50 Shades of Planning Samuel Stafford

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

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, affordable homes and improve green spaces”, so announced a press release dated 19 April.


Keir Starmer has today set out five ‘golden rules’ for Grey Belt housebuilding, pledging to deliver affordable homes, boost infrastructure and public services like schools and GPs, and improve genuine green spaces.


While reiterating that Labour will always take a 'brownfield first' approach to housing development, Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner are also pledging to release some land currently classed as Green Belt to build the homes Britain needs.”


On a visit to a housing development today, the pair will outline Labour’s plans to create a new class of 'Grey Belt' land to ensure grey and poor-quality parts of the Green Belt are prioritised, and that any development benefits local communities.


Plenty in there then for the gang to get their teeth in to. They discussed the practical issues associated with creating a new class of designation and how that might rub up against, for example, mandatory BNG. They also talked about how Grey Belt might interact with a mechanism for cross- boundary strategic planning, which Matthew Pennycook has said that Labour will introduce to overcome housing delivery challenges around towns and cities with tightly drawn administrative boundaries. All of that, as you will hear, led them on to local plan reform and what the next version of the NPPF looks like, as well as a remarkable statistic from Shelly on how much a local plan costs to prepare.


Some accompanying reading.


Labour’s planning proposals


http://samuelstafford.blogspot.com/2024/04/labours-planning-proposals.html


The 80-year planning war over a Surrey airfield (£)


https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-80-year-planning-war-over-a-surrey-airfield-lvjb3svr7


Some accompanying viewing.


What is Grey Belt land and why does Keir Starmer want to build on it?


https://youtu.be/4OvsXqdpy4s?si=S6mfS_uL-R15v-3b


Some accompanying listening.


Darkness on the edge of town – Bruce Springsteen


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8HXvt-v5v0


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

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 bidding for Section 106 sites, they talked about the 'Accelerated Planning System' consultation, so the proposals for the new Section 73B, the ten week determination period for major commercial applications, and restrictions on the use of extension of time agreements. They talked about the Flood Risk Sequential Test and touched on the Government response to a consultation on operational reforms to the NSIP process.


Some accompanying reading.


An accelerated planning system


https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/an-accelerated-planning-system-consultation/an-accelerated-planning-system


Simon Ricketts’ S73B Blog


https://simonicity.com/2024/04/01/section-73-or-section-73b/


Zack Simons' Flood Risk Sequential Test Blog


https://www.planoraks.com/posts-1/buildin-in-the-rain-flood-risk-in-the-courts


Pre-application advice and Planning Performance Agreements


https://www.local.gov.uk/pas/development-mgmt/pre-application-advice-and-planning-performance-agreements-ppas


Power & Partnership: Labour’s plan to power up Britain


https://labour.org.uk/updates/stories/labours-plan-to-power-up-britain/


A Westminster Hall Debate on 13 March 2024


https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2024-03-13/debates/65995D50-E335-444C-8065-405F91548338/PlanningReform


Labour’s planning proposals


http://samuelstafford.blogspot.com/2023/10/labours-planning-proposals.html


Some accompanying viewing.


The fine kind of rain that soaks you through - Peter Kay


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rk8xHtbkhR8


Can you imagine a world without lawyers? - The Simpsons


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uG3uea-Hvy4


Some accompanying listening


Hillside Song - My Morning Jacket


https://youtu.be/XmLiKGpSC4g?si=4TkfP6YMFgfUYfJ1


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

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 Nick Kilby, founder and now Chief Executive Officer of Cratus Group, who kindly took the time to meet Sam at Soho Radio Studios in early April 2024.


Nick trained as a Stage Manager and Lighting Designer at Mountview Theatre School and worked in the early 1980s as a stage manager at the Edinburgh Festival and the National Theatre. Having produced his own shows Nick then got into cinema management, including the first Imax at the Trocadero Centre. He then got into politics and in 2006 was elected on to the Royal Borough of Kingston Council, which led to being asked about campaigning and lobbying. After being involved with the Abbey Mills ‘Mega’ Mosque at the end of the 2000s Nick then founded Cratus.


As Nick takes Sam through his six projects they talk about the keys to successful engagement and the role of the councillor in that. They talk about how consultants are only as good as the client lets them be; about what it really means to build communities; and they talk about localism and a certain Mr Eric Pickles. 


Some accompanying reading.


All The Lonely People – Mike Gayle


https://www.mikegayle.co.uk/my-books/all-lonely-people


Want to build? Better hire a good lobbyist


https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/want-to-build-better-hire-a-good-lobbyist-rc6gsg7qs (£)


My Favourite Building: Sam Stafford – The Piece Hall


https://www.thebusinessdesk.com/yorkshire/news/117312-prop-my-favourite-building-sam-stafford-the-piece-hall


Some accompanying viewing.


You See Me Laughin': The Last of the Hill Country Bluesmen


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiW3oPv1vZc


Some accompanying listening.


McCartney: A Life in Lyrics


https://www.pushkin.fm/podcasts/mccartney-a-life-in-lyrics


Nick’s Spotify playlist


https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0bwjKHMaDAsodUAddsBpyr?si=0gPfuF0QTzSdwastIl-w9w&pi=e-D-xwFvBMToSz&nd=1&dlsi=dfe4a97887be4cb4


There is Power in a Union - Billy Bragg


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwbzxemJZIc


We can Work it Out -The Beatles


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-0if-ca6CE


Elgar Violin Concerto in B Minor, Op. 61: 11. Andante - Nigel Kennedy


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLD0jOyTnwU


A Father Now from 3 Guys Naked from the Waist Down - Original Off Broadway Cast


https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nlSUmGk0G9IMZQDCW2uVCm3eZlrr8yD6U


Eleanor Rigby - The Beatles


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuS5NuXRb5Y


Love Theme from Cinema Paradiso by Ennio Morricone 


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMZvAbk1kXQ


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

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 the podcast David Milner and Rebecca Coley, and new friend of the podcast Mark Aylward, about the redevelopment of big box retail parks.


The prompt for the conversation was a 2018 report that Sam had come across by Create Streets and Policy Exchange called ‘Better Brownfield’, which claimed that there are over 1200 sites across London currently occupied by single-storey big box retail and industrial sheds and that, by ‘banishing boxland’, these sites could accommodate between 250,000 and 300,000 new homes.


Who owns and manages assets like these? What is the market like for big boxes in the new world of online retail? And what are the opportunities presented by, and the barriers to, sites like this coming forward for a mixed-use redevelopment? These are the questions that Sam invited David, Mark and Rebecca to explore with him.


Some accompanying reading.


How to house London’s surging population? Banish “boxland” – by Susan Emmett


https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/politics/41218/how-to-house-londons-surging-population-banish-boxland


Better Brownfield


https://policyexchange.org.uk/publication/better-brownfield/


Five retail and leisure trends to look out for in the post-pandemic era


https://www.savills.co.uk/blog/article/340262/commercial-property/five-retail-and-leisure-trends-to-look-out-for-in-the-post-pandemic-era.aspx


Pipeline of data centres needs to more than double by 2025 to meet demand for storage in Europe


https://www.savills.co.uk/insight-and-opinion/savills-news/336014-0/savills--pipeline-of-data-centres-needs-to-more-than-double-by-2025-to-meet-demand-for-storage-in-europe


The London Land Challenge; The Industrial Land Market


https://www.savills.co.uk/research_articles/229130/329623-0


Some accompanying listening.


Brighouse on Saturday Night – Roger Davies


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PQmACfPhY4


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

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 106 indexation and what that says about local authority finances; the need to consider PPAs, statutory consultees and performance targets in the round; BNG and Sam's debut appearance on Countryfile; the Brownfield Reform Day consultations on a presumption in favour of brownfield development, permitted development rights and the Mayor of London’s call-in powers; and the Competition & Markets Authority's report on the housebuilding industry. All in approximately 45 minutes or so.


Some accompanying reading.


Housebuilding market study final report


https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/housebuilding-market-study-final-report


Brownfield Reform Day


http://samuelstafford.blogspot.com/2024/02/brownfield-reform-day.html


Biodiversity Unit Finder Map


https://www.futurehomes.org.uk/biodiversityunitfindermap


Short Term Thinking 


https://simonicity.com/2023/04/14/short-term-thinking/


Can Local Plan Policies Require Developers To Go Beyond National Standards?


https://simonicity.com/2024/02/24/can-local-plan-policies-require-developers-to-go-beyond-national-standards/


Some accompanying listening.


Zeitgeist by Black Sabbath


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3FyNH9v7mU


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