50 Shades of Planning

• If I Ruled the World

  Sam Stafford was down in The Big Smoke recently and took the opportunity to catch up with friends of the podcast Matthew Spry, Simon Ricketts, Hana Loftus, Vicky Payne and Mike Kiely. In a good ol’ fashioned Adam Buxton-style ramblechat they talked about anything and everything. They talked about stat cons; they talked about skills, resources and leadership within LPAs; they talked about the need for efficiency gains in development management to deal with the expected uptick in planning applications; they talked application fees; they talked about power lines; they talked about a national scheme of delegation; they talked about NPSs, SDSs, local plans and NDMPs; and then they talked about a national scheme of delegation again. There is something in here for everybody. Some accompanying reading. Reeves to put £2bn into affordable housing to ‘sweeten the pill’ of cuts Bureaucratic burden lifted to speed up building in growth agenda Planning Fees – All Power to Local Authorities? People living near new pylons in Great Britain could get £250 a year off energy bills On modernising planning committees Assistance Required: 'The Snagging List' Some accompanying listening. Nas ft. Lauryn Hill - If I Ruled the World (Imagine That) 50 Shades T-Shirts! If you have listened to Episode 45 of the 50 Shades of Planning you will have heard Clive Betts say that... 'In the Netherlands planning is seen as part of the solution. In the UK, too often, planning is seen as part of the problem'. Sam said in reply that that would look good on a t-shirt and it does. Further details can be found here. Any other business. Sam is on Bluesky (@samuelstafford.bsky.social) and Instagram (@samuel__stafford). His blog contains a link to his newsletter.

  --------  

  59:50
• Back in Black

  The fast-paced, ever-changing, rock and roll world of town and country planning has been especially fast-paced, ever-changing and rock and roll of late. How then to try to catch up? Sam Stafford thought that the best way of doing so was to reprise the ‘Labour of Love’ episode that he published back in August of last year. Here then you will hear elements of nine conversations recorded online between friends of the podcast old and new about nine themes of the Government’s crystalising reform agenda. Catriona Riddell, Andrew Taylor, Jane Meek and Alex Coley talk about strategic planning, devolution and local government reorganisation (06.54); Greg Dickson, John Sayer, Rebecca Clutten and Anthony Lee talk about CPO, land value capture and benchmark land value (17.42); Claire Petricca-Riding, Gilian MacInnes, Sarah McLaughlin and Robbie Owen talk about infrastructure planning (28.12); Andrew, Shelly Rouse, Mike Kiely and Adele Morris talk about planning committees (36.26); Claire, Hana Loftus, Nina Pindham and Neil Beamsley talk about development and nature recovery (46.11); Andrew, Annie Gingell, Hana and Sarah Young talk about Grey Belt (54.22); Andrew and Paul Smith talk about statutory consultees (01.02.42); Ben Castell, Katie Wray, Vicky Payne and Hana talk about design and placemaking (01.13.21); and Hashi Mohamed, Kathryn Ventham and Simon Mirams talk about the flood risk sequential test (01.24.45). The full conversations will appear on the 50 Shades YouTube channel in due course and Sam will share the respective links on the 50 Shades Bluesky, LinkedIn and TikTok channels when they are published. Some accompanying reading. JEKC David's Tribute St. John's Hospice Bowel Cancer UK Context 'Biggest building boom' in a generation through planning reforms The Planning and Infrastructure Bill The Planning & Infrastructure Bill: An Overview Devolution Devolving local growth: how do the emerging geographies shape up? CPO / LVC / BLV Compulsory purchase process: guidance (October 2024 update) Law Commission seeks views on compulsory purchase laws Compulsory Purchase Process and Compensation Reforms How far can land value capture be pushed? Infrastructure Growth drives major infrastructure and housing planning reform proposals Planning Committees Planning Reform Working Paper: Planning Committees On modernising planning committees Modernising Planning Committees National Survey 2025 Nature Restoration Planning Reform Working Paper: Development and Nature Recovery Land Use Consultation Grey Belt How grey is the Green Belt? The “Grey Belt” has arrived Colouring In The Grey Belt: The PPG Grey belt policy having only a marginal impact at best Grey Belt Impact Assessment Stat Cons Bureaucratic burden lifted to speed up building in growth agenda Reform of the Statutory Consultee System Cons & Pros On Stat Cons Flood Risk Sequential Test More Afloat – New NPPF and the Sequential Test Enhancing flood and coastal erosion risk digital services with the latest data and mapping Some accompanying listening. Back in Black - AC/DC 50 Shades T-Shirts! If you have listened to Episode 45 of the 50 Shades of Planning you will have heard Clive Betts say that... 'In the Netherlands planning is seen as part of the solution. In the UK, too often, planning is seen as part of the problem'. Sam said in reply that that would look good on a t-shirt and it does. Further details can be found here. Any other business. Sam is on Bluesky (@samuelstafford.bsky.social) and Instagram (@samuel__stafford). His blog contains a link to his newsletter.

  --------  

  1:40:58
• A Brief History of Planning 2010-2024

  Back in March 2024 friend of the podcast Catriona Riddell gave a lecture at UCL’s Bartlett School of Planning that she called ‘Strategic Planning in England - Where did we go so wrong?’. Sam Stafford couldn’t be there that night, but Catriona shared her slides on LinkedIn and they read to Sam almost like a ‘Brief History of Planning 2010-2024’, which he thought a good subject for an episode. As well as Catriona, who was Director of Planning at the South East England Regional Assembly when the Coalition Government came to power in 2010, Sam approached another friend of podcast, Steve Quartermain, Chief Planner between 2008 and 2020, who was also keen to be involved. Sam felt though that a political perspective on things was also needed so he approached Greg Clark. Greg was appointed Director of Policy for the Conservative Party in 2001 before being elected as MP for Royal Tunbridge Wells in 2005. He has held a number of senior Government roles, including, and of most relevance to planners, Minister for Decentralisation and Cities within the Department for Communities and Local Government between May 2010 and September 2012 and Secretary of State for CLG between May 2015 and July 2016. Greg was also briefly Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities between July 2022 and September 2022. Greg, pleasingly, was also keen to be involved, and the four of them finally got together at Soho Radio Studios in early October 2024. There were many, many topics of possible conversation in Sam's notes for the recording. They did not actually get to the latter part of the 2010-2024 period, so they did not get to, for example, the Standard Method, the 2020 White Paper, and the Theresa Villiers / LURB amendments brouhaha, but that was because they ended up dwelling on arguably the big three topics of that 2010-2024 period, which are the revocation of the Regional Strategies, Localism and the NPPF. They did also touch, right at the end of the conversation, on permitted development rights. Standby for insights into what Eric Pickles had DCLG staff do on his first day at the Department, the amount of thought that was given to what would replace the RSSs (spoiler alert, not much…) and how the NPPF came into being… Some accompanying reading. Has the localism genie been put back in the bottle? https://samuelstafford.blogspot.com/2024/09/has-localism-genie-been-put-back-in.html Some accompanying viewing. Catriona’s Bartlett School of Planning lecture - Strategic planning in England: where did we go so wrong? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7D2xXMwVNrk Jerry’s Final Thought https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7h0mIy6Jho Some accompanying listening. The Wheel – Bill Callahan https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPjxq2-j6xY 50 Shades T-Shirts! If you have listened to Episode 45 of the 50 Shades of Planning you will have heard Clive Betts say that... 'In the Netherlands planning is seen as part of the solution. In the UK, too often, planning is seen as part of the problem'. Sam said in reply that that would look good on a t-shirt and it does. Further details can be found here: http://samuelstafford.blogspot.com/2021/07/50-shades-of-planning-t-shirts.html Any other business. Sam is on Bluesky (@samuelstafford.bsky.social) and Instagram (@samuel__stafford). His blog contains a link to his newsletter.

  --------  

  1:05:32
• 100 Days of Labour

  Saturday 12 October 2024 marks 100 days of the new Labour Government. In anticipation of this milestone Landmark Chambers and Town Legal hosted a seminar in London this week to provide an in-depth review of Labour's first 100 days in power and the impact on planning law and policy. The session was recorded so that Sam Stafford could share it by way of the 50 Shades podcast and planners will be glad that it was recorded because it contains analysis and insight of the highest order. This episode includes: Rupert Warren talking about the NPPF, local plans and housing;Meeta Kaur talking about new towns;Russell Harris talking about London;Simon Ricketts talking about infrastructure and commercial development; andIsabella Buono talking about Grey Belt and affordable housing. Some accompanying reading. https://www.landmarkchambers.co.uk/resources/100-days-of-labour-a-planning-law-and-policy-perspective-full-presentation Some accompanying listening. All My Friends – LCD Soundsystem https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObvLGOE-_Qk 50 Shades T-Shirts! If you have listened to Episode 45 of the 50 Shades of Planning you will have heard Clive Betts say that... 'In the Netherlands planning is seen as part of the solution. In the UK, too often, planning is seen as part of the problem'. Sam said in reply that that would look good on a t-shirt and it does. Further details can be found here: http://samuelstafford.blogspot.com/2021/07/50-shades-of-planning-t-shirts.html Any other business. Sam is on Bluesky (@samuelstafford.bsky.social) and Instagram (@samuel__stafford). His blog contains a link to his newsletter.

  --------  

  1:04:33
• Not the NPPF

  Last week, on NPPF deadline day, Sam Stafford was in Manchester and took the opportunity to catch up with friends of the podcast Katie Wray, David Diggle, Greg Dickson, Mark Parkinson and Claire Petricca-Riding at the studios of Reform Radio. Conscious that the podcast has covered the revised NPPF in episodes 128 and 131, they talked about some of the other current hot planning topics. They talked about brownfield passports and why existing tools in the box are not being used already; they talked about the Labour Party Conference, which led on to conversation about a Plan for England; and they talked about what the New Towns Taskforce would need to do to meaningfully advance that agenda. And then they talked a bit more towards to the end about brownfield passports again. They did try not to mention the NPPF, but, as you will hear, were unsuccessful in so doing... Some accompanying reading. Planning Reform Working Paper: Brownfield Passport https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/planning-reform-working-paper-brownfield-passport The New Towns Taskforce https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/the-new-towns-taskforce Brownfield urban regeneration: how to deliver more growth, homes and jobs with the support of communities https://www.britishland.com/news/brownfield-urban-regeneration-how-to-deliver-more-growth-homes-and-jobs-with-the-support-of-communities/ Brownfield Passports: building on old foundations? https://www.irwinmitchell.com/news-and-insights/expert-comment/post/102jjwb/brownfield-passports-building-on-old-foundations Brownfield Passports…To What? When? How? https://simonicity.com/2024/09/28/brownfield-passportsto-what-when-how/ Design codes will help fill our cities with the missing middle https://www.pricedout.org.uk/design-codes-will-help-fill-our-cities-with-the-missing-middle/ Some accompanying listening. A Shared Sense Of Purpose - Warrington-Runcorn New Town Development Plan https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMhN3pWyBR0 50 Shades T-Shirts! If you have listened to Episode 45 of the 50 Shades of Planning you will have heard Clive Betts say that... 'In the Netherlands planning is seen as part of the solution. In the UK, too often, planning is seen as part of the problem'. Sam said in reply that that would look good on a t-shirt and it does. Further details can be found here: http://samuelstafford.blogspot.com/2021/07/50-shades-of-planning-t-shirts.html Any other business. Sam is on Bluesky (@samuelstafford.bsky.social) and Instagram (@samuel__stafford). His blog contains a link to his newsletter.

  --------  

  52:56

More Government podcasts

Trending Government podcasts

About 50 Shades of Planning