50 Shades of Planning

Strategic planning is back. What do we know? We know that Policy PM1 of the revised draft NPPF anticipates the move towards national coverage of Spatial Development Strategies (SDSs), as promised by the end of the parliamentary term, and clarifies their role, content, and relationship to other tiers of the development plan. SDSs are intended to be high-level documents focused on genuinely strategic, cross-boundary issues, leaving detailed policy to other plans. We know that the Planning & Infrastructure Act, the second SDS building block, gained Royal Assent in December 2025 and sets out the process by which authorities, be they mayoral authorities, combined authorities or combined county authorities, should prepare SDSs. We know that the third SDS building block, the English Devolution & Community Empowerment Bill (which has reached the committee stage in the House of Lords), will confirm the structures and mechanisms of governance. For much of the country, SDS geography is already settled. More than half of the population is led by mayors, and across at least seven of the major cities, the preparation of SDSs is already underway. For much of the rest of the country though, including areas simultaneously undergoing local government re-organisation, the new strategic geographies are still to be resolved. We also do not know, beyond a commitment for it be standardised, what evidence bases SDSs will be examined against and how, for example, they will be expected to align with Local Growth Plans. With all of that going on and given what we know and what we do not know, what have authorities been able to do whilst awaiting the consolidation of all three building blocks? Strategic planning is back, but what shape is it in right now? These are the themes of this conversation between old friends of the podcast Catriona Riddell and Mike Best, and new friends of the podcast Shaun Andrews, Graham Thomas and Louise Sloan. Recorded online back in October 2024, their conversation takes in SDS preparatory work, what the first SDSs might look like and their interface with local plans; infrastructure planning; capacity and skills within the planning profession; and and how SDS identify strategic site priorities. Some accompanying reading. Planning Positively for the Future – the report of the Strategic Planning Group Top Tips for SDS Readiness Some accompanying viewing. Exploring the new NPPF draft Curb Your Enthusiasm - Canvassing Some accompanying listening. The Wheel – Bill Callahan Any other business. If you enjoy the episode do please consider bolstering Sam's fragile self-esteem by leaving the podcast a nice rating and a nice review wherever you listened to it. Obviously though if you have not enjoyed it then please do not leave a review. If you have enjoyed to the extent that you feel compelled to share the podcast on one your social platforms then, if you tag Sam, you will be entitled to an exclusive and much-sought after 50 Shades of Planning mug. If you are a new listener do please check out the back catalogue where you will find episodes on myriad planning topics, as well as the Hitting The High Notes and All Around the World series, and remember that by subscribing new episodes will magically appear in your phone as soon as Sam has published them. 50 Shades of Planning is the podcast by planners and for planners and so if you would like to use it as a platform for sharing anything you think that the sector needs to be talking about then you are very welcome to get in touch with Sam via [email protected]. Sam is grateful to Richborough, Town Legal and Tyler Grange for supporting the podcast; to Vistry for sponsoring the 50 Shades mugs; and to Rachael Cooper at ViralTribe for recording and editing this episode. Sam is on Bluesky and Instagram. His blog contains a link to his newsletter.

This is the second of Sam Stafford's seasonal offerings which serve as a review of another exciting year in the fast-paced, ever-changing, rock and roll world of town and country planning. Once again Zack Simons kindly bestowed upon Sam the honour of announcing Zack's 2025 #Planoraks Awards on the podcast. Sam met Zack at Soho Radio Studios where and he handed him six golden envelopes, which you will hear opened during their conversation. They contain the winners of the following awards: Policy of the Year;Missed opportunity of the year;Catastrophe of the Year;Delay of the Year;Stat of the Year; andConsent of the Year. Some accompanying reading. The #Planoraks 2025 - the new NPPF The Proposed London Housing Emergency Measures Package Is Underwhelming Grey Belt – A Game Changer for Planning and Housing Some accompanying viewing. Exploring the new NPPF draft Some accompanying listening. The Black Keys – Year in Review Any other business. If you enjoy the episode do please consider bolstering Sam's fragile self-esteem by leaving the podcast a nice rating and a nice review wherever you listened to it. Obviously though if you have not enjoyed it then please do not leave a review. If you have enjoyed to the extent that you feel compelled to share the podcast on one your social platforms then, if you tag Sam, you will be entitled to an exclusive and much-sought after 50 Shades of Planning mug. If you are a new listener do please check out the back catalogue where you will find episodes on myriad planning topics, as well as the Hitting The High Notes and All Around the World series, and remember that by subscribing new episodes will magically appear in your phone as soon as Sam has published them. 50 Shades of Planning is the podcast by planners and for planners and so if you would like to use it as a platform for sharing anything you think that the sector needs to be talking about then you are very welcome to get in touch with Sam via [email protected]. Sam is grateful to Richborough, Town Legal and Tyler Grange for supporting the podcast; to Vistry for sponsoring the 50 Shades mugs; to Adrian Meehan and Soho Radio Studies for recording this episode: and to Rachael Cooper at ViralTribe for editing it. Sam is on Bluesky and Instagram. His blog contains a link to his newsletter.

This episode sees the return of the 50 Shades of Planning Festive Christmas Quiz. Sam Stafford got together with friends of podcast Mike Kiely, Catriona Riddell, Annie Gingell, Andrew Taylor, Nicola Gooch, Shelly Rouse, Ben Castell and Gilian Macinnes to review what has been another exciting year in the fast-paced, ever-changing, rock and roll world of town and country planning. Based upon a selection of Planning Magazine’s most-read stories (kindly provided by Richard Garlick), Sam tested their knowledge of some of the themes that have prevailed most strongly in 2025. You will hear Sam asking the gang questions about local authority resources, grey belt, statutory consultees, the local plans that have run aground, planning committees, snails, and many, many other topics in this jam-packed, bumper edition of the quiz, which features two semi-finals and then a final, at the end of which one pair of contestants emerged victorious. Listen out too towards the end for an appearance from a very special guest… Listeners that enjoy this episode are kindly asked to consider making a donation to either St John's Hospice, Lancaster or Bowel Cancer UK in memory of the late, great, friend of the podcast, Jonathan Easton. Some accompanying listening. Sam’s Christmas Crackers – The Ultimate Festive Soundtrack Any other business. If you enjoy the episode do please consider bolstering Sam's fragile self-esteem by leaving the podcast a nice rating and a nice review wherever you listened to it. Obviously though if you have not enjoyed it then please do not leave a review. If you have enjoyed to the extent that you feel compelled to share the podcast on one your social platforms then, if you tag Sam, you will be entitled to an exclusive and much-sought after 50 Shades of Planning mug. If you are a new listener do please check out the back catalogue where you will find episodes on myriad planning topics, as well as the Hitting The High Notes and All Around the World series, and remember that by subscribing new episodes will magically appear in your phone as soon as Sam has published them. 50 Shades of Planning is the podcast by planners and for planners and so if you would like to use it as a platform for sharing anything you think that the sector needs to be talking about then you are very welcome to get in touch with Sam via [email protected]. Sam is grateful to Richborough, Town Legal and Tyler Grange for supporting the podcast; to Vistry for sponsoring the 50 Shades mugs; to Adrian Meehan and Soho Radio Studies for recording this episode: and to Rachael Cooper at ViralTribe for editing it. Sam is on Bluesky and Instagram. His blog contains a link to his newsletter.

Sam Stafford was in Manchester recently and took the opportunity to catch up with old friend of the podcast Charlotte Leach and new friends of the podcast Andrew Johnston and Lisa Tye. Over the course of an hour so they chatted about a few of the hot topics exercising the planning profession at minute. They talked about ‘the next phase of planning reform’ as set out in a written ministerial statement issued by the Secretary of State last month. That takes in the "unleashing" of development around railway stations; a requirement upon local authorities to notify the Secretary of State where they intend to refuse an application for 150 or more homes; and streamlining statutory consultees. They talked about AI and it’s growing influence on the planning system, and they talked about Section 106 Agreements. They also talked about a topic that has featured regularly on the podcast during 2025, national development management policies, which caused Sam to alight his soap box towards the end of the episode. Listen out too for some exciting mug-related news. Some accompanying reading. Next phase of planning reform Housebuilding around train stations will be given default “yes” Reforms to the statutory consultee system Announcements AI-powered nimbyism could grind UK planning system to a halt, experts warn AI Will Add To, Rather Than Reduce, Planning Delays Unless We Do Something About It Simplifying & Standardising Section 106 Agreement Processes: Proposals for Reform On NDMPs Some accompanying listening. Make It Up As You Go Along – Liam Gallagher & John Squire Any other business. Sam is on Bluesky and Instagram. His blog contains a link to his newsletter.

Empirical evidence is starting to emerge, as speculated upon earlier in the year, that there will indeed be a significant increase in the number of planning applications being submitted this year, certainly for residential development and largely, it is held, driven by the introduction of Grey Belt. TerraQuest, the company behind the Planning Portal, has reported that the number of new homes for which planning permission was sought between 1 July and 30 September 2025 was 68% higher than during the same period in 2024.  As Sam Stafford said in the introduction to the first Snagging List episode, if this increase in planning applications is to make a meaningful contribution to the Government's new home target within the parliamentary term, then these applications will need to be transacted an awful lot faster than applications have been transacted hitherto. According to research by Lichfields for the LPDF and Richborough, the average time taken to determine a major outline application has risen from 8 months in 2014 to two years in 2024. That first Snagging List episode focused on the application process, from pre-app, determination and committees to conditions and Section 106 Agreements. That of course though is only a part of the development process and it was suggested during that recording that the post-consent delays to getting permissions implemented warrant an episode in their own right and so this is that follow-up episode. According to Lichfields’ third ‘Start to Finish’ report, published in 2024, on sites of more than 500 homes it takes an average of between 1.3 and 1.6 years from detailed consent to first completion. For sites of between 50 and 99 homes that period is an average of 2.3 years, and for sites of between 100 and 499 homes that period is 3.2 years. What are the factors that cause the delay between a LPA issuing a decision notice and JCBs starting work on site, and what can be done about them? These are the questions that are discussed by old friends of the podcast Andrew Taylor, Emma Williamson and Ros Eastman (who contributed to the first Snagging List episode), and new friends of the podcast Mat Capper, Jonathan Gimblett and Ben Phillips. In a conversation recorded online in November 2025, they talk about all of the other consenting regimes that need navigating, such as waste water, highways and utilities; they talk about the need for LPAs to be able to replicate a developer’s delivery team approach; and they offer some 'top tips', which are especially timely in the context of the Government’s proposed reforms to the statutory consultee system, which emerged shortly before this episode was published. Some accompanying reading. Reforms to the statutory consultee system The Snagging List Blog Start to Finish How long is a piece of string? Simplifying & Standardising Section 106 Agreement Processes: Proposals for Reform Some accompanying listening. Jane Weaver – I Need A Connection 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.