.

This study did not receive any funding.

I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained.

Yes

I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals.

Yes

I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance).

Yes

I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines, such as any relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material, if applicable.

Yes

All data produced in the present study are available upon reasonable request to the authors.