Sam Stafford and friends are in Manchester for the 50 Shades Christmas night out, but, before hitting the town, there is the small matter of the Festive Christmas Quiz to attend to.

In this first semi-final quizmaster Sam tests Katie Wray, Greg Dickson, Vicky Payne and Paul Smith on their knowledge of twelve planning news stories from past twelve months.

Katie (@kluw) is an Assistant Director at Deloitte Real Assets Advisory. Greg (@GregDickson1) is a Partner at Barton Willmore. Vicky (@Vicky_Payne) is an Associate Principal at URBED. Paul (@Paul_SLG) is Managing Director at The Strategic Land Group.

Some accompanying reading.

January

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/right-to-regenerate-to-turn-derelict-buildings-into-homes-and-community-assets

February

https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/councils-hit-out-at-governments-unrealistic-new-planning-formula-69616

March

https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/budget/budget-2021-rishi-sunak-failed-mention-northern-powerhouse-george-osborne-2014-899302

April

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9486617/Race-retail-parks-town-shopping-areas-footfall-near-EQUAL-level-2019.html

May

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2021-05-18/uk-property-wealth-data-2021-show-big-gap-between-black-and-white-homeowners

June

https://www.itv.com/news/2021-06-08/nearly-80-of-towns-getting-share-of-725m-of-government-funding-represented-by-conservative-mps

July

https://placealliance.org.uk/research/design-deficit/

August

https://www.planningresource.co.uk/article/1725416/number-enforcement-notices-drops-lowest-level-ever

September

https://www.centreforcities.org/blog/what-does-the-public-think-about-levelling-up/

October

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/oct/24/the-word-crazy-is-associated-with-the-wrong-kind-of-golf

November

https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/politics/yorkshire-to-get-just-two-miles-of-high-speed-track-under-boris-johnsons-integrated-rail-plan-3463377

December

https://lichfields.uk/content/insights/feeding-the-pipeline

Some accompanying listening.

Sam's Christmas Crackers - The Ultimate Festive Soundtrack

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3Dn44yamtsjrzsYH4rzbld?si=AlBrDD3aQjib3VpLj-sHjg

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