Three Things (or 'The 50 Shades Manifesto For Sensible Planning Reform')

Three Things (or 'The 50 Shades Manifesto For Sensible Planning Reform')

Author: Samuel Stafford May 21, 2022 Duration: 57:19

Regular 50 Shades Listeners will know that Sam Stafford recently had dinner with a DLUHC Minister. The conversation during dessert turned, with a set piece Planning Bill off of the agenda, to the three most impactful things that Michael Gove could do to improve the planning system. Sam subsequently shared his thoughts on Twitter (see link below) and they provoked a bit of a discussion, which he thought worthy of exploring further in a 50 Shades episode.

This then is what prompted Episode 65’s 'Call for Evidence' in which Sam invited 50 Listeners to share their own suggestions for practical, pragmatic changes that, with little fuss and fanfare, could have a positive, meaningful impact on the planning system. Sam discusses the submissions, let's perhaps call them the '50 Shades Manifesto For Sensible Planning Reform', in this episode with Claire Petricca-Riding, Jonathan Easton and Paul Smith.

Claire (@PetriccaRiding) is a Partner and National Head of Planning & Environmental Law at Irwin Mitchell. Jonathan (@jonnye47) is full-time planning barrister at Kings Chambers and a part-time punster on Twitter. Paul (@paul_slg) is Managing Director at the Strategic Land Group.

Some accompanying reading.

Sam’s three areas for impactful planning reform

http://samuelstafford.blogspot.com/2022/03/three-things.html

Planning for the better future – RTPI Proposals for Planning Reform in England

https://www.rtpi.org.uk/policy/2021/march/planning-for-a-better-future/

Local development planning in Scotland - regulations and guidance consultation: part B - proposals for development planning regulations

https://www.gov.scot/publications/local-development-planning-regulations-guidance-consultation-part-b-proposals-development-planning-regulations/

The Future of Strategic Planning in England by the County Councils Network and Catriona Riddell Associates 

https://www.countycouncilsnetwork.org.uk/report-calls-on-government-to-implement-a-new-planning-model-as-two-thirds-of-councils-say-the-pressure-on-their-infrastructure-is-excessive-due-to-housing

RTPI South West Pilot Mentoring Programme for early career planners

https://www.rtpi.org.uk/swmentoring

'The Queen’s Speech – Levelling Up and Planning Reform, what can be legislated for?'

https://lichfields.uk/blog/2022/may/10/the-queen-s-speech-levelling-up-and-planning-reform-what-can-be-legislated-for/

Government response to the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Select Committee report on The Future of the Planning System in England

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/future-of-the-planning-system-in-england-government-response-to-the-select-committee-report/government-response-to-the-levelling-up-housing-and-communities-select-committee-report-on-the-future-of-the-planning-system-in-england

The Levelling Up & Regeneration Bill: Highlights, Headlines and Henry the Eighth

https://imbusiness.passle.net/post/102hof6/the-levelling-up-regeneration-bill-highlights-headlines-and-henry-the-eighth

Local Plans Expert Group: report to the Secretary of State

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-plans-expert-group-report-to-the-secretary-of-state

Sir Oliver Letwin’s independent review of build out

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/independent-review-of-build-out-final-report

Some accompanying listening.

The Verve – Three Steps

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFiM4FORyC8

50 Shades T-Shirts!

If you have listened to Episode 45 of the 50 Shades of Planning Podcast 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
A Brief History of Planning 2010-2024 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:05:32
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 th…
100 Days of Labour [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:04:33
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 firs…
Not the NPPF [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 52:56
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 st…
The YIMBY Crowd [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 53:57
"‘The moment has come’: pro-building Labour YIMBYs are set to raise the roof" was the title of a piece in the Observer ahead of the Labour Party Conference (link below). For many of the most ambitious of the new cohort o…
The Masterplan [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 55:56
If you have listened to episodes 125 and 128 you will know Sam Stafford sought to cover, pre-publication, what could and should be in the new version of NPPF. With the consultation deadline now starting to loom large, th…
Hitting the High Notes - Mike Best [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:04:55
In Hitting the High Notes episodes 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 Lis…
To Rebuild or to Retrofit? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 50:41
To rebuild or to retrofit? That is the question posed by former Secretary of State Michael Gove’s intervention in planning applications for the redevelopment of M&S’ Oxford Street store and the former Museum of London bu…
Labour of Love [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:44:41
Sam Stafford has mentioned previously that the podcast would consider the new Government’s reform agenda and this is an attempt at doing so. The specifics of the NPPF consultation will be covered in more depth in due cou…
Let's Get Digital [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:21:32
Long-serving Listeners might recall that for Episode 6 of 50 Shades of Planning Sam Stafford published a chat with Euan Mills, then of the Connected Places Catapult, on the potential for digital innovation, urban data, a…
Housing by Popular Demand [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 59:04
One of the new Labour Government’s manifesto pledges is the construction of 1.5 million new homes between now and the end of this new parliament. “We will ensure local communities continue to shape housebuilding in their…