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50 Shades of Planning

50 Shades of Planning

Samuel Stafford

50 Shades of Planning is Sam Stafford’s attempt to explore the foibles of the English planning system and it's aim is to cover the breadth of the sector both in terms of topics of conversation and in terms of guests with different experiences and perspectives.

50 Shades episodes include 'Hitting The High Notes', which are a series of conversations with leading planning and property figures. The conversations take in the six milestone planning permissions or projects within a contributor’s career and for every project guests are invited to choose a piece of music that they were listening to at that time. Think Desert Island Discs, but for planners.

Sam is on Bluesky (@samuelstafford.bsky.social) and Instagram (@samuel__stafford), and his blogs can be found here: http://samuelstafford.blogspot.com (from where you can also sign up for his newsletter).

The 50 Shades platforms are expressions of Sam's personal opinions, which may or may not represent the opinions of his past, present or future employers.

50 Shades of Planning is by planners and for planners and so if you would like to use the podcast or the YouTube channel for sharing anything you think that the sector needs to be talking about then do please feel free to get in touch with Sam via [email protected].

Why Fifty Shades? Well, planning is not a black and white endeavour. There are at least fifty shades in between....

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Top 10 50 Shades of Planning Episodes

Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best 50 Shades of Planning episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to 50 Shades of Planning for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite 50 Shades of Planning episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

50 Shades of Planning - If I Ruled the World

If I Ruled the World

50 Shades of Planning

play

04/12/25 • 59 min

Sam Stafford was down in The Big Smoke recently and took the opportunity to catch up with friends of the podcast Matthew Spry, Simon Ricketts, Hana Loftus, Vicky Payne and Mike Kiely.

In a good ol’ fashioned Adam Buxton-style ramblechat they talked about anything and everything. They talked about stat cons; they talked about skills, resources and leadership within LPAs; they talked about the need for efficiency gains in development management to deal with the expected uptick in planning applications; they talked application fees; they talked about power lines; they talked about a national scheme of delegation; they talked about NPSs, SDSs, local plans and NDMPs; and then they talked about a national scheme of delegation again.

There is something in here for everybody.

Some accompanying reading.

Reeves to put £2bn into affordable housing to ‘sweeten the pill’ of cuts

Bureaucratic burden lifted to speed up building in growth agenda

Planning Fees – All Power to Local Authorities?

People living near new pylons in Great Britain could get £250 a year off energy bills

On modernising planning committees

Assistance Required: 'The Snagging List'

Some accompanying listening.

Nas ft. Lauryn Hill - If I Ruled the World (Imagine That)

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.

Any other business.

Sam is on Bluesky (@samuelstafford.bsky.social) and Instagram (@samuel__stafford). His blog contains a link to his newsletter.

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50 Shades of Planning - Going Public

Going Public

50 Shades of Planning

play

11/25/23 • 71 min

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 and perhaps contrary to preconceptions, this flow is not one way and some planners are making the move into or back into the public sector. The recruitment, and indeed the retention, of staff is clearly fundamental to building the skills and capacity within LPAs that is needed if they are to do everything that everybody expects of them.

Helping to facilitate this recruitment is Public Practice, a not-for-profit social enterprise with a mission to build the public sector’s capability to improve the quality, equality and sustainability of places.

Their leading service is an Associate Programme, which places mid-career built environment practitioners into placements as ‘Associates’ within local authorities to work across a wide range of place-based roles.

In this episode you will hear a chat that Sam Stafford recorded with Pooja Agrawal, CEO at Public Practice, about the work of the organisation, and then you will hear from four professionals who have made the move from private to public. The four are

  • Andrew Martin, Principal Planner at East Suffolk Council;
  • Iona Norton, Housing, Energy and Sustainability Manager at Greenwich Council;
  • Oli Boaler, Economic Development Manager at Rochdale Development Agency; and
  • Hannah Haddad, Head of Strategic Planning Applications at Hounslow Council.

Oli and Iona are Public Practice alumni and Hannah is a current Associate.

You will hear the four of them talk thoughtfully and candidly about their career paths to date and the reasons why they have taken the decisions that they have, as well as their experiences, good and bad, in both private and public sectors.

Some accompanying reading

State of the Profession 2023

https://www.rtpi.org.uk/policy-and-research/state-of-the-profession-2023/

Public Practice’s Associate Programme

https://www.publicpractice.org.uk/associates/apply-associates

Sam’s career advice for his younger self

https://samuelstafford.blogspot.com/2020/04/memories-of-200809-career-advice-for-my.html

Some accompanying listening

It’s All About The Benjamins – Puff Daddy, featuring The Notorious B.I.G., Lil' Kim and The Lox

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0c58ppLPJcQ

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

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50 Shades of Planning - A Brief History of Planning 2010-2024
play

10/19/24 • 65 min

Back in March 2024 friend of the podcast Catriona Riddell gave a lecture at UCL’s Bartlett School of Planning that she called ‘Strategic Planning in England - Where did we go so wrong?’.

Sam Stafford couldn’t be there that night, but Catriona shared her slides on LinkedIn and they read to Sam almost like a ‘Brief History of Planning 2010-2024’, which he thought a good subject for an episode.

As well as Catriona, who was Director of Planning at the South East England Regional Assembly when the Coalition Government came to power in 2010, Sam approached another friend of podcast, Steve Quartermain, Chief Planner between 2008 and 2020, who was also keen to be involved. Sam felt though that a political perspective on things was also needed so he approached Greg Clark.

Greg was appointed Director of Policy for the Conservative Party in 2001 before being elected as MP for Royal Tunbridge Wells in 2005. He has held a number of senior Government roles, including, and of most relevance to planners, Minister for Decentralisation and Cities within the Department for Communities and Local Government between May 2010 and September 2012 and Secretary of State for CLG between May 2015 and July 2016. Greg was also briefly Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities between July 2022 and September 2022.

Greg, pleasingly, was also keen to be involved, and the four of them finally got together at Soho Radio Studios in early October 2024.

There were many, many topics of possible conversation in Sam's notes for the recording. They did not actually get to the latter part of the 2010-2024 period, so they did not get to, for example, the Standard Method, the 2020 White Paper, and the Theresa Villiers / LURB amendments brouhaha, but that was because they ended up dwelling on arguably the big three topics of that 2010-2024 period, which are the revocation of the Regional Strategies, Localism and the NPPF. They did also touch, right at the end of the conversation, on permitted development rights.

Standby for insights into what Eric Pickles had DCLG staff do on his first day at the Department, the amount of thought that was given to what would replace the RSSs (spoiler alert, not much...) and how the NPPF came into being...

Some accompanying reading.

Has the localism genie been put back in the bottle?

https://samuelstafford.blogspot.com/2024/09/has-localism-genie-been-put-back-in.html

Some accompanying viewing.

Catriona’s Bartlett School of Planning lecture - Strategic planning in England: where did we go so wrong?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7D2xXMwVNrk

Jerry’s Final Thought

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7h0mIy6Jho

Some accompanying listening.

The Wheel – Bill Callahan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPjxq2-j6xY

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

Any other business.

Sam is on Bluesky (@samuelstafford.bsky.social) and Instagram (@samuel__stafford). His blog contains a link to his newsletter.

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50 Shades of Planning - The 50 Shades of Planning Festive Christmas Quiz
play

12/13/19 • 48 min

Full of festive cheer (and sherry), Sam Stafford quizzes Greg Dickson, Paul Smith, David Diggle, Andrew Jalali, Vicky Payne and Tom Whitehead on some of the stories that have caught the eye in 2019. Expect an attempt at humour at the start, an appearance from a very special guest at the end and some bad cracker jokes in between...

For those interested in the topics that are discussed there is some reading here:

January

Mr Brokenshire’s big intervention stick.

http://samuelstafford.blogspot.com/2018/08/mr-brokenshires-big-intervention-stick.html

February

Portsmouth council plans to reclaim land from sea for homes.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-47142979

March

The latest act in the GMSF play.

http://samuelstafford.blogspot.com/2019/01/the-latest-installment-in-long-running.html

MHCLG’s resourcing and skills survey.

https://local.gov.uk/pas/pas-topics/monitoring/survey-planning-departments-2019

April

In memory of the Englishman who kept a shark on his roof.

https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-the-uk/in-memory-of-the-englishman-who-kept-a-shark-on-his-roof/amp

May

The National Audit Office’s investigation into the government’s land disposal strategy and programmes.

https://www.nao.org.uk/report/investigation-into-the-governments-land-disposal-strategy/

June

Juries for plan-making.

https://landforthemany.uk/

July

Record temperatures across Europe.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-49108847

August

The Towns Fund.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/conservatives-general-election-marginals-public-funding-money-a9201141.html

September

Robert Jenrick likes tree-lined streets.

https://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/housing-secretary-launches-national-design-guide-to-end-ugly-development/10044606.article

October

The CPRE likes Green Belt.

https://www.housingtoday.co.uk/comment/paradise-lost-cpre-and-the-state-of-the-green-belt/5102352.article

November

Government confirms fracking moratorium and drops proposed permitted development rights.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/843801/Government_Response_to_the_shale_PDR_Consultation.pdf

December

How does your garden grow?

https://lichfields.uk/media/5638/how-does-your-garden-grow_a-stock-take-on-planning-for-the-governments-garden-communities-programme.pdf

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50 Shades of Planning - Efficiency Savings

Efficiency Savings

50 Shades of Planning

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06/15/24 • 65 min

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 upshot, say critics, has been declining performance and a staff exodus.

Joey’s piece highlighted the tumult at Tandridge, which in 2020 was formally threatened with designation over the quality of its decision-making. A subsequent PAS review of the council’s development management service, which was published in 2021, laid the blame squarely on a team structure “developed during the corporate restructure” that it said was “not fit for purpose”.

That local government has borne the brunt of the age of austerity is well known. According to the IFS, during the 2010s, councils’ overall core funding per person fell by an average of 26% in real terms, with higher council tax revenues only partially offsetting a 46% reduction in funding from central government.

Those in the sector know that planning and development has borne the brunt of that. Again according to the IFS, spending per person on planning and development fell by 58% between 2010/11 and 2019/20, which was second only to cuts to services for young people and Sure Start. Perhaps less well known, and what Joey’s article has helped to shine a light on, is the impact on planning services of the kind of whole-authority service transformations that some authorities have undertaken to in order to deal with these financial pressures.

To explore this issue further Sam Stafford invited four of the people quoted in Joey’s article to expand upon their experiences with him. They are old friends of the podcast Mike Kiely, Gilian MacInnes and Paul Barnard, and new friend of the podcast Peter Ford. In a conversation recorded at Soho Radio Studios at the end of April 2024 they talked about the pressures that LPAs have been and are under; why the nature of planning services do not lend it to whole-authority service transformations; and the impact of such upheavals. They also talked about whether there are too planning teams and whether Chief Planning Officers could and should be at the top decision-making table.

The episode starts though with a brief conversation that Sam recorded online with Joey Gardiner recently about his special report for Planning. Sam asked Joey how he went about putting the report together; what he found most striking in so doing; and what feedback he has had on it.

Some accompanying reading.

How cost-saving consultants disrupted council planning services (£)

https://www.planningresource.co.uk/article/1860857/cost-saving-consultants-disrupted-council-planning-services

Tandridge District Council - DM Review

https://tandridge.moderngov.co.uk/documents/s4234/Appendix%20A%20-%20Development%20Management%20Review.pdf

Guildford Borough Council - Development Management Establishment Review

https://democracy.guildford.gov.uk/documents/s26379/Item%208%20-%20DM%20Budget%20Exec%20Report%20revised%20for%20Autumn%202022%20-%20FINAL-%20V4.pdf

How have English councils’ funding and spending changed? 2010 to 2024

https://ifs.org.uk/publications/how-have-english-councils-funding-and-spending-changed-2010-2024

Some accompanying listening.

Episode 84 of Room 106

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50 Shades of Planning - Green Belt, Sacred Cow

Green Belt, Sacred Cow

50 Shades of Planning

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04/22/20 • 55 min

'I began to see what a sacred cow the Green Belt has become' said Minister for Housing & Local Government Richard Crossman in 1964.

The Green Belt is a political behemoth that has long loomed over the planning system. In this episode Sam Stafford asks Paul Miner, Strategic Planning & Devolution at CPRE, and Kathryn Ventham, Planning Partner at Barton Willmore, whether housing need is becoming a sufficiently irresistible force to shift hitherto immovable Green Belt boundaries?

Twitter handles: @samuel_stafford. @PaulMiner3 and @kateventham.

Some accompanying reading and viewing:

John Grindrod’s ‘Outskirts’

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/jun/14/outskirts-by-john-grindrod-review

Ipsos Mori polling for the CPRE on public attitudes towards the Green Belt

https://www.ipsos.com/ipsos-mori/en-uk/attitudes-towards-green-belt-land

Ipsos Mori polling for Housing The Powerhouse on attitudes towards housing development in Greater Manchester

http://www.housingthepowerhouse.com/downloads/Housing%20the%20Powerhouse%20-%20Ipsos%20MORI%20Opinion%20Poll%20Press%20Release.pdf

'The Green Noose: An analysis of Green Belts and proposals for reform' by the Adam Smith Institute

https://www.adamsmith.org/news/press-release-free-up-3-7-percent-of-londons-green-belt-to-build-one-million-new-homes-says-new-report

‘Planned up and be counted ‘ local plan making under NPPF 2012’ by Lichfields

https://lichfields.uk/content/insights/planned-up-and-be-counted

‘This Blessed Plot – This Other Eden’ - A film for the Council for the Preservation of Rural England

https://www.britishpathe.com/video/rural-england-aka-this-blessed-plot-this-other

‘The myth of the countryside idyll’ by Steve Middlehurst

https://stevemiddlehurstidentityandplace.wordpress.com/2016/10/10/a5-research-the-myth-of-the-countryside-idyll/

Keith Joseph’s 1964 South East Study

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/19/newsid_2570000/2570681.stm

A Policy Briefing Paper by the Landscape Institute

https://www.landscapeinstitute.org/policy/green-belt-policy/

The London Society’s Position Paper

https://www.londonsociety.org.uk/post/londons-green-belt

‘The Proud City’ – A film outlining plans for the post war reconstruction of London, featuring Patrick Abercrombie and JH Forshaw.

https://archive.org/details/ProudCity

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50 Shades of Planning - The Coastal Path

The Coastal Path

50 Shades of Planning

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11/06/21 • 54 min

The Chief Medical Officer, in their annual report, presents to Government information or ‘surveillance’ about the health of England’s population, offering recommendations to both government and individual organisations as to how to improve the public health system.

In his 2021 report, published in July, Chris Whitty chose to report on health in coastal communities. It concluded that:

There are many reasons for poor health outcomes in coastal communities. The pleasant environment attracts older, retired citizens to settle, who inevitably have more and increasing health problems. An oversupply of guest housing has led to Houses of Multiple Occupation which lead to concentrations of deprivation and ill health. The sea is a benefit but also a barrier: attracting NHS and social care staff to peripheral areas is harder, catchment areas for health services are artificially foreshortened and transport is often limited, in turn limiting job opportunities. Many coastal communities were created around a single industry such as previous versions of tourism, or fishing, or port work that have since moved on, meaning work can often be scarce or seasonal.

Physical and natural environment? Demography? Housing? Transport? Employment? This, Sam Stafford thought, sounded like a good subject for exploration on a town planning-based podcast. What are the particular issues associated with planning for coastal communities? What distinguishes a successful coastal town from a less successful one? And what role does the planning system have in determining these outcomes?

Sam puts these questions to Louise Wood (@LWood_Cornwall), Service Director for Planning at Cornwall Council; Christopher Balch (@balchplyuni), Emeritus Professor at the University of Plymouth and Non-Executive Director at the Torbay & South Devon NHS Foundation Trust; and Warren Lever (@ShapeThePlace), Senior Conservation & Design Officer at New Forest District Council.

Some accompanying reading.

Chief Medical Officer’s annual report 2021: health in coastal communities

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/chief-medical-officers-annual-report-2021-health-in-coastal-communities

'Imagination is key to the revival of Britain’s seaside towns'

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/aug/13/imagination-key-revival-of-britains-seaside-towns-banksy-norfolk

Levelling up: The seaside town debating what change is needed

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-58248594

Select Committee on Regenerating Seaside Towns and Communities - The future of seaside towns

https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201719/ldselect/ldseaside/320/32004.htm#_idTextAnchor008

Higher education enables graduates to move to places with better career prospects – but this leads to brain drain from the North and coastal areas

https://ifs.org.uk/publications/15621

Trusting the People: the case for community-powered conservatism

https://www.newlocal.org.uk/publications/trusting-people-community/

Blue Deal For Coastal Communities

https://neweconomics.org/campaigns/blue-new-deal

Some accompanying viewing.

Councillors Ray Cox and Roy Evans discuss efforts to regenerate Marine Way in Aldington-on-Sea

https://youtu.be/aeARXMHW4Is

Some accompanying listening.

The Coral - Take me back to the summertime

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IREwDVoh558

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. ...

bookmark
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50 Shades of Planning - Neutral Impact III (and a bit of Green Belt)
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06/01/24 • 58 min

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 rules".

A Government press release issued in August 2023 stated that “through an amendment to the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill (LURB), the Government will do away with this red tape and allow for the delivery of more than 100,000 new homes desperately needed by local communities."”

The LURB amendments in question were subsequently defeated, nutrient neutrality rules have not been scrapped, and 2 June 2024 marks the fifth anniversary of Natural England’s first advice note for LPAs in the Solent Region. The question that Sam posed in that second Shades episode remains just as pertinent: how far away is a satisfactory resolution in those parts of the country that have been affected?

In order to provide an updated answer to that question Sam invited old friend of the podcast Rachel Jones and new friends of the podcast Andrew Smith and Gemma Nelmes to share their experiences. Rachel is Ecology Manager at Wiltshire Council; Andrew is Head of Development Management at the Lake District National Park Authority; and Gemma is an Associate at Stantec.

Eagle-eyed Listeners may have spotted that the title of this episode is Neutral Impact III (and a bit of Green Belt). Sam has very kindly been invited by Richard Kimblin at No. 5 Chambers and Sarah Young at LUC to contribute to a Green Belt Summit that they are holding on Wednesday 3 July. It is in London, but will be available to view online as well. The three of them had a brief preparatory chat last recently about the spur for the summit and the hopes for it. That chat features in the final section of the episode.

Some accompanying reading.

100,000 more homes to be built via reform of defective EU laws

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/100000-more-homes-to-be-built-via-reform-of-defective-eu-laws?pk_campaign=newsletter_6337

Natural England and Dorset Wildlife Trust buy Lyscombe farm

https://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/24310589.natural-england-dorset-wildlife-trust-buy-lyscombe-farm/

Claims that developers are responsible for water pollution are a load of poo

https://capx.co/claims-that-developers-are-responsible-for-water-pollution-are-a-load-of-poo/

Is the Government backtracking on environmental protection?

https://capx.co/is-the-government-backtracking-on-environmental-protection/

PAS Nutrient Neutrality Programme

https://www.local.gov.uk/pas/topics/environment/nutrient-neutrality-and-planning-system

Natural England Framework for Wetland Mitigation Proposals

https://storymaps.arcgis.com/collections/6543a2f8de0348f683187ff268a79687?item=4

Information on Nature Based Solutions as Nutrient Mitigation

https://publications.naturalengland.org.uk/publication/6680815300509696

Natural England’s nutrient mitigation scheme for developers

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/natural-englands-nutrient-mitigation-scheme-for-developers

CIRIA publishes new guidance on SuDS construction

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50 Shades of Planning - Hitting the High Notes - Anna Rose
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06/25/22 • 58 min

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 permission or project Sam asks his guests for a piece of music that reminds them of that period of their career.

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 to this episode, 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 of Hitting The High Notes is Anna Rose. After eschewing a career in fashion, Anna worked as a legal advisor at the National Farmers Union before joining Rugby Borough Council and working her way to become Head of Planning & Culture. After a spell as Service Director at Milton Keynes Council, Anna (@EPlanna) has since 2017 been the Head of the Planning Advisory Service (@pas_team) at the Local Government Association. Sam and Anna's conversation takes in the relationships and skills required to plan strategically and deliver major new development; leadership and systems thinking; and LPA recruitment practices.

Anna's song selections.

Fluorescent Adolescent - Arctic Monkeys

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ma9I9VBKPiw

Human - The Killers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIZdjT1472Y

Try – P!NK

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTCDVfMz15M

Zombie – Jamie T

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PU4d5Iogd4

Tilted – Christine & The Queens

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptu3TFmF0Jo

If I Got It (Your Love brought It) – Aaron Frazer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlNBg35ItSo

Anna's Spotify playlist

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4NqDjMStSYGn3tlmBEYPR0?si=uGKpLS7mSSSyoTI3Sj8QuQ

Some accompanying reading

The Planning Advisory Service

https://www.local.gov.uk/latest-news-pas

Houlton, Rugby

https://houltonrugby.co.uk/

MK Futures 2050

https://www.mkfutures2050.com/

PAS' 'Return To Work' project

https://www.local.gov.uk/return-to-work-planning

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

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50 Shades of Planning - Call for Evidence - Britain's Best and Worst Streets
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11/20/21 • 2 min

Episode 56 will be alone soon, but, in the meantime, Sam Stafford would appreciate your help with preparations for a future episode that he has in mind. This, if you will, is a 50 Shades Call for Evidence.

Create Streets recently tweeted a photograph of Grey Street in Newcastle and asked whether it is Britain’s best street.

It was considered to be one of the best in 2002 when Radio 4’s Today programme and CABE set out to identify Britain’s best and worst streetscapes. Grey Street, High Pavement in Nottingham; Buchanan Street in Glasgow; New Street in Birmingham and the Water Street/Castle Street area of Liverpool were considered the best. Streatham High Road in London; Cornmarket in Oxford; Drake’s Circus in Plymouth; Maid Marian Way in Nottingham and Leatherhead High Street in Surrey were considered the worst.

Twenty years on, one wonders (or rather friend of the podcast Ben Castell wondered on Twitter and Sam has pinched his idea…), do they remain Britain’s best and worst streets? Where now might be considered better, or even worse, and why?

Sam would like to invite you, the 50 Shades listenership, to submit your nominations for Britain’s best and worst streets and the most popular submissions will feature in an episode that will consider what makes for a great street and the factors that affect change over time.

Please send all contributions to [email protected] before the end of the consultation period on 31 December 2021.

Some accompanying listening (whilst essentially a teaser trailer this is still technically an episode and so deserves some accompanying listening).

Streets of Your Town by The Go-Betweens

https://youtu.be/g-TJd2RnWgQ

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

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FAQ

How many episodes does 50 Shades of Planning have?

50 Shades of Planning currently has 138 episodes available.

What topics does 50 Shades of Planning cover?

The podcast is about News, Podcasts, Politics and Government.

What is the most popular episode on 50 Shades of Planning?

The episode title 'Everybody needs good neighbours' is the most popular.

What is the average episode length on 50 Shades of Planning?

The average episode length on 50 Shades of Planning is 55 minutes.

How often are episodes of 50 Shades of Planning released?

Episodes of 50 Shades of Planning are typically released every 14 days.

When was the first episode of 50 Shades of Planning?

The first episode of 50 Shades of Planning was released on Apr 15, 2019.

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