Best The 50 Shades of Planning Podcast | Podcast.co Podcasts (2024)

1
Efficiency Savings 1:05:10

2h ago1:05:10

1:05:10

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 up…

1
Neutral Impact III (and a bit of Green Belt) 58:06

6d ago58:06

58:06

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…

1
Love Thy Neighbourhood Plan 59:32

20d ago59:32

59:32

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 pl…

1
Grey Belt 47:21

1M ago47:21

47:21

Sam Stafford was in London recently and took the opportunity to catch up with friends of the podcast Catriona Riddell, Shelly Rouse and Nicola Gooch at Soho Radio Studios. One topic, the hot topic of the past few weeks, dominated the conversation. “Labour pledges housebuilding drive on Grey Belt with ‘golden rules’ to boost public services, afforda…

1
A Hillside to die on 46:16

2M ago46:16

46:16

Sam Stafford was in Manchester recently and took the opportunity to catch up with friends of the podcast Greg Dickson and Claire Petricca-Riding. During a conversation recorded at Reform Radio they talked about another exciting few weeks in the fast-paced, ever-changing, rock and roll world of town and country planning. They talked about RPs not bi…

1
Hitting the High Notes - Nick Kilby 1:06:14

2M ago1:06:14

1:06:14

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 …

1
Banishing Boxland 48:50

3M ago48:50

48:50

The Prime Minister recently announced plans to "turbocharge" development within England's largest towns and cities to mark a Government consultation on strengthening planning policy for brownfield development. Sam Stafford thought then that now would be a good time to share a conversation that he recorded online in August 2023 with old friends of t…

1
Capturing the Zeitgeist 51:47

3M ago51:47

51:47

This episode is a ramblechat that Sam Stafford recorded in London with friends of the podcast Hashi Mohamed, Simon Ricketts, Nicola Gooch and Andrew Taylor during which they reflected on another exciting few weeks in the fast-paced, ever-changing, rock and roll world of town and country planning. The conversation takes in the back-dating of Section…

1
Critical Infrastructure 53:10

4M ago53:10

53:10

Building GP surgeries, schools and roads is not just difficult it is so difficult, according to no less of an expert on such matters than the Prime Minister, as to be a reason to not even contemplate growing existing towns and cities. In introducing recent proposals to put “rocket boosters” under construction in existing built-up areas, Rishi Sunak…

1
Hitting the High Notes - Simon Ricketts 54:57

5M ago54:57

54:57

This episode is another in the Hitting The High Notes series. If you have not listened to one before the basic proposition 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 li…

1
NPPF 2023 Update - What Next? 57:47

5M ago57:47

57:47

At the kind invitation of Landmark Chambers and Town Legal, Sam Stafford was in London this week to contribute to a seminar on the NPPF update, which, eagle-eyed 50 Shades Listeners no doubt spotted, emerged as part of a cavalcade of Planning Reform Day announcements before Christmas. The seminar was over-subscribed and so was recorded in order tha…

1
🏆The #Planaraks Awards 2023🏆 1:02:01

6M ago1:02:01

1:02:01

Hopefully everybody involved in the fast-paced, ever-changing, rock and roll world of town and country has had a restful Christmas and have managed to combine at least a little rest with digesting the cavalcade of announcements on Planning Reform Day. This episode is the third of the festive 50 Shades triumvirate looking back at 2023. The first two…

1
🎅🏻The 50 Shades of Planning Festive Christmas Quiz - London🤶🏻 1:04:29

6M ago1:04:29

1:04:29

Well Planning Reform Day finally arrived, just in time for the profession to be able to digest a cavalcade of announcements over Christmas, but not in time for the second and third of the festive 50 Shades episodes. The podcast will be covering the new NPPF in due course, but put all of that hullabaloo to one side for now and let Sam Stafford and f…

1
☃️The 50 Shades of Planning Festive Christmas Quiz - Manchester🎄 51:08

6M ago51:08

51:08

So it is Christmas and, as Sam Stafford was asked in his appraisal, what have you done? Another year over and a new one just begun. If you cannot actually remember what you have done this year and if, as you look back, it has just been a blur of government consultation after government consultation, then the 50 Shades of Planning podcast is here to…

1
Pre-Apps & PPAs 55:09

6M ago55:09

55:09

As far back as Sam Stafford can remember Planning Performance Agreements (PPAs) have been the answer to questions about both how to get more resources into LPAs and how to improve application timescales. As Sam says in introducing this episode, he has been working for over twenty years, those questions remain unanswered, and PPAs remain a code yet …

1
A B~~~~~'s Muddle 1:00:55

7M ago1:00:55

1:00:55

Before heading to London for the week, Sam Stafford caught up with 50 Shades stalwarts Paul Smith, Katie Wray and Ian Wray for a wide-ranging ramblechat at the Reform Radio studios in Manchester. Paul is Managing Director at the Strategic Land Group, a Director at the LPDF and a columnist for Housing Today. Katie is a Director at Deloitte. Ian is a…

1
Going Public 1:11:59

7M ago1:11:59

1:11:59

The RTPI's recently published ‘State of the Profession’ report identified, perhaps unsurprisingly, that planners are increasingly being employed in the private sector, with numbers growing by a third over the last decade. The number of planners working in the public sector has reportedly shrunk by a quarter over the same period. Pleasingly though a…

1
A Plan for England 1:00:12

7M ago1:00:12

1:00:12

"Regional Spatial Strategies bridged the gap between those planning issues determined by local policy or concern, and those subject to policy goals defined at a national level – such as those for housing or renewable energy. The intended abolition of regional spatial planning strategies leaves a vacuum at the heart of the English planning system wh…

1
A LURA LURA Laughs 1:04:59

8M ago1:04:59

1:04:59

Whilst in London this week Sam Stafford recorded an end-of-month ramblechat with Ben Castell, Catriona Riddell, Gilian Macinnes and Nicola Gooch. The conversation takes in all manner of things, including the Levelling Up & Regeneration Act, news of which broke during the recording. They talk about the two part documentary 'Britain's Housing Crisis:…

1
Planning is Brilliant 47:24

8M ago47:24

47:24

A few months ago old friend of the podcast Rebecca Coley, Head of Planning & Development at Trafford Council, messaged Sam Stafford suggesting a 50 Shades episode on “the hidden work of LPAs that slows everything down, e.g. political pressure to investigate particular enforcement cases, the endless complaints that are actually neighbour disputes, F…

1
A conversation with Ben Everitt 50:30

9M ago50:30

50:30

The All-Party Parliamentary Group for the Housing Market & Housing Delivery is a cross-party group of MPs and Peers dedicated to improving the UK housing market. It has published a report called ‘Hacking housing: nine supply side hacks to fix our housing system error’ (link below) and the recommendations include changing the narrative around new de…

1
The Mortar Bombs of Division 50:02

9M ago50:02

50:02

Sam Stafford had planned more of a ramble-type chat with Pete Swift, Jonathan Easton and Claire Petricca-Riding, but, reflective of the news that has dominated the agenda of late, their conversation, recorded online, focuses on planning for the environment and specifically nutrient neutrality and net zero. They talk less about the nuts and bolts, p…

1
One Staircase or Two? 47:34

9M ago47:34

47:34

If you are involved in the delivery of tall buildings, especially in London, where Sadiq Khan has blamed Government dithering for delaying 34,000 homes on major development sites, then the second staircase issue will already be on your radar. By way of background, the Government consulted on Approved Document B of the Building Regulations between 2…

1
Last of the Summer Whine 48:12

10M ago48:12

48:12

Sam Stafford was in London this week and managed to catch up with some of the 50 Shades crew for a conversation about another turbulent few weeks in the fast-paced, ever-changing, rock and roll world of town and country planning. Sam met Andrew Taylor, Gilian Macinnes, Simon Ricketts and Nicola Gooch at Soho Radio Studios for a wide-ranging, whistl…

1
Hitting the High Notes - Hashi Mohamed 1:12:58

10M ago1:12:58

1:12:58

This episode is another in the Hitting The High Notes series, which is planning’s equivalent of Desert Island Discs. In these episodes Sam Stafford chats to preeminent figures in the planning and property sectors about the six projects that helped to shape them as professionals. And, so that we can get to know people a little better personally, for…

1
Another conversation with Clive Betts 55:09

11M ago55:09

55:09

Long-serving listeners might recall that for episode 45 of the podcast Sam Stafford published a conversation with Clive Betts, MP for Sheffield South East, about the then Housing, Communities & Local Government Committee’s recently-published report on the future of the planning system in England. Clive chaired that committee and has been involved i…

1
The Power of Plans - Shenzen 45:04

12M ago45:04

45:04

This episode is part of an international triumvirate, which has been put together with the help of old friend of the podcast, Ian Wray, and new friend of the podcast, Lucy Natarajan. Ian, regular listeners will know, is a Professor at the Heseltine Institute for Public Policy, Practice and Place at University of Liverpool. Lucy is one of the editor…

1
The Power of Plans - Dublin 53:59

12M ago53:59

53:59

This episode is part of an international triumvirate, which has been put together with the help of old friend of the podcast, Ian Wray, and new friend of the podcast, Lucy Natarajan. Ian, regular listeners will know, is a Professor at the Heseltine Institute for Public Policy, Practice and Place at University of Liverpool. Lucy is one of the editor…

1
The Power of Plans - New York 59:59

12M ago59:59

59:59

This episode is part of an international triumvirate, which has been put together with the help of old friend of the podcast, Ian Wray, and new friend of the podcast, Lucy Natarajan. Ian, regular listeners will know, is a Professor at the Heseltine Institute for Public Policy, Practice and Place at University of Liverpool. Lucy is one of the editor…

1
An Engaging Conversation 1:05:45

1y ago1:05:45

1:05:45

A little while ago Sam Stafford was approached by the Society of Local Council Clerks (SLCC), the professional membership body for clerks to town, parish and community councils across England and Wales, about contributing to an episode of their podcast. Sam subsequently met Shelley Parker, Linda Carter and Andrew Towlerton at Factory Studios in Bri…

1
Hitting the High Notes - Steve Quartermain 1:05:55

1y ago1:05:55

1:05:55

Hitting The High Notes is town planning’s equivalent of Desert Island Discs. In these 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 we can get to know people a little better personally, for every permissio…

1
Licensed to Il 1:13:24

1y ago1:13:24

1:13:24

Think back for a moment to August 2020, to the ‘Planning for the future’ white paper, and to then Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s desire for “radical reform unlike anything we have seen since the Second World War. Not more fiddling around the edges, not simply painting over the damp patches, but levelling the foundations and building, from the groun…

1
Life Lessons 29:18

1y ago29:18

29:18

A short while ago friend of the podcast Shelly Rouse got in touch with Sam Stafford asking for suggestions for a lecture that Shelly was giving for another friend of the podcast Charlotte Morphet and her soon-to-be planning grads at Leeds Beckett University. Shelly was after some words of wisdom to help the students with job hunting and the move in…

1
All politics is local 53:43

1y ago53:43

53:43

A triangle is a polygon with three edges and three vertices. The planning system, it could be contended, is a triangle. At one vertex there are the officers, the professionals, the technocrats, battling gainfully to get a local plan in place so as to determine planning applications in accordance with it. At another vertex there are the great Britis…

1
No hope? 55:31

1y ago55:31

55:31

In June 2022 the Government consulted on proposals to abolish hope and development value when assessing compensation for land compulsorily purchased for certain kinds of schemes. Nine months after it closed, a response has yet to be published, but many CPO professionals made the point at the time that the proposals would be unfair and that there wa…

1
A conversation with Bethany Cullen 39:24

1+ y ago39:24

39:24

When Karolina Grebowiec-Hall contacted Sam Stafford about sharing her podcast with his LinkedIn network Sam went a step further and invited Karolina to share it by way of the 50 Shades platform. Karolina has created a website called Pinch Yourself You’re A Planner. As she says on it, "I’m discomforted when the conversation about planning and planne…

1
Planning for a Feminist City 1:33:32

1+ y ago1:33:32

1:33:32

Spatial planning can only deliver a safe, healthy and sustainable environment for all if it is sensitive to the needs of all, which means taking into account the different roles women and men have in society and the different expectations and requirements they have from the planning system. Nobody could argue with that principle, but what does it m…

1
Life on the Front Line II 51:58

1+ y ago51:58

51:58

‘Are you planning a 50 Shades on the local authority staffing crisis?’ It was that message from a 50 Shades listener that prompted Episode 60 of the podcast, which Sam Stafford called ‘Life on the Front Line’. At around the same time, Catriona Riddell used a Planning Magazine column to highlight low morale in LPAs, citing hostility towards planners…

1
What does a good local plan look like? 57:47

1+ y ago57:47

57:47

Local plan-making is in something of a crisis. Lichfields reported in April 2022 on the 11 local plans that had at that time been overtly delayed, paused or withdrawn. Indeed the number of plans published in draft, submitted for examination and adopted in 2022 were all at the lowest level for a decade. This year is likely to be little better as mor…

1
More homes. Better places. So far as possible. 1:06:41

1+ y ago1:06:41

1:06:41

It will not have escaped the attention of regular 50 Shades listeners that a consultation on changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) was launched shortly before Christmas and, knowing that it was coming, friend of the podcast Simon Ricketts arranged one his 'Planning Law Unplanned' Clubhouse sessions for the first week back. Simon …

1
🏆 The #Planaraks Awards 2022 🏆 57:04

1+ y ago57:04

57:04

Even by the standards of the fast-paced, ever-changing, rock and roll world of town and country planning 2022 has been quite a year. Who better to review it, Sam Stafford thought, than Zack Simons, one of the most erudite, informed and entertaining thought leaders in the planning profession. Sam and Zack consider some of the year's important planni…

1
🎅🏻The 50 Shades of Planning Festive Christmas Quiz - Manchester🤶🏻 30:11

1+ y ago30:11

30:11

It’s cold, dark and miserable and, alas, there is little in Michael Gove’s recent Written Ministerial Statement to warm the cockles of a planner’s heart. Hopefully then the return of the 50 Shades of Planning Festive Christmas Quiz will spread some seasonal cheer. Even by the standards of the fast-paced, ever-changing, rock and roll world of town a…

1
Call for evidence - Life on the Front Line II 3:44

1+ y ago3:44

3:44

It was about a year ago that Catriona Riddell first wrote in Planning magazine about low morale in local planning authorities, which Catriona, Peter Geraghty, Paul Brocklehurst and Sam Stafford followed up with the 'Life on the Front Line' episode (no. 60). 'Life on the Front Line' was informed by a 'Call for Evidence', the submissions to which, mo…

1
🎄The 50 Shades of Planning Festive Christmas Quiz - London☃️ 32:26

1+ y ago32:26

32:26

It’s cold, wet and miserable and, alas, there is little in Michael Gove’s recent Written Ministerial Statement to warm the cockles of a planner’s heart. Hopefully then the return of the 50 Shades of Planning Festive Christmas Quiz will spread some seasonal cheer. Even by the standards of the fast-paced, ever-changing, rock and roll world of town an…

1
Catch up 53:35

1+ y ago53:35

53:35

This is an old skool, Adam Buxton-style ramble chat 50 Shades episode in which Sam Stafford fills his lunch hour with what he enjoys most: talking about planning with some of his planning friends. Planning being the fast-paced, ever-changing, rock and roll world that it is there was a lot to take in. Sam's conversation with Simon Ricketts, Claire P…

1
What Town Planners Do 51:42

1+ y ago51:42

51:42

Planning is rarely out of the news these days, certainly in England. It gets mentioned in speeches by party leaders, it garners headlines in the national and local press and has been the focus of multiple reform initiatives, especially over the last twenty years. Yet, these debates largely concern the ‘planning system’ and its policies, targets, me…

1
A Home of One's Own 56:32

1+ y ago56:32

56:32

This episode is published with thanks to Simon Ricketts and his Planning Law Unplanned Clubhouse forum. Simon recently had a Clubhouse chat with Hashi Mohamed about Hashi’s book ‘A Home of One’s Own’ and they kindly agreed to record it so that Sam Stafford could share it via his 50 Shades podcast. Simon is a partner at Town Legal, author of the Sim…

1
Hitting the High Notes - Peter Dixon 58:34

1+ y ago58:34

58:34

Hitting The High Notes is town planning’s equivalent of Desert Island Discs. In these 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 we can get to know people a little better personally, for every permissio…

1
A stimulating growth conversation 49:10

1+ y ago49:10

49:10

It will not have gone unnoticed that the Government published a 'Growth Plan' on Friday 23 September 2022 with implications for the Development Consent Order regime and the introduction of a new Investment Zone concept. Additional information about Investment Zones was published the following day (links below). Friend of the podcast Simon Ricketts …

1
Neutral Impact II 1:03:18

2y ago1:03:18

1:03:18

When Sam Stafford introduced Episode 38 of the 50 Shades of Planning Podcast on nutrient neutrality he described the topic of eutrophication as a bit like the podcast itself. A little niche, but very important. Since then, February 2021, whilst the podcast remains a little niche, the nutrient neutrality issue has very much broken into the mainstrea…

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