The Mortar Bombs of Division

The Mortar Bombs of Division

Author: Samuel Stafford September 30, 2023 Duration: 50:02

Sam Stafford had planned more of a ramble-type chat with Pete Swift, Jonathan Easton and Claire Petricca-Riding, but, reflective of the news that has dominated the agenda of late, their conversation, recorded online, focuses on planning for the environment and specifically nutrient neutrality and net zero.

They talk less about the nuts and bolts, practical implications of the respective recent announcements in these areas (links below) and more about the political narrative. Thanks largely to Pete the conversation gets quite philosophical at times and Sam hopes that it is all the more interesting for that.

This being the 50 Shades of Planning podcast Listeners can though look forward to a little bit of housing target chat as well.

Some accompanying reading.

House of Lords Built Environment Committee’s report on the impact of environmental regulations on development

https://committees.parliament.uk/work/7328/the-impact-of-environmental-regulations-on-development/

Government neutrality update on 29 August

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/nutrient-neutrality-announcement-explainer

Government neutrality update on 20 September

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/nutrient-neutrality-update

Sunak to rip up green rules to build 140,000 homes despite Labour and Natural England opposition (£)

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/09/23/rishi-sunak-majority-140k-homes-labour-nutrient-neutrality/

PM speech on Net Zero: 20 September 2023

https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/pm-speech-on-net-zero-20-september-2023

The affordability impacts of new housing supply: A summary of recent research

https://www.london.gov.uk/media/102314/download

How housing targets are stopping us building enough homes

https://longwall.substack.com/p/how-housing-targets-are-stopping

UK Green Building Council’s ‘Embodied Ecological Impacts knowledge Hub’

https://ukgbc.org/our-work/topics/embodied-ecological-impacts/

Require planning fees be ringfenced for planning services

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/643493

Small builders, big burdens

https://lichfields.uk/content/insights/small-builders-big-burdens

Southwark’s Land Commission

https://www.southwark.gov.uk/council-and-democracy/southwark-land-commission

Some accompanying viewing.

Richard Curtis uses Al Pacino’s Any Given Sunday speech to inspire global action on climate change

https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/news/richard-curtis-uses-al-pacinos-any-given-sunday-speech-to-inspire-global-action-on-climate-change-357182/

Some accompanying listening.

This can’t go on – Bill Ryder-Jones

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byUoDKTVEac

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


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: 100

50 Shades of Planning
Podcast Episodes
Hitting the High Notes - Simon Ricketts [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 54:57
This episode is another in the Hitting The High Notes series. If you have not listened to one before the basic proposition is that Sam Stafford chats to preeminent figures in the planning and property sectors about the s…
NPPF 2023 Update - What Next? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 57:47
At the kind invitation of Landmark Chambers and Town Legal, Sam Stafford was in London this week to contribute to a seminar on the NPPF update, which, eagle-eyed 50 Shades Listeners no doubt spotted, emerged as part of a…
🏆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…