Planorama

Planorama

Author: Samuel Stafford October 25, 2025 Duration: 1:04:21

In between movin' and shakin' in The Big Smoke recently Sam Stafford took the opportunity to meet a few friends of the podcast at Soho Radio Studios to pick out the highlights from another exciting few weeks in the fast-paced, ever-changing, rock and roll world of town and country planning.

Sam caught up with, and the episode features, old friends of the podcast Simon Ricketts, Annie Gingell, Shelly Rouse and Hana Loftus, and new friend of the podcast Hayley White.

Over the course of an hour or so they talked about affordable housing delivery, specifically the constraints on the use of grant funding by RPs and the (then) rumoured changes to affordable housing thresholds in London. They talked about C.G. Fry and the implications of that Supreme Court decision. They talked in the context of a second letter from the Housing & Planning Minister to the Planning Inspectorate about local plan coverage and whether stepped trajectories should be seen a pragmatic response to changing circumstances or an exercise in cynical can-kicking. And towards the end they touched on National Development Management Policies.

Some accompanying reading.

London Stalling

Will Labour’s London housing boost plan work?

Residential development in London

Local Plan examinations: letter to the Chief Executive of the Planning Inspectorate (October 2025)

Why stepped housing requirements aren’t justified and should be avoided

What does planning permission *really* get you: CG Fry in the Supreme Court — #planoraks

Autumn Budget 2025 - LPDF submission to HMT

Some accompanying viewing.

Panorama – The race to build 1.5 million homes

The Planners are Coming

Some accompanying listening.

The Rolling Stones -Jigsaw Puzzle

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.


Samuel Stafford hosts 50 Shades of Planning, a podcast that digs into the often perplexing world of the English planning system. Rather than offering dry policy lectures, these conversations embrace the sector's inherent complexities and occasional absurdities. The aim is to provide a wide-ranging view, bringing in diverse voices from across the fields of planning, property, design, and development. You'll hear from practitioners, thinkers, and critics, each sharing their unique experiences and perspectives on how places are shaped. A recurring series within the podcast, titled 'Hitting The High Notes', features in-depth discussions with leading figures, examining pivotal career moments and influential projects. These talks are structured around six key planning milestones, offering a concrete framework for understanding professional journeys and systemic challenges. By weaving together themes from government, business, arts, and social sciences, this podcast reveals how planning sits at a crowded intersection of politics, economics, and community life. Tune in for thoughtful, sometimes surprising, explorations of the forces that decide what gets built, where, and why.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 164

50 Shades of Planning
Podcast Episodes
🏆The #Planoraks Awards 2023🏆 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:02:01
Hopefully everybody involved in the fast-paced, ever-changing, rock and roll world of town and country has had a restful Christmas and have managed to combine at least a little rest with digesting the cavalcade of announ…
Pre-Apps and PPAs [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 55:09
As far back as Sam Stafford can remember Planning Performance Agreements (PPAs) have been the answer to questions about both how to get more resources into LPAs and how to improve application timescales. As Sam says in i…
A B~~~~~'s Muddle [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:00:55
Before heading to London for the week, Sam Stafford caught up with 50 Shades stalwarts Paul Smith, Katie Wray and Ian Wray for a wide-ranging ramblechat at the Reform Radio studios in Manchester. Paul is Managing Directo…
Going Public [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:11:59
The RTPI's recently published ‘State of the Profession’ report identified, perhaps unsurprisingly, that planners are increasingly being employed in the private sector, with numbers growing by a third over the last decade…
A Plan for England [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:00:12
"Regional Spatial Strategies bridged the gap between those planning issues determined by local policy or concern, and those subject to policy goals defined at a national level – such as those for housing or renewable ene…
A LURA LURA Laughs [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:04:59
Whilst in London this week Sam Stafford recorded an end-of-month ramblechat with Ben Castell, Catriona Riddell, Gilian Macinnes and Nicola Gooch. The conversation takes in all manner of things, including the Levelling Up…
Planning is Brilliant [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 47:24
A few months ago old friend of the podcast Rebecca Coley, Head of Planning & Development at Trafford Council, messaged Sam Stafford suggesting a 50 Shades episode on “the hidden work of LPAs that slows everything down, e…
A Conversation with Ben Everitt [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 50:30
The All-Party Parliamentary Group for the Housing Market & Housing Delivery is a cross-party group of MPs and Peers dedicated to improving the UK housing market. It has published a report called ‘Hacking housing: nine su…