Planning Frameworks to action social and environmental sustainable development are necessary because uncoordinated economic and social development is having increasingly diverse effects on people and the planet. Creating healthier and more sustainable communities requires new approaches to planning for health at the local level. Queensland Health, Local Government and Griffith University have formed a working partnership to develop and implement Public Health Plans in Queensland in seventeen communities. Each city has its own culture and diversity and planning for health and environment outcomes has many opportunities for health gains but also creates many organisational barriers for action. Public health action has always focused on the relationship between the environment and health, and these relationships now have a global perspective. Frameworks for action on socially and environmentally sustainable development are necessary because uncoordinated economic and social development is having increasingly diverse effects on people and the planet. Creating healthier and more sustainable cities and shires requires new approaches to planning for health and at a local level. Queensland Health, Local Government and Griffith University have formed a working partnership to develop and implement Municipal Public Health Plans in 18 communities. Each city has its own culture and diversity and planning for health and environment outcomes is a special challenge. Effective planning is complex and demanding.

This paper firstly discusses the issues associated with living in cities and ways to place health planning on the agenda. Secondly, the paper discusses the importance of developing structured planning mechanisms in levels of government to create a sustainable foundation and a network for health planning projects at a local level.

The paper discusses several key structural initiatives that are driving the health planning process in Queensland communities:

1.National health planning policy; 2.Engaging with partners to design and implement the ‘whole of government’ Regional Framework for Growth Management for Sustainable Futures at a State level; 3.Identifying social justice and human services priority actions, including identification of mechanisms/processes for engagement, planning, implementation and reporting arrangements; 4.Agree on local government protocols and, in partnership, progress and implement planning actions; 5.Development of a Community and Local Government Team in Queensland Health to support the process and provide funding; 6.Integrated MPHP Planning within local government and joint funding.

The paper lists the key structural mechanisms of Health Planning that have provided an opportunity to create a sustainable foundation for MPHP projects in Queensland.