Sam Stafford was in London recently and took the opportunity to catch up with friends of the podcast Nicola Gooch, Catriona Riddell, Andrew Taylor, Annie Gingell and Iain Thomson.

Over the course of an hour or so at Soho Radio Studios they enjoyed a good ol’ fashioned 50 Shades-style ramblechat about a few of the hot topics exercising the planning profession at the moment.

They talked water neutrality and about statutory consultees, specifically the need to engage utility providers with the Spatial Development Strategy process. They talked about the merits of locally-set application fees. They talked about grant funding for affordable housing; the English Devolution & Community Empowerment Bill, which led on to Assets of Community Value; the use of hotels for the accommodation of asylum seekers; Level 7 Apprenticeships; and they talked about data centres.

Some accompanying reading.

Crest Nicholson Operations Ltd v Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government & Anor [2025] EWHC 2194 (Admin) (22 August 2025)

Chief Planner’s Newsletter

Devolution or revolution? – a brief guide to the changes proposed by the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill

English devolution: Area factsheets

Planning Law Is Being Used For Politicking About Asylum Seekers

RTPI warns Housing Minister of major threat to planning profession from apprenticeship restrictions

Data centres to be expanded across UK as concerns mount

Data centres as vital as NHS and power grid, government says

Grid delays now rival planning as chief threat to project delivery

Decoding Data Centers: Opportunities, risks and investment strategies

Life on the Front III

Some accompanying viewing.

Fawlty Towers S1/E2 - 'The Builders'

Some accompanying listening.

What’s Going On? – Marvin Gaye

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.