50 Shades of Planning

• All Around The World - USA

  This is the first of a new series of episodes being led by Paul Smith, who regular 50 Shades listeners will know is the Managing Director at the Strategic Land Group and a Housing Today columnist. Paul put it to Sam Stafford recently that debates about the planning system in England tend, for the most part, to focus solely on the planning system in England. Paul wanted to remedy that and so in this series he will chat with planning professionals and academics from a number of countries to find out what works well there, what works less well, and what planners in England can learn. First up, the USA, and a conversation with Emily Hamilton, who is a Senior Research Fellow and Director of the Urbanity Project at the Mercatus Center, which is part of George Mason University in Arlington, Virginia. Paul and Emily talk amongst other things about the role of federal government, “comprehensive plans” and whether there is a link between more liberal zoning arrangements and housing affordability. Some accompanying reading. Transit orientated zoning in Washington DC Zoning code accidentally abolished in Charlottesville Zoning out American families Planorama: How the English planning system can learn from abroad Some accompanying viewing. US Zoning, Explained Some accompanying listening. Special Economic Zone – Sex Swing Any other business. 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. Sam is on Bluesky and Instagram. His blog contains a link to his newsletter.

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• New politics, New Towns and new books

  Sam Stafford was in Manchester recently and took the opportunity to catch up with old friends of the podcast Ian Wray, Claire Petricca-Riding and David Diggle, and new friends of the podcast Charlotte Leach and Louise Fountain. Over the course of an hour or so they enjoyed a good ol’ fashioned 50 Shades ramblechat. They talked about the increasingly rancorous nature of planning and whether a sense of fractiousness and febrility is driving the rise of Reform as a political force. They also talked about New Towns and Ian’s 'Northern Arc' proposition, and, towards the end, they swapped holiday reading recommendations. Some accompanying reading. The Rise of Reform How Britain's high street decline is fuelling Reform UK's rise: 'There's a sense that politics has failed' We won’t let residents block big new towns, says planning minister (£) On New Towns ‘We have to move’: historic village of Tempsford reels from plan to swell its 600 residents to 350,000 A ‘once in a generation’ opportunity for the UK’s next wave of new towns The reality of the Northern Arc The Planning Alliance Life on the Front Line III The 50 Shades Book Club When The Circus Leaves Town - Dave Proudlove Nairn’s Towns - Ian Nairn Prisoners of Geography - Tim Marshall A waiter in Paris – Edward Chisholm The Danish Way of Parenting - Jessica Joelle Alexander and Iben Dissing Sandahl  Why We Get The Wrong Politicians - Isabel Hardmen Great British Plans – Ian Wray Some accompanying viewing. Nairn across Britain Nairn's Journeys - Football Towns (Huddersfield and Halifax) Some accompanying listening. Episode 36. Can the British plan? A Fresh Dawn For North Cheshire - Warrington-Runcorn New Town Development Plan Any other business. 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. Sam is on Bluesky and Instagram. His blog contains a link to his newsletter.

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• Hitting the High Notes - Tim Waring

  This episode sees the welcome return of the Hitting the High Notes series, the basic proposition of which is that Sam Stafford chats to preeminent figures in the planning and property sectors about the six planning permissions or projects that helped to shape them as professionals. And, so that listeners can get to know people a little better personally, for every project or stage of their career Sam also asks his guests for a piece of music that reminds them of that period. Think of it as town planning’s equivalent of Desert Island Discs. Unlike Desert Island Discs though you will no 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 there are links to You Tube videos and a Spotify playlist below. Sam's guest for this episode of Hitting the High Notes is Tim Waring, who retired in 2025 after a near 40 year career in planning consultancy. Sam's conversation with Tim was recorded at Distorted Studios in Leeds in March 2025, little over a month after Tim left Quod, for whom he opened an office back in 2014, the third planning team that he established in the city. They talked about out of centre retail development in Worthing and Stockport; town centre redevelopment in Beverley and Leeds; and residential development in Ripon and York. Tim also shares his golden rules of planning consultancy. Some accompanying listening. Fools Gold – The Stone Roses The Planner’s Dream Goes Wrong – The Jam Confusion – New Order Heroes – David Bowie The Narcissist – Blur North Country Boy - The Charlatans Tim’s High Notes Spotify Playlist Sam’s Indie Disco Spotify Playlist Any other business. 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. Sam is on Bluesky and Instagram. His blog contains a link to his newsletter.

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• The Snagging List

  By common consensus there will a considerable increase in the submission of planning applications this year, certainly applications for residential development and certainly driven by applications on the Grey Belt. Data published by the LPDF in February suggested a 160% increase in the number of planning applications to be submitted by it’s members between January and June 2025 compared to the number submitted between July and December 2024. The key point narrowly is that if an increase in planning applications this year are to make a meaningful contribution to the Government's new home target within the parliamentary term, then they will need to be transacted an awful lot faster than applications have been transacted hitherto. According to recent research by Lichfields for the LPDF and Richborough, the average time taken to determine a major outline application has risen from 8 months in 2014 to two years in 2024. The key point more broadly is that this increase in planning applications affords an opportunity, beyond the big building blocks of the reform agenda that have gathered most attention over the past year or so, to get under the bonnet of the planning system’s rickety old engine. The basis of this episode then are the efficiencies that can be found within development management and to inform it, you might have seen, Sam Stafford posted the following call-for-evidence on LinkedIn and on the 50 Shades blog. “We are not talking here about NDMPs and Stat Cons and modernising planning committees and the big ideas that are already on the agenda. We are talking about the nitty gritty. The detail. The things that, as planning managers or consultants submitting applications, or planning officers managing applications, drive you most crazy. We are not necessarily talking set piece policy or legal change, although we might be talking about policy or legislative tweaks here and there. We are talking about the low-effort practical levers you would you pull, or procedural buttons you would press, that would shave days, weeks or even months off of the typical planning application.” Lots of people either commented on that LinkedIn post or shared thoughts with Sam directly, all of which he compiled for the discussion that you are about to hear between old friends of the podcast Andrew Taylor, Emma Williamson, Alister Parvin and Martin Hutchings, and new friends of the podcast Jacob Bonehill and Ros Eastman. In a conversation recorded online they covered as much of this massive topic as they could. They talked about, amongst very many other things, how many submissions are found to be invalid and why; what planners should and should not be spending their time doing; and who to consult on an application and how. Some accompanying reading. The Killian Pretty Review The Penfold Review The Lichfields research on planning application timescales The PAS research on pre-apps and PPAs PAS Best practice in officer report writing The Housing Forum’s report on validation checklists The Snagging List Some accompanying listening Let's Work Together - Wilbert Harrison Any other business. 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. Sam is on Bluesky and Instagram. His blog contains a link to his newsletter.

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• All Builders Big and Small

  It has been another exciting few weeks in the fast-paced, ever-changing rock and roll world of town and country planning... “Thousands of new homes promised to communities will be delivered faster, thanks to major changes to make sure developers deliver on their commitments and do not leave sites half-finished for years”, announced a MHCLG press release on Sunday 25 May. “This government has taken radical steps to overhaul the planning system to get Britain building again after years of inaction. In the name of delivering security for working people, we are backing the builders not the blockers. Now it’s time for developers to roll up their sleeves and play their part”, said Deputy Prime Minister and Housing Secretary Angela Rayner. A planning reform working paper on speeding up build out ​​and a technical consultation on implementing measures to improve build out transparency​ were published by MHCLG on the same day. Then a few days later, on Wednesday 28 May, another MHCLG press release announced that the Government backs SME builders to get Britain building. “Smaller housebuilders must be the bedrock of our Plan for Change to build 1.5 million homes and fix the housing crisis we’ve inherited – and get working people on the housing ladder. For decades the status quo has failed them and it’s time to level the playing field. Today we’re taking urgent action to make the system simpler, fairer and more cost effective, so smaller housebuilders can play a crucial role in our journey to get Britain building”, said Ms Rayner. A planning reform working paper on reforming site thresholds; a technical consultation on the reform of planning committees; and an open consultation on improving the implementation of biodiversity net gain for minor, medium and brownfield development were published by MHCLG and DEFRA on the same day. What is to be made of all of that,? Helpfully, Sam Stafford was in London recently and was able to solicit some expert opinion and insight from old friends of the podcast Andrew Taylor, Simon Ricketts and Shelly Rouse, and new friends of the podcast Gordon Adams and Rachel Clements. In a conversation recorded over the space of an hour or so at Soho Radio Studios they tried to get through as much of this latest round of consultations as they could. They talked about the plight of the SME builder and the merits of the proposed medium site category; they talked about who does and does not bring land forward and why; and they touched on BNG and the proposed national scheme of delegation. Some accompanying reading. ‘Get on and Build' Deputy Prime Minister urges housebuilders Planning Reform Working Paper: Speeding Up Build Out ​​ Technical consultation on implementing measures to improve Build Out transparency​ Government backs SME builders to get Britain building Planning Reform Working Paper: Reforming Site Thresholds Reform of planning committees: technical consultation Improving the implementation of biodiversity net gain for minor, medium and brownfield development Simon on build out Simon on the broader SME package Claire Petricca-Riding on the BNG proposals The Future of SME Builders in England SM sites for SME builders How long is a piece of string? Modernising Planning Committees National Survey 2025 New clause briefing: Chief Planning Officers Some accompanying listening Crazy, Crazy Nights- Kiss Any other business. 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. Sam is on Bluesky (@samuelstafford.bsky.social) and Instagram (@samuel__stafford). His blog contains a link to his newsletter.

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