50 Shades of Planning

Sam Stafford was in Manchester recently and took the opportunity to catch up with old friends of the podcast Lisa Tye, Shaun Knights and Jaimie Ferguson.

Lisa is a Partner at Town Legal, Shaun is a Senior Planning Officer at Preston City Council and Jaimie is a Company Director at Lucid

In a conversation recorded at Reform Radio they discussed, principally, the new NPPF, but also touched upon the current live consultations on standard planning agreements for medium-sized sites and planning powers for mayors in England.

Some accompanying reading.

Planning Teal Paper

Another NPPF Mega-Blog

Standard planning agreements for medium-sized sites

Planning powers for mayors in England

When Should Strategic Authority Mayors Be Able To Reverse Local Authority Planning Decisions?

Wigan Council voices its opposition to five green belt sites being included in the borough's development plan

Some accompanying listening.

Relentless – Stereo MCs

Any other business.

If you enjoy the episode do please consider bolstering Sam's fragile self-esteem by leaving the podcast a nice rating and a nice review wherever you listened to it. Obviously though if you have not enjoyed it then please do not leave a review, but do please feel free to let Sam know why. Feedback on 50 Shades episodes is always welcome.

If you have enjoyed to the extent that you feel compelled to share the podcast on one your social platforms then, if you tag Sam, you will be entitled to an exclusive and much-sought after 50 Shades of Planning mug.

50 Shades of Planning is the podcast by planners and for planners and so if you would like to use it as a platform for sharing anything you think that the sector needs to be talking about then you are also very welcome to get in touch with Sam via samstafford@hotmail.com or the 50 Shades WhatsApp Community.

The basis of this episode was a series of posts Sam Stafford spotted that Nick Cuff at Urban Sketch had shared on his Prop Views blog about the Parkhurst Road judgement and the implications thereof.

Sam asked Nick if he would like to explore the themes that he writes about with another new friend of the podcast Jamie Ratcliff, and old friends of the podcast Gilian Macinnes and Anthony Lee.

Jamie co-founded PlaceBase and is chair of the Housing Forum; Gilian advises LPAs on improving planning and place-making services and is presently Interim Assistant Director of Planning and Building Control at the Royal Borough of Greenwich; and Anthony is the Managing Partner at Quintic Advisory.

In a conversation recorded online in July 2026 they talked, philosophically, about how to test viability through the planning process and the conflict inherent between a desire on the part of most landowners to maximise land value and a desire on the part of most policy makers to maximise planning gain. They talked more practically about how Parkhurst begat the London Affordable Housing and Viability Supplementary Planning Guidance, which led onto to talk of fast tracks, thresholds and emergency measures. Then towards the end they discuss what approach might work better than which we have now.

Some accompanying reading.

Parkhurst: The judgement nobody read but shut down the London land market for a generation

Parkhurst Part 2: Before and After, Land Strikes and Practical vs Theory

Parkhurst Part 3: The Age of Enforcement

Viability – Elephant in the NPPF room?

Small sites: Unlocking housing delivery

Planning Anew

The Cost of Building a House

Building new homes not financially viable across half of England

Some accompanying viewing.

NPPF 2026: An Initial Look at the New National Planning Policy Framework

Some accompanying listening.

You Never Give Me Your Money (Take 36) – The Beatles

 Any other business.

If you enjoy the episode do please consider bolstering Sam's fragile self-esteem by leaving the podcast a nice rating and a nice review wherever you listened to it. Obviously though if you have not enjoyed it then please do not leave a review, but do please feel free to let Sam know why. Feedback on 50 Shades episodes is always welcome.

If you have enjoyed to the extent that you feel compelled to share the podcast on one your social platforms then, if you tag Sam, you will be entitled to an exclusive and much-sought after 50 Shades of Planning mug.

50 Shades of Planning is the podcast by planners and for planners and so if you would like to use it as a platform for sharing anything you think that the sector needs to be talking about then you are also very welcome to get in touch with Sam via samstafford@hotmail.com or the 50 Shades WhatsApp Community.

Sam Stafford was at a symposium organised by Create Streets at Hatfield House in June last year called ‘Building for generations’. All of the presentations on the day and the conversations there upon led Sam back to the fundamental question as to why places look the way they do, which, it seemed to him on the train back that evening, would make for a good episode of a town planning-based podcast so he convened some experts in the field of design and placemaking to try to answer that question.

Those experts are old friends of the podcast Hana Loftus (who steers the conversation), Andrew Taylor, and Katie Wray. They are joined by new friends of the podcast Eleanor Fawcett and Peter Maxwell.

Hana is a Director at HAT Projects; Andrew is Group Planning and Sustainability Director at Vistry; Katie is a Director at Deloitte; Eleanor is the Built Environment Fellow for the 1851 Royal Commission; and Peter is an Assistant Director at the Cambridge Growth Company.

In a conversation recorded online in January 2026 they talk about what it is that makes the places that we like (what makes them ‘sticky’, asks Katie); they talk about culture, are places the way they are because ultimately that is the way we want them to be; they talk about the role of planning, does it make places better or worse; they talk about highways adoption standards, and they finish by talking about the changes that they would want to see to help deliver better places.

Some accompanying reading.

Parking – what works where

Delivering quality: mobility hubs

Delivering quality: local centres

Building for a Healthy Life

Building for generations: the Hatfield Symposium

Some accompanying listening.

Episode 116 - Critical Infrastructure

First Aid Kit – Perfect Places

Any other business.

If you enjoy the episode do please consider bolstering Sam's fragile self-esteem by leaving the podcast a nice rating and a nice review wherever you listened to it. Obviously though if you have not enjoyed it then please do not leave a review, but do please feel free to let Sam know why. Feedback on 50 Shades episodes is always welcome.

If you have enjoyed to the extent that you feel compelled to share the podcast on one your social platforms then, if you tag Sam, you will be entitled to an exclusive and much-sought after 50 Shades of Planning mug.

50 Shades of Planning is the podcast by planners and for planners and so if you would like to use it as a platform for sharing anything you think that the sector needs to be talking about then you are also very welcome to get in touch with Sam via samstafford@hotmail.com or the 50 Shades WhatsApp Community.

Sam Stafford was in Birmingham recently and took the opportunity whilst there to catch up with old friend of the podcast Myles Wild Smith and new friends of the podcast Mike Knott, Bart Shirm and Beth Pywell.

Myles is a Director at Lichfields, Mike is a Regional Practice Lead at Stantec, Bart is a Senior Planning Policy Officer at Sandwell and Beth is an Associate Director at Nexus.

During a good ol’-fashioned, Shades-style ramblechat, recorded at Podhaus studios in Digbeth’s Custard Factory, they talk about the NPPF's non-appearance before the parliament summer recess, local plan progress and the recent Pennycook pragmatism letter, changes to the BNG regime, Bart’s recent trip to Canada, which led them back to the reform agenda here, and towards the end, application fees.

Some accompanying reading.

Local Plan examinations: letter to the Chief Executive of the Planning Inspectorate (July 2026)

Biodiversity Net Gain: Amendments and transitional arrangements published

A Biodiversity Net Gain Solution for a High Value Brownfield Site

FUSION Montréal: Confident planners delivering resilient outcomes

Why NPPFs fail #1 - planning by committee

Some accompanying viewing.

Plan, Prepare, Progress: A practical guide to the new local plan system

What does Team Burnham mean for housebuilding

Some accompanying listening.

Vibes and Stuff – A Tribe Called Quest

Any other business.

If you enjoy the episode do please consider bolstering Sam's fragile self-esteem by leaving the podcast a nice rating and a nice review wherever you listened to it. Obviously though if you have not enjoyed it then please do not leave a review, but do please feel free to let Sam know why. Feedback on 50 Shades episodes is always welcome.

If you have enjoyed to the extent that you feel compelled to share the podcast on one your social platforms then, if you tag Sam, you will be entitled to an exclusive and much-sought after 50 Shades of Planning mug.

50 Shades of Planning is the podcast by planners and for planners and so if you would like to use it as a platform for sharing anything you think that the sector needs to be talking about then you are also very welcome to get in touch with Sam via samstafford@hotmail.com or the 50 Shades WhatsApp Community.

This is another episode in the Hitting the High Notes series, which, if you have not listened to one before, is town planning's equivalent, nee rip off, of Desert Island Discs. During these episodes Sam Stafford chats to preeminent figures in the planning and property sectors about the planning permissions or projects that have helped to shape them as professionals and, so that listeners can get to know people a little better personally, for every permission, project or stage of their career, Sam also asks his guests for a piece of music that reminds them of that period.

Unlike Desert Island Discs you will not hear any of that music during the episode because using commercially-licensed music without the copyright holders permission or a very expensive PRS licensing agreement could land Sam in hot water, so, when you have finished listening to this episode, please have a look at the YouTube videos and a Spotify playlist to which there are links below.

This episode features a conversation that Sam recorded at PodFirst studios in Nottingham in January 2026 this with Richard Schofield. Richard began his career in planning as a policy officer in local government, becoming the Head of Planning at Bassetlaw. As listeners will hear, having got a local plan adopted and in need of a fresh challenge, Richard joined the Planning Inspectorate, becoming Chief Planning Inspector, before departing for a now extended secondment within the Chief Planner’s Department in MHCLG.

Over the course of an hour or so, as well as talking through his career to date, Richard touches upon the case for national development management policies, how to adopt a local plan in thirty months, and the best way to wind up an inspector at an inquiry.

Some accompanying reading.

Confessions of a curious mind: An interview with Richard Schofield

SDO Speedwagon

Some accompanying listening

Richard’s Spotify Playlist

Unbearable - The Wonder Stuff

Vagabonds - New Model Army

You held the World in your arms – Idlewild

I Believe – REM

Follow Your Arrow – Kacey Musgraves

Hunger in your haunt – Biffy Clyro

Some accompanying viewing.

Justified

Any other business.

If you enjoy the episode do please consider bolstering Sam's fragile self-esteem by leaving the podcast a nice rating and a nice review wherever you listened to it. Obviously though if you have not enjoyed it then please do not leave a review, but do please feel free to let Sam know why. Feedback on 50 Shades episodes is always welcome.

If you have enjoyed to the extent that you feel compelled to share the podcast on one your social platforms then, if you tag Sam, you will be entitled to an exclusive and much-sought after 50 Shades of Planning mug.

50 Shades of Planning is the podcast by planners and for planners and so if you would like to use it as a platform for sharing anything you think that the sector needs to be talking about then you are also very welcome to get in touch with Sam via samstafford@hotmail.com or the 50 Shades WhatsApp Community.