Podcast episode 167: LGR.

Episode 167 of 50 Shades of Planning is available now via this link or from the usual podcast platforms.

The 2026 local elections will likely turn out to be significant for a number of reasons. Westminster psychodrama aside though, one area of immediate interest, for example, is what the increased number of councils under no overall control will mean for local plan-making. That is a topic to which I hope the podcast will return in due course.

Of similar immediate interest is the possible impact upon local government reorganisation (LGR), the whys and wherefores or the pros and cons of which might have been thought to be settled up until recent events. For now though it is to be assumed that, despite perhaps some spanners being thrown into some works, LGR remains the direction of travel for the foreseeable future at least.

What has to be happening right now to make it a success? What lessons can be learnt from the most recent round of unitisation? How will reorganisation affect decision-making in the authorities about to be abolished? And how does planning get a place at the top table in the authorities that will replace them?

These are the themes that were explored in a conversation recorded online in March 2026 between old friends of the podcast Catriona Riddell (who chaired the discussion), Jonathan Werran, Claire Tester and Jane Meek, and new friend of the podcast James Hood.

Comments

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