The 50 Shades of Planning Blog

Episode 165 of 50 Shades of Planning is available now via this link or from the usual podcast platforms. You might have spotted, planning fans (and a shout-out to eagle-eyed friend of the podcast Nicola Gooch for putting it on my radar), that DEFRA last week launched a consultation on significant changes to it’s guidance on how Habitat Regulations Assessments should be carried out. The consultation comes at an interesting time. As Nicola has noted in a recent blog, it is, firstly, barely a month since DEFRA announced that Natural England and the Environment Agency have been given a new mandate to “prioritise outcomes over process” and “speed up decision-making while maintaining high environmental standards”. Secondly, we are in the midst of Part 3 of the Planning & Infrastructure Act being rolled out. Thirdly, it comes shortly after MHCLG’s announcement of an intention to transition from Environmental Impact Assessments to Environmental Outcomes Reports within the next year. As it...

What would I want to do were I not a town planner? Every now and then I like to imagine myself as the chief football writer at a broadsheet newspaper and to indulge that fantasy a little I have got into the habit of writing a match report on Instagram  after every game that I have been to. This is a collation of reports that tell the story of a very special 2025/26 season. Lincoln City 2 Reading 0 2 August 2025 So. Here we are. Another year around the footballing sun. Older? Definitely. Wiser? Possibly. Still though with the same joyful enthusiasm for the first day of the football season that I hope never diminishes. The day I take no pleasure on such occasions from turning to my match day companions (today both Stafford Boys) and commenting on how good the pitch looks is a day that is not worth looking forward to. The youthful romanticist embraces today as pregnant with possibility. The seasoned pragmatist perhaps less so. Yes, of course, anybody can go up, but let us also remembe...