Make Planning Make Sense

Our guest this week is Melissa Murphy KC of Landmark Chambers.

Melissa talks us through the draft NPPF from fresh angles, puts the power of planning committees in perspective, and considers the limitations of the metaphor of the planning balance.

Just to note, International Women’s Day is coming up on 8th March. The day commemorates women's continuing fight for equality and liberation and the proud history of the women's rights movement. Let’s give the women in our lives the fist bump, windmill high five, respect, appreciation and solidarity they deserve.

Be sure to follow for new episodes every other week. Make Planning Make Sense is hosted by Aaron Zimmerman MRTPI, presented by Centro Planning Consultancy and recorded in beautiful London, England.

Our guest this week is James Mickelburgh, co-founder of Jensen Hunt.

As town planning agents, part of our role is to make sense of a subjective and often open-ended policy context that’s always changing. The conversation with James shows how policies regarding environmentally sustainability are amongst the most open-ended, the effects that can have on decision making, and where we find optimism about these issues.

Be sure to follow for new episodes every other week. Make Planning Make Sense is hosted by Aaron Zimmerman MRTPI, presented by Centro Planning Consultancy and recorded in beautiful London, England.

Our guest this week is Viktor Rohacs, Founder and Director of Rohacs Architects.

As town planning agents, we know it’s as important to secure a successful permission as it is to secure a deliverable permission. Our conversation with Viktor shows that commercial-mindedness is part and parcel rather than an opposing force to delivering successful places.

Be sure to follow for new episodes each week. Make Planning Make Sense is hosted by Aaron Zimmerman MRTPI, presented by Centro Planning Consultancy and recorded in beautiful London, England.

Our guest this week is the one-and-only Phineas Harper.

The team at Centro is in the built environment sector because we’re dedicated to the outcomes we achieve. We’re invested in the nature of our work. That’s why it was such a good time speaking with Phineas, who has a unique position in the sector as an activist, an organiser, and – dare we say – a provocateur.

Be sure to follow for new episodes each week. Make Planning Make Sense is presented by Centro Planning Consultancy and recorded in beautiful London, England.

Our guest this week is Reuben Taylor KC of Landmarks Chambers. Reuben is a brilliant planning barrister, and, as you’ll hear, our conversation covers a wide range of topics.

From the kickstart measures for housing delivery in London to the Building Safety Regulator, the draft NPPF and Mötley Crüe, this one has it all.

Be sure to follow for new episodes each week. Make Planning Make Sense is hosted by Aaron Zimmerman MRTPI, presented by Centro Planning Consultancy and recorded in beautiful London, England.

The Season 2 premiere! Our guest this week is Councillor Anthony Okereke, leader of the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The insightful conversation covers new towns, the emergency relief measures for Greater London, local government funding, and good governance. We also talk politics a bit, but, as you’ll hear, not as much as Councillor Okereke had hoped. (Sorry, Anthony.)

Be sure to follow for new episodes each week. Make Planning Make Sense is hosted by Aaron Zimmerman MRTPI, presented by Centro Planning Consultancy and recorded in beautiful London, England.

Welcome to the Season 1 Finale! Aaron Zimmerman MRTPI sits down with Centro's Managing Director, Luke Raistrick MRTPI to distil the insights shared by our terrific guests over the course of Season 1. If you've been waiting for a single episode to tell you what's what, this is it! Share with abandon.

Thank you to all our guests who joined us for Season 1! We'll be back without missing a beat with the premiere of Season 2 next week.

Be sure to follow for new episodes each week. Make Planning Make Sense is presented by Centro Planning Consultancy and recorded in beautiful London, England.

This is the penultimate episode of Season 1 of Make Planning Make Sense!!! Our guests this week are Professor Nancy Holman and Professor Alan Mace of the London School of Economics. It’s a terrific conversation that invites us to take a step back from how planning and planning reform are often discussed in the public sphere.

Be sure to follow for new episodes each week. Make Planning Make Sense is presented by Centro Planning Consultancy and recorded in beautiful London, England.

Aaron Zimmerman MRTPI and Alex Roth sit down with Cleo Folkes of Thrive to discuss how we can measure and understand social value. In this episode, we talk through how similar the planning balance exercise is to a social value exercise. Still, for reasons we get into on the pod, we’re not close to turning the planning balance into a quantitative exercise.

Be sure to follow for new episodes each week. Make Planning Make Sense is presented by Centro Planning Consultancy and recorded in beautiful London, England.

In our penultimate episode of 2025, Aaron Zimmerman MRTPI and Alex Roth sit down with Maurice Lange, Analyst at the Centre for Cities and co-author of a report we keep referencing on the show! In this episode, we talk through London's approach to density, incentive structures in local government and possible ways forward for our planning system.

Be sure to follow for new episodes each week. Make Planning Make Sense is presented by Centro Planning Consultancy and recorded in beautiful London, England.