The 50 Shades of Planning Blog

So here we are. Another NPPF Mega Blog. I spotted this morning that Paul Smith had posted the following on LinkedIn. The NPPF is replaced more quickly than the time it takes to determine planning applications for new homes. Over the last five years, the average time between NPPF updates is 414 days. The median time to determine an outline application for new homes is 439 days. It is to be hoped that there will not be another ‘Planning Reform Day (PRD)’ for well over 414 days and that, in the meantime, policy makers can focus, as the Minister promised in his UKREEIF speech , on removing some of the grit from the system . First things first, for completeness, this is what emerged on PRD. Policy paper - Creating a clear, rules-based planning system The NPPF Consultation Response Reforms to the statutory consultee system: government response Housing Delivery Test Second things second, if you have not done so already, can I suggest that you read the following. Nicola Gooch’s blog Ed Clarke’...

Episode 180 of the podcast is available now via this link or from the usual podcast platforms. The basis of this episode was a series of posts that Nick Cuff at Urban Sketch had shared on his Prop Views blog about the Parkhurst Road judgement and the implications thereof. I asked Nick if he would like to explore the themes that he writes about with another new friend of the podcast Jamie Ratcliff, and old friends of the podcast Gilian Macinnes and Anthony Lee. Jamie co-founded PlaceBase and is chair of the Housing Forum; Gilian advises LPAs on improving planning and place-making services and is presently Interim Assistant Director of Planning and Building Control at the Royal Borough of Greenwich; and Anthony is the Managing Partner Quintic Advisory. In a conversation recorded online at the end of last month they talked, philosophically, about how to test viability through the planning process and the conflict inherent between a desire on the part of most landowners to maximise land v...

Episode 179 of the podcast is available now via this link or from the usual podcast platforms. Friend of the podcast Andrew Taylor and I were at a symposium organised by Create Streets at Hatfield House in June last year called ‘Building for generations’. It was an interesting day and all the of presentations and the conversations there upon led me back to the fundamental question as to why places look the way they do. That, it seemed to me on the train back that evening, would make for a good episode of a town planning-based podcast because of, course, sometimes lost perhaps amongst the noisier topics of conversation like housing numbers or Green Belt or strategic planning, is that a fundamental function of town and country planning is to improve existing places and create high-quality new ones. So, I sought to convene some experts in the field of design and placemaking to answer that question. Those experts are old friends of the podcast Hana Loftus (who steers the conversation), t...

Episode 178 of the podcast is available now via this link or from the usual podcast platforms. I was in Birmingham recently and took the opportunity whilst there to catch up with old friend of the podcast Myles Wild-Smith and new friends of the podcast Mike Knott, Bart Shirm and Beth Pywell. Myles is a Director at Lichfields, Mike is a Regional Practice Lead at Stantec, Bart is a Senior Planning Policy Officer at Sandwell and Beth is an Associate Director at Nexus. During a good ol’-fashioned, Shades-style ramblechat we talked about the NPPF's non-appearance before the parliamentary summer recess; local plan progress and the recent Pennycook pragmatism letter; changes to the BNG regime; Bart’s recent trip to Canada, which led us back to the reform agenda here; and towards the end, a favourite hobby horse of mine, application fees.

Episode 177 of the podcast is available now via this link or from the usual podcast platforms. This is another episode in the Hitting the High Notes series, which, if you have not listened to one before, is town planning’s equivalent, nee rip off, of Desert Island Discs. During these episodes I chat to preeminent figures in the planning and property sectors about the planning permissions or projects that have helped to shape them as professionals and, so that we can get to know people a little better personally, for every permission, project or stage of their career, I also ask my guests for a piece of music that reminds them of that period. Unlike Desert Island Discs you will not, I am afraid, 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 me in hot water, so, when you have finished listening, you will have to make do with YouTube videos and a Spotify p...

Episode 176 of the podcast is available now via this link or from the usual podcast platforms. A couple of months ago I saw that Shaun Knights at Preston City Council and national vice chair of the Young Planning Officers Society (POS), had posted on LinkedIn encouraging nominations for POS’ ‘Emerging Planner Award’ (EPA). “I’ve already seen some genuinely impressive submissions that show the amazing day‑to‑day work young planners are doing and the fresh ideas they’re bringing into LPAs”, Shaun wrote. “Hmm”, thought I. "I am interested in the amazing day‑to‑day work that young planners are doing and the fresh ideas they’re bringing into LPAs, and I bet that 50 Shades listeners would be too..." I sent Shaun a message asking if he and his Young POS colleagues would be up for making an episode together with some of the planners that were subsequently short-listed for the award and he was, and some of them were, and so they put together what you are will hear ahead of and after...

Episode 175 of the podcast  is available now via this link below or from the usual podcast platforms. The role of local councillors in the planning system has been a familiar topic of conversation on the podcast in the context of, for example, overturning officer recommendations and the case for a national scheme of delegation. There is less talk about the role of MPs in the planning system, which is something that friend of the podcast Andrew Taylor wanted to remedy. This then is the second of what he and I hope will be five episodes exploring the role of a member of a parliament by way of conversations that Andrew records with representatives from the now five major parties. This time, the Liberal Democrats, and a conversation recorded with Vikki Slade and Sarah Gibson at Soho Radio Studios in April 2026. Andrew, regular listeners will know, is Group Planning and Sustainability Director at Vistry. Vikki represents Mid Dorset and North Poole and is a former group leader on B...