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Podcast episode 122: Love Thy Neighbourhood Plan

Episode number 122 of the podcast is available now via this link or from Apple and Spotify.

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’, I 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 you 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.

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