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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

For how long Grey Belt remains part of the policy landscape time will tell, but in the here and now it represents very welcome political recognition that the homes the country needs cannot be built without developing land that is currently identified as Green Belt.

The irresistible force, it might be said, has started to shift the immoveable object...

If that dynamic continues it may prompt questions about what the Green Belt should actually be for and, perhaps, a Royal Commission on it’s future, but that is very much for tomorrow.

In the here and now planners need to know how the inclusion of the Grey Belt concept within the December 2024 version of the NPPF will affect their working lives because anybody involved in trying to bring sustainable sites forward will most surely have their working lives affected.

To support practitioners understand the implications of Grey Belt Landmark Chambers held a seminar in London in early May 2025, which, unsurprisingly, was heavily over-subscribed and so the audio was captured in order that the insights shared by some of the Landmark team could be shared by way of the 50 Shades podcast.

This episodes includes:

• Christopher Boyle KC introducing Grey Belt as it is defined in the NPPF, the implications for plan-making and decision making, and an introduction to the Golden Rules (from 11:00);
• Melissa Murphy KC diving a little more deeply into the practical implications (from 28:16);
• Stephen Whale reviewing the Grey Belt appeal decisions that have been permitted (from 44:49);
• Nick Grant reviewing the Grey Belt appeal decisions that have been dismissed (from 01:00:25); and
• Hashi Mohamed offering his top tips for clients (from 01:16:03).

Either side of those contributions are opening and closing remarks from Rupert Warren KC.

Some accompanying reading.

Grey Belt: policy guidance and appeals presentation

https://www.landmarkchambers.co.uk/events/grey-belt-policy-guidance-and-appeals

The Green Belt. What it is and why; what it isn't; and what it should be

https://samuelstafford.blogspot.com/2023/05/the-green-belt-what-it-is-why-it-is.html

On Grey Belt

https://samuelstafford.blogspot.com/2024/11/on-grey-belt.html

Some accompanying listening.

Sea Change by Turin Brakes

https://youtu.be/OfzdLUwWZg8?si=KROayX0tvHmzNidO

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.

This episode is a conversation between Sam Stafford and former Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, the Rt Hon. the Lord Gove.

Famous in political circles. Infamous, some might say, in planning circles.

The Parliament of 2019-2024 was tumultuous for everybody, but for planning specifically it was an especially tumultuous time.

There was the 2020 'Planning for the Future' White Paper, which Mr Gove inherited in 2021, the same year as the Chesham & Amersham byelection. 2022 brought Mr Gove’s Devolution White Paper, his resignation and reappointment, the LURB, then the LURA, the rebellion against which over "top down" housing targets that precipitated the NPPF changes that were subsequently adopted in 2023.

Mr Gove talks Sam through all of that tumult. They also talked about strategic planning; about B.I.D.E.N; about the stance on housing that the now opposition Conservative Party should take into the next election: and they talked about the merits of 'big bang' planning reform versus pragmatic incrementalism. 

Some accompanying reading.

Foundations

https://ukfoundations.co/

National Planning Policy Fudge

https://samuelstafford.blogspot.com/2023/01/national-planning-policy-fudge.html

The Long-Term Plan for Housing II

https://samuelstafford.blogspot.com/2024/01/the-long-term-plan-for-housing-ii.html

Some accompanying Listening.

Only Memories Remain - My Morning Jacket

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rX-RDOp4XtE

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.

When in Manchester recently Sam Stafford took the opportunity to catch up with friends of the podcast David Diggle, Paul Smith, Rebecca Coley and Claire Petricca-Riding and over the course of an hour or so they talked about a few of the hot topics that are exercising the planning profession at the minute.

Those hot topics include the widely anticipated spike in planning applications this year; locally-set fees, pre-apps and PPAs; the Flood Risk Sequential Test, NDMPs, and, very briefly towards the end of their conversation, the Planning & Infrastructure Bill and the Corry Review.

Some accompanying reading.

Data shows an over 160% rise in planning applications 

https://www.lpdf.co.uk/news/data-shows-an-over-160-rise-in-planning-applications

How puddles could stop the government building the homes we need

https://longwall.substack.com/i/160566665/what-planning-policy-says-about-flood-risk

Labour of Love II - Flood Risk Sequential Test

https://youtu.be/g8ObnIeN-fc?si=_5WDBTPFeAxv3-22

How National Development Management Policies Can Boost Economic Growth 

https://www.publicfirst.co.uk/how-national-development-management-policies-can-boost-economic-growth.html

SME sites for SME builders

https://samuelstafford.blogspot.com/2023/11/sme-sites-for-sme-builders.html

The Corry Review

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/major-reforms-to-environmental-regulation-to-boost-growth-and-protect-nature

Abundance by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/mar/27/abundance-by-ezra-klein-and-derek-thompson-review-make-america-build-again

Some accompanying listening.

The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York

https://open.spotify.com/show/090wd4VVywMtYCC5PSngvH?si=OWKfRjOiRnWR4az9LKXJFA&nd=1&dlsi=44c4e94d871c4bac

Rain - The Beatles

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cK5G8fPmWeA

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.

Over a year on from it becoming mandatory, what is to be made of BNG?

On the one hand, according to an open letter signed by a 40-strong coalition of housebuilders and environmental groups to mark the first anniversary, “BNG is a true success story. Over the past year, it has unlocked unprecedented investment in local habitats, while also driving green growth.”

On the other hand, only a tenth of respondents to Planning’s consultants survey believed that the system is working well, perhaps because, according to the HBF, nearly 40% of local planning authorities do not have access to in-house ecological expertise.

What is really going on..?

To find out, Sam Stafford invited five experts in in this field to talk about what, in their view, is working well, or at least as expected; what is not working well, or at least not as expected; and what, if anything, needs to change.

Those experts are Martin Hutchings, Helen Nyul, Neil Beamsley, Julian Arthur and Nina Pindham.

They talked about small sites, exemptions, metrics and matrices, management companies, phased development, going above the mandatory 10%, Local Nature Recovery Strategies and the proposed Nature Restoration Fund.

Some accompanying reading.

On BNG

Biodiversity Net Gain One Year On: Is This World-Leading Scheme Taking Root?

What consultants really think about the market, public harassment, agency staff at councils – and more (£)

Biodiversity Net Gain: One year on

‘A Practical Guide to Biodiversity Net Gain’ by Nina Pindham

The Planning Advisory Service bulletin

What 500 Planning Applications Reveal About Biodiversity Net Gain in Action

Ecologists and environmental scientists call for a small sites levy one year on from mandatory BNG for small sites

Assistance Required: 'The Snagging List'

Some accompanying listening.

Evergreen - Rose City Band

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.

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)

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.