By Samuel Stafford
50 Shades of Planning is Sam Stafford’s attempt to explore the foibles of the English planning system and it's aim is to cover the breadth of the sector both in terms of topics of conversation and
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The podcast currently has 133 episodes available.
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, this episode seeks to cover what is actually in it.
Sam was in London earlier this week and caught up with friends of the podcast Andrew Taylor, Hashi Mohamed, Vicky Payne and Simon Ricketts at Soho Radio Studios.
They will need no introduction to regular listeners, but for new listeners, Andrew is Group Planning Director at Vistry, Hashi is a Barrister at Landmark Chambers; Vicky is an Associate at Jas Bhalla Works and an Independent Consultant; and Simon is a Partner at Town Legal.
As you will hear over the next 45 minutes or so they crammed in as much as possible. They talked about the proposed new stock-based standard method and transitional arrangements for local plans, they talked about Grey Belt, 50% affordable housing and benchmark land values; and they touched on beauty, design codes, vision-led transport planning, the flood risk sequential test, neighbourhood plans, safeguarded land, and application fees.
Some accompanying reading.
Lichfields’ NPPF resource
https://lichfields.uk/proposed-reforms-to-the-nppf-and-other-changes-to-the-planning-system?email
Simon’s blog
https://simonicity.com/2024/08/02/50-shades-of-grey-belt/
Zack Simons' blog
https://www.planoraks.com/posts-1/planningreformday-2024-what-just-happened
Vicky on Design
https://www.theplanner.co.uk/2024/08/01/more-substance-style-new-nppfs-design-outlook
Philip Barnes on BLV
https://philipbarnesblog.wordpress.com/2024/08/28/green-belt-vs-grey-belt-vs-benchmark-land-values-vs-50-affordable-housing/
Create Streets - Stepping off the Road to Nowhere
https://www.createstreets.com/projects/stepping-off-the-road-to-nowhere/
Some accompanying listening.
The Masterplan - Oasis
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPPi2D6GK7A
Some accompanying viewing.
Alam Partridge’s big plate
https://youtu.be/swJFOE49LRQ?si=bmR85Y7USmizHBef
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
Any other business.
Sam is on Bluesky (@samuelstafford.bsky.social) and Instagram (@samuel__stafford). He shares bits and pieces of planning-related interest on Instagram (@50shadesofplanning) and LinkedIn so please follow those accounts as well.
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 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 you will not 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, when you have finished listening, you will have to make do with YouTube videos and a Spotify playlist, links to which you will find below.
Sam's guest for this episode is Mike Best who many planners, especially in the West Midlands, will know from his twenty years at Turley.
Their conversation was recorded at Birmingham Podcast Studios in July 2024 and takes in Mike's early career in Local Government at Rotherham and Coventry and his move into consultancy with Jones Lang Wootton as was. Taking in retail parks, racecourses and regeneration, the projects that Mike talks Sam through highlight the breadth of the planning profession.
Some accompanying listening.
Mike’s Spotify playlist
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3U6RUbhmrcUOzqBe7NvF6F?si=L-6LiPRWQ2m1zwgoIgiyCw&pi=e-3vODKymtRKed&nd=1&dlsi=df762b96aa044203
Ignoreland – REM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03gauuHIgME
A Design for Life – Manic Street Preachers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfEoVxy7VDQ
Limelight – Rush
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgj2br-teu4
The Whole of the Moon – Waterboys
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBW8Vnp8BzU
Twice If You’re Lucky – Crowded House
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcKh-VeFxX0
Inner City Life – Goldie
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-P98B2skts
Some accompanying reading
Mike’s Blog
https://mikesbestlaidplans.wordpress.com/
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
Any other business.
Sam is on Bluesky (@samuelstafford.bsky.social) and Instagram (@samuel__stafford). He shares bits and pieces of planning-related interest on Instagram (@50shadesofplanning) and LinkedIn so please follow those accounts as well.
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 building.
According to the Climate Change Committee, direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions from buildings account for 23% of the UK total.
How can we create energy-efficient, carbon neutral and climate resilient new buildings and what is needed to accelerate the decarbonisation of existing buildings?
The greenest building, so it is said, is the building that already exists and a ‘retrofit fit first, not retrofit only’ position appears to be emerging as the default, but this involves understanding which development options would have the lowest embodied carbon intensity and operational carbon emissions. Who is measuring what and how?
Friend of the podcast Katie Wray kindly convened a group of experts in this field to tackle these questions in a conversation recorded online in April 2024. Katie, Director in Real Assets Advisory team at Deloitte, spoke to Iain Shaw, Mike Keaveney and Alex Edwards. Iain is a Director at Max Fordham, Mike is a Land & Development Director at Grainger; and Alex is ESG Director at Bruntwood SciTech.
They talk about where the drivers for change in this area are coming from, how decisions around rebuild and retrofit are arrived at, and the concept of ‘value for carbon’.
Some accompanying reading.
Retrofit First: The City of London, Camden, now Westminster- who will be next?
https://lichfields.uk/blog/2024/april/02/retrofit-first-the-city-camden-now-westminster-who-will-be-next/
UK Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard
Home | UK Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard (nzcbuildings.co.uk)
Climate Change and Historic Building Adaptation Historic England Advice Note DRAFT
Climate Change and Historic Building Adaptation - draft for consultation (historicengland.org.uk)
City of London Corporation’s heritage building retrofit toolkit
https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/assets/Services-Environment/Heritage-Buildings-Retrofit-Toolkit.pdf
Retrofit and Energy Efficiency in Historic Buildings
https://historicengland.org.uk/advice/technical-advice/retrofit-and-energy-efficiency-in-historic-buildings/#:~:text=We%20use%20the%20term%20retrofit,and%20use%20of%20the%20building
Manchester Climate Change Framework (see section on retrofit)
MANCHESTER CLIMATE CHANGE FRAMEWORK(2020-25) | 2022 UPDATE (squarespace.com)
Some accompanying listening.
Build It Up, Tear It Down by Fatboy Slim
https://youtu.be/bxHjytBY7Z8?si=k0dTMcz8CO8Im-bg
50 Shades T-Shirts!
If you have listened to Episode 45 of 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. You can also sign up for the 50 Shades Newsletter via the 50 Shades Blog.
Any other business.
Sam is on Bluesky (@samuelstafford.bsky.social) and Instagram (@samuel__stafford). He shares bits and pieces of planning-related interest on Instagram (@50shadesofplanning) and LinkedIn so please follow those accounts as well.
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 course, but what Listeners will hear in this jam-packed extravaganza of an episode is an exploration of that reform agenda in it’s broader sense.
In anticipation of the NPPF, Sam invited some of the Shades alumni to discuss some of the policy areas of most interest to them and how the new Government could and should approach them.
The voices that Listeners will hear belong to Vicky Payne, Hana Loftus, Ben Castell, Andrew Taylor, Pooja Agrawal, Claire Petricca-Riding, David Diggle, Nicola Gooch, Shelly Rouse, Gilan Macinnes, Ian Wray, Paul Smith, Mike Kiely, Simon Ricketts and Annie Gingell.
Listeners will hear:
This episode only features parts of those eight conversations. Listen to the end to find out how and where to listen to all eight conversations in full in due course.
Some accompanying reading.
#PlanningReformDay 2024 - what just happened?
https://www.planoraks.com/posts-1/planningreformday-2024-what-just-happened
Letter from Deputy Prime Minister and Defra Secretary of State to environmental NGOs on planning and infrastructure bill
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/letter-from-deputy-prime-minister-and-defra-secretary-of-state-to-environmental-ngos-on-planning-and-infrastructure-bill
Pathways to Planning
https://www.local.gov.uk/pathways-to-planning
The Green Belt. What it is and why; what it isn't; and what it should be
http://samuelstafford.blogspot.com/2023/05/the-green-belt-what-it-is-why-it-is.html
Policy statement on new towns
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/policy-statement-on-new-towns/policy-statement-on-new-towns
Letter from the Deputy Prime Minister to local leaders: the next steps to devolution
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/letter-from-the-deputy-prime-minister-to-local-leaders-the-next-steps-to-devolution/letter-from-the-deputy-prime-minister-to-local-leaders-the-next-steps-to-devolution
Land value capture back in focus
https://philipbarnesblog.wordpress.com/2024/07/12/land-value-capture-back-in-fashion/
Where next for the substandard method of assessing housing need?
https://www.turley.co.uk/comment/housebuilding-assessment-targets-housing-stock-approach
Some accompanying viewing.
https://www.youtube.com/@FiftyShadesofPlanning
Some accompanying listening.
Labour of Love – Hue & Cry
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CYZ6q7Wr9c
50 Shades T-Shirts!
If you have listened to Episode 45 of 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. You can also sign up for the 50 Shades Newsletter via the 50 Shades Blog.
Any other business.
Sam is on Bluesky (@samuelstafford.bsky.social) and Instagram (@samuel__stafford). He shares bits and pieces of planning-related interest on Instagram (@50shadesofplanning) and LinkedIn so please follow those accounts as well.
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, and user-centred design to improve the planning system.
Euan, now CEO and co-founder of Blocktype, got in touch with Sam Stafford earlier this year and asked if he could put together an episode on the progress that has been made over the past five years towards this aim.
This was both a kind invitation and a coincidental one because at around the same time the Spring Budget Statement included reference to “piloting the use of AI solutions to support planning authorities to streamline their local plan development processes, producing plans in 30 months rather than the current average of seven years. This builds on work to date which has already reduced planning officer processing times by up to 30% per application.”
This episode features four conversations that Euan recorded back in March with four people both very knowledgeable and very active in this space. They are Alistair Parvin, CEO of Open Systems Lab; Dr Sue Chadwick, Strategic & Digital Planning Advisor at Pinsent Masons; Matt Wood-Hill, Head of Digital Planning Software at MHCLG; and Paul Downey, Planning Data Service Owner at MHLCG.
During the course of this episode Listeners will learn a lot about how digital innovation, urban data, and user-centred design are improving the UK planning system.
Some accompanying reading.
Blocktype
blocktype.co.uk
Plan X
planx.uk
Planning Data
Planning.data.gov.uk
Open Digital Planning
opendigitalplanning.org
The Future of Planning - How we can rewire the planning system for the digital age
https://medium.com/@alastairparvin/the-future-of-planning-8a1f93e17ae1
Some accompanying listening.
Digital – Goldie (feat. KRS One) (Armand Van Helden Remix)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1dgKcpgKxs
50 Shades T-Shirts!
If you have listened to Episode 45 of 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. You can also sign up for the 50 Shades Newsletter via the 50 Shades Blog.
Any other business.
Sam is on Bluesky (@samuelstafford.bsky.social) and Instagram (@samuel__stafford). He shares bits and pieces of planning-related interest on Instagram (@50shadesofplanning) and LinkedIn so please follow those accounts as well.
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 area, but where necessary Labour will not be afraid to make full use of intervention powers to build the houses we need”, the manifesto states, which strikes a markedly different tone to the emphatically localist one adopted by the Conservatives upon entering office back in 2010.
So different in fact that according to the Daily Express recently “campaigners have demanded an apology from Sir Keir Starmer for treating nature and communities with “disdain” through his approach to housing policies and energy infrastructure.”
Now seemed like a good time then for Sam Stafford to publish a conversation between old friends of the podcast Andrew Taylor, Catriona Riddell and Paul Miner, and new friends of the podcast Jonathan Werran, Andy von Bradsky and Anna Clarke. This conversation, which is lead by Andrew and recorded online in April 2024 is about an essay collection compiled by Localis called ‘Building by consent – housing by popular demand’.
Localis, of which Jonathan is Chief Executive, asked a wide range of policy experts, local government leaders and industry bodies, to sketch their plan for what a successful planning system that generates community support for development might look like. Andrew, Catriona, Paul, Andy and Anna all provided contributions..
Some accompanying reading.
Labour’s planning proposals
http://samuelstafford.blogspot.com/2024/04/labours-planning-proposals.html
A new dawn has broken, has it not?
https://lichfields.uk/blog/2024/july/05/a-new-dawn-has-broken-has-it-not
Sir Keir Starmer accused of 'making enemies' of voters as campaigners demand apology
https://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/1912206/keir-starmer-housing-nature-communities
Building Communities
https://www.localis.org.uk/research/building-communities/
Building Consent
https://localis.org.uk/research/building-consent/
Long-Term National Housing Strategy
https://hansard.parliament.uk/Lords/2024-02-29/debates/48BADB17-4BC5-4D4A-81A9-6E80B85533AF/Long-TermNationalHousingStrategy#contribution-F4869BBB-7ECD-49E2-9E36-7AEA3060249D
Neighbourhood Planning Design Coding Guidance
https://neighbourhoodplanning.org/toolkits-and-guidance/neighbourhood-planning-design-coding-guidance/
Independent review of build out: final report
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/independent-review-of-build-out-final-report
Start to Finish 3
https://lichfields.uk/content/insights/start-to-finish-3
Streamlining planning to build more homes
https://housingforum.org.uk/reports/key-publications/streamlining-planning-to-build-more-homes/
Some accompanying listening.
Wind of Change - Scorpions
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4RjJKxsamQ
50 Shades T-Shirts & Newsletter
If you have listened to Episode 45 of 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 and you can also sign up for the 50 Shades Newsletter via the 50 Shaded Blog.
With a General Election now imminent Sam Stafford thought that it might be interesting to try to compare what is being offered by the main political parties in relation to housing, planning and development with what the housing, planning and development sector would like to see being offered.
In a conversation recorded at Outset Studios in Shoreditch Sam speaks to new friends of the podcast Richard Blyth, Tony Mulhall, Marie Chadwick and Ian Fletcher, and old friend of the podcast Paul Brocklehurst, about the policy proposals that their respective organisations are promulgating.
Richard is Head of Policy & Practice at the RTPI; Tony is a Senior Specialist at RICS; Marie is Policy Leader at the NHF; Paul is Chair of the LPDF; and Ian is Director of Real Estate Policy at the BPF.
Sam invites them all to outline their respective manifestos and then they focused on two key areas that everybody agreed need to be addressed: the need to get more resources into LPAs and the need to reintroduce strategic planning whilst at the same time getting local plans moving again.
Towards the end of the episode Sam also asks Marie about the issue of RPs not bidding for S106 sites, which is a very live one at present.
Some accompanying reading.
Blue belt, grey belt, wild belt – the manifestos compared
https://lichfields.uk/blog/2024/june/20/blue-belt-grey-belt-wild-belt-the-manifestos-compared
RICS’ Land & Rural Manifesto overview
https://www.rics.org/news-insights/rics-uk-general-election-land-and-rural-manifesto-review
The BPF General Election Manifesto
https://bpf.org.uk/our-work/general-election-2024/
LPDF’s 10 Point Plan for a Step Change in Delivery
https://lpdf.co.uk/latest-lpdf-publications
RTPI’s Planifesto
https://www.rtpi.org.uk/new/our-campaigns/rtpi-planifesto-2024/
Some accompanying viewing.
NHF’s campaign for a Plan for Housing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmM3WLCjcwQ
Some accompanying listening.
Manifesto by Roxy Music
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjkVYOArUQM
50 Shades - T-Shirts!
If you have listened to Episode 45 of 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
In February 2024 Planning published a special report by Joey Gardiner entitled ‘how cost-saving consultants disrupted council planning services’.
Cash-strapped councils have been following management consultants’ advice to split up their planning teams. Staff have been put into central departments to handle additional non-planning tasks. But the upshot, say critics, has been declining performance and a staff exodus.
Joey’s piece highlighted the tumult at Tandridge, which in 2020 was formally threatened with designation over the quality of its decision-making. A subsequent PAS review of the council’s development management service, which was published in 2021, laid the blame squarely on a team structure “developed during the corporate restructure” that it said was “not fit for purpose”.
That local government has borne the brunt of the age of austerity is well known. According to the IFS, during the 2010s, councils’ overall core funding per person fell by an average of 26% in real terms, with higher council tax revenues only partially offsetting a 46% reduction in funding from central government.
Those in the sector know that planning and development has borne the brunt of that. Again according to the IFS, spending per person on planning and development fell by 58% between 2010/11 and 2019/20, which was second only to cuts to services for young people and Sure Start. Perhaps less well known, and what Joey’s article has helped to shine a light on, is the impact on planning services of the kind of whole-authority service transformations that some authorities have undertaken to in order to deal with these financial pressures.
To explore this issue further Sam Stafford invited four of the people quoted in Joey’s article to expand upon their experiences with him. They are old friends of the podcast Mike Kiely, Gilian MacInnes and Paul Barnard, and new friend of the podcast Peter Ford. In a conversation recorded at Soho Radio Studios at the end of April 2024 they talked about the pressures that LPAs have been and are under; why the nature of planning services do not lend it to whole-authority service transformations; and the impact of such upheavals. They also talked about whether there are too planning teams and whether Chief Planning Officers could and should be at the top decision-making table.
The episode starts though with a brief conversation that Sam recorded online with Joey Gardiner recently about his special report for Planning. Sam asked Joey how he went about putting the report together; what he found most striking in so doing; and what feedback he has had on it.
Some accompanying reading.
How cost-saving consultants disrupted council planning services (£)
https://www.planningresource.co.uk/article/1860857/cost-saving-consultants-disrupted-council-planning-services
Tandridge District Council - DM Review
https://tandridge.moderngov.co.uk/documents/s4234/Appendix%20A%20-%20Development%20Management%20Review.pdf
Guildford Borough Council - Development Management Establishment Review
https://democracy.guildford.gov.uk/documents/s26379/Item%208%20-%20DM%20Budget%20Exec%20Report%20revised%20for%20Autumn%202022%20-%20FINAL-%20V4.pdf
How have English councils’ funding and spending changed? 2010 to 2024
https://ifs.org.uk/publications/how-have-english-councils-funding-and-spending-changed-2010-2024
Some accompanying listening.
Episode 84 of Room 106
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/ep84-how-cost-saving-management-consultants-are-impacting/id1596110607?i=1000649057189
A Shared Sense Of Purpose - Warrington-Runcorn New Town Development Plan (Vince Clarke Remix)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpeRnH2FLA4
When Sam Stafford first covered nutrient neutrality, in February 2021, he described the process of eutrophication as a bit like the podcast itself: a little niche, but very important.
When Sam published a second episode in September 2022 it had grown in importance to the extent that Prime Minister Liz Truss had pledged to "scrap nutrient neutrality rules".
A Government press release issued in August 2023 stated that “through an amendment to the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill (LURB), the Government will do away with this red tape and allow for the delivery of more than 100,000 new homes desperately needed by local communities."”
The LURB amendments in question were subsequently defeated, nutrient neutrality rules have not been scrapped, and 2 June 2024 marks the fifth anniversary of Natural England’s first advice note for LPAs in the Solent Region. The question that Sam posed in that second Shades episode remains just as pertinent: how far away is a satisfactory resolution in those parts of the country that have been affected?
In order to provide an updated answer to that question Sam invited old friend of the podcast Rachel Jones and new friends of the podcast Andrew Smith and Gemma Nelmes to share their experiences. Rachel is Ecology Manager at Wiltshire Council; Andrew is Head of Development Management at the Lake District National Park Authority; and Gemma is an Associate at Stantec.
Eagle-eyed Listeners may have spotted that the title of this episode is Neutral Impact III (and a bit of Green Belt). Sam has very kindly been invited by Richard Kimblin at No. 5 Chambers and Sarah Young at LUC to contribute to a Green Belt Summit that they are holding on Wednesday 3 July. It is in London, but will be available to view online as well. The three of them had a brief preparatory chat last recently about the spur for the summit and the hopes for it. That chat features in the final section of the episode.
Some accompanying reading.
100,000 more homes to be built via reform of defective EU laws
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/100000-more-homes-to-be-built-via-reform-of-defective-eu-laws?pk_campaign=newsletter_6337
Natural England and Dorset Wildlife Trust buy Lyscombe farm
https://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/24310589.natural-england-dorset-wildlife-trust-buy-lyscombe-farm/
Claims that developers are responsible for water pollution are a load of poo
https://capx.co/claims-that-developers-are-responsible-for-water-pollution-are-a-load-of-poo/
Is the Government backtracking on environmental protection?
https://capx.co/is-the-government-backtracking-on-environmental-protection/
PAS Nutrient Neutrality Programme
https://www.local.gov.uk/pas/topics/environment/nutrient-neutrality-and-planning-system
Natural England Framework for Wetland Mitigation Proposals
https://storymaps.arcgis.com/collections/6543a2f8de0348f683187ff268a79687?item=4
Information on Nature Based Solutions as Nutrient Mitigation
https://publications.naturalengland.org.uk/publication/6680815300509696
Natural England’s nutrient mitigation scheme for developers
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/natural-englands-nutrient-mitigation-scheme-for-developers
CIRIA publishes new guidance on SuDS construction
https://www.ciria.org/CIRIA/News/CIRIA_news2/CIRIA_publishes_new_guidance_on_SuDS_construction.aspx
Green Belt Summit Details
https://www.no5.com/2024/05/greenbelt-summit/
Fields in Trust
https://fieldsintrust.org/
England’s nature chief calls for building on green belt to solve housing crisis
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/nov/18/england-nature-chief-tony-juniper-thinks-green-belt-land-solve-housing-crisis
The Green Belt. What it is and why; what it isn't; and what it should be
http://samuelstafford.blogspot.com/2023/05/the-green-belt-what-it-is-why-it-is.html
What are we to make of neighbourhood planning? Friend of the podcast Ben Castell considers it a “grassroots planning revolution”. Perhaps less favourably it conjures for others images of corduroy and tweed-clad councillors convening a parish council working group to thwart plans for an incinerator or, worse still, new housing.
With neighbourhood planning now part of the furniture, but with the current opposition and possible next Government talking about ‘taking planning up a level’, Sam Stafford thought it time for the podcast to evaluate the story of neighbouring planning so far, which is lead in this episode by the afore-mentioned Ben Castell.
Ben is Planning Director at AECOM, where he has worked with a number of neighbourhood planning groups, and has also had two stints as Chair of his local Neighbourhood Forum.
Ben convened a group of planners with nuts-and-bolts experience in this field for a conversation recorded online in April 2024.
Samantha Banks is the Neighbourhood Planning Programme Manager at Locality, which has provided the government’s Neighbourhood Planning Support Programme since 2013. Samantha previously worked as the Neighbourhood Planning Manager at Herefordshire Council, leading a team that supported over 100 town and parish councils produce neighbourhood plans.
Graeme Markland has been the Neighbourhood Plan Continuity Officer at Thame Town Council since 2016 and before that was a technical and planning officer at Luton Borough Council and the Luton and South Bedfordshire Joint Technical Unit.
Leani Haim is a Planning Director at ONH, which provides planning and development services to town and parish councils, neighbourhood forums, landowners and developers. ONH has supported over 200 neighbourhood plan projects.
Now it is fair to say that Ben, Samantha, Graeme and Leani are all neighbourhood planning enthusiasts and for balance, in addressing the question as to how successful the enterprise has been, a more sceptical voice was required. About two thirds of the way through then Listeners will hear from another friend of the podcast, Simon Ricketts, who fits that bill and who kindly recorded his thoughts in advance so that Ben, Samantha, Graeme and Leani could mull them over in the final section of the episode.
Some accompanying reading.
Independent research on the impacts of neighbourhood planning
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/independent-research-on-the-impacts-of-neighbourhood-planning
Neighbourhood planning in England: A decade of institutional learning
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305900623000107#bib169
Locality’s Key Neighbourhood Planning Data
https://neighbourhoodplanning.org/toolkits-and-guidance/key-neighbourhood-planning-data/
Locality’s Toolkits and Guidance
https://neighbourhoodplanning.org/toolkits-and-guidance/
Neighbourhood planning areas
https://communities.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=d195c3134caa46b5a638ad0c4f0cce77
Planning Practice Guidance
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/neighbourhood-planning--2
Some accompanying listening
You Woke Up My Neighbourhood – Billy Bragg (Ben’s choice)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnHxAxaara0
Who’s In Control? – Sea Power (Sam's choice)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5Lf0IiEZt8
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
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