50 Shades of Planning

Sam Stafford revisits the Levelling Up & Regeneration Bill with regular 50 Shades contributors Claire Petricca-Riding, Vicky Payne and Paul Smith. Their conversation explores what the Bill is and is not, what it may and may not mean, and where it may or may not go next. This episode also touches on design and environmental matters in more detail than the previous episode on the LURB, which was number 71. Claire Petricca-Riding (@PetriccaRiding) is a Partner and National Head of Planning & Environmental Law at Irwin Mitchell. Vicky Payne (@Victoria_Payne) is an Associate Principal at URBED. Paul Smith (@Paul_SLG) is Managing Director at The Strategic Land Group. Some accompanying reading. The Beginning of the End of Environmental Impact Assessments - Stefano DAmbrosio-Nunez, Irwin Mitchell https://imbusiness.passle.net/post/102hplw/the-beginning-of-the-end-of-environmental-impact-assessments How to submit written evidence to Public Bill Committees https://www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-offices/offices/commons/scrutinyunit/written-submissions/ Sleepy Suburbs – Centre for Cities https://www.centreforcities.org/publication/sleepy-suburbs-housing-crisis/ Testing Design Codes in England – Matthew Carmona https://matthew-carmona.com/2022/06/22/88-testing-design-codes-in-england-21-lessons/ Some accompanying listening. All You Do Is Talk – Black Rebel Motorcycle Club https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-8aCX5cyYs 50 Shades T-Shirts! If you have listened to Episode 45 of the 50 Shades of Planning Podcast 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: http://samuelstafford.blogspot.com/2021/07/50-shades-of-planning-t-shirts.html

Housing, 50 Shades listeners, will know, is slap bang in the middle of the intersection between planning and politics and nothing offers both the illustration and impact of this than affordable housing. Research commissioned by the National Housing Federation and Crisis from Professor Glen Bramley at Heriot-Watt University in 2018 identified a need for 340,000 homes each year in England to 2031, including 145,000 affordable homes. According though to recent research from Turley and Tetlow King, commissioned by the LPDF, it is estimated that only 35,500 net additional affordable homes have been delivered on average in each of the last ten years. Delivery is especially poor in the country’s largest urban centres. The largest 19, excluding London, have collectively added around 1,200 affordable homes per annum over the last ten years. Whether there is a housing crisis, or a challenge, or whether all of this is just a figment of the construction industry’s imagination, will depend upon whether you ask a single parent in emergency accommodation, a politician in electioneering mode or Simon Jenkins. What is indisputable however is that the planning system has a huge role to play in all of this. Why are we where we are? What are the obstacles to delivering more affordable housing and how might they be overcome? Sam Stafford puts these questions to Antony Pollard, Head of Economics at Turley; Annie Gingell, Principal Planner at Tetlow King; and Marie Chadwick, Policy Leader at the National Housing Federation. Some accompanying reading. Housing supply requirements: low-income households & homeless people https://www.crisis.org.uk/ending-homelessness/homelessness-knowledge-hub/housing-models-and-access/housing-supply-requirements-across-great-britain-2018/  An Affordable Housing Emergency https://www.lpdf.co.uk/latest-publications Five things we learned from Homes England’s Affordable Homes Programme data https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/insight/insight/five-things-we-learned-from-homes-englands-affordable-homes-programme-data-74347#:~:text=The%20Affordable%20Homes%20Programme%20is,of%20thousands%20of%20affordable%20homes Simon Jenkins plumbs new depths of housing nonsense https://capx.co/simon-jenkins-plumbs-new-depths-of-housing-nonsense/ People in housing need 2021 https://www.housing.org.uk/resources/people-in-housing-need-2021/ The damaging legacy of Right to Buy https://neweconomics.org/2022/05/the-damaging-legacy-of-right-to-buy Notes from the Green Belt: what’s so very special about Colney Heath? https://www.planoraks.com/posts-1/notes-from-the-green-belt-whats-so-very-special-about-colney-heath Some accompanying listening. A House Is Not A Home - The Charlatans https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LljqVqRPiUI 50 Shades T-Shirts! If you have listened to Episode 45 of the 50 Shades of Planning Podcast 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: http://samuelstafford.blogspot.com/2021/07/50-shades-of-planning-t-shirts.html

Where should we build 300,000 new homes every year? We could build tall buildings, which can have transformative effects on city centres and their skylines, but might not necessarily match delivery with need. Or we could build urban extensions and new settlements, which could be imbued from the outset with the highest possible design and build standards, but are very difficult to deliver. Or we could densify, gently, existing suburbs. We could incentivise LPAs, residents and SME builders to upgrade older, less energy-efficient housing stock, especially in those parts of the cities with the greatest potential to reduce car dependency. This too though is a challenge. Centre for Cities found that over a fifth of neighbourhoods outside city centres have built no new houses since 2011, while half have built, on average, less than one home each year. Why are our suburbs the way they are? What are the barriers to densification and how might they be overcome? Sam Stafford puts these question to Samuel Hughes, Hana Loftus and Ben Woolnough Samuel (@scp_hughes) is a Research Fellow at the University of Oxford and a Senior Fellow at Policy Exchange and Create Streets. Hana Loftus (@hanaloftus), is a Director at HAT Projects and an Associate at Public Practice. Ben (@benhoward_w) is Planning Manager at East Suffolk Council.  Some accompanying reading ‘What have been the impacts of the introduction of the standard methodology for calculating housing need on planning for housing?’ A report for Barratt Developments by the University of Liverpool https://www.barrattdevelopments.co.uk/~/media/Files/B/Barratt-Developments/materials-and-downloads/uol-standard-methodology-final-report.pdf ‘New settlements in local plans: Not everything in the garden is rosy’ by Matthew Spry at Lichfields https://lichfields.uk/blog/2020/may/26/new-settlements-in-local-plans-not-everything-in-the-garden-is-rosy/ ‘Sleepy suburbs. The role of the suburbs in solving the housing crisis’ by Anthony Breach and Elena Magrini at Centre for Cities. https://www.centreforcities.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Sleepy-Suburbs.pdf ‘Intensification and how to achieve it’ by Hana http://virtualhana.blogspot.com/2022/04/intensification-and-how-to-achieve-it.html ‘Street Votes - what's the big idea?’ by Hana http://virtualhana.blogspot.com/2022/04/intensification-and-how-to-achieve-it.html ‘Strong Suburbs’ by Samuel and Ben Southwood for Policy Exchange https://policyexchange.org.uk/publication/strong-suburbs/ ‘Learning from History’ by Ben Southwood for Create Streets https://www.createstreets.com/projects/learning-from-history-december-29th/ ‘New Suburbia: What is a suburb?’ by Simon Cooke https://theviewfromcullingworth.blogspot.com/2022/04/new-suburbia-1-what-is-suburb.html Supurbia by HTA Design https://www.hta.co.uk/project/supurbia The Croydon Suburban Design Guide https://suburbandesign.croydon.gov.uk/ ‘Mayor Perry delivers on planning promise to protect Croydon’s local character by removing planning design guide’ https://lbc-app-w-newscroydon-p.azurewebsites.net/mayor-perry-delivers-on-planning-promise-to-protect-croydons-local-character-by-removing-planning-design-guide/ Some accompanying listening Skirmish in the Suburbs by Snapped Ankles https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s714eMCbdX4 50 Shades T-Shirts! If you have listened to Episode 45 of the 50 Shades of Planning Podcast 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: http://samuelstafford.blogspot.com/2021/07/50-shades-of-planning-t-shirts.html

50 Shades listeners are a perceptive bunch and will have a spotted that the Levelling Up & Regeneration Bill (LURB) was introduced to Parliament on 11 May. Whilst the word planning does not appear on the front of the bill it does appear 680 times inside and so, for a planning podcast that purports to have it's figure on the pulse, it is about time that Sam Stafford put a panel together to discuss it. Helpfully for Sam, Andrew Taylor (@AndrewJTaylor3), past 50 Shades contributor and friend of the podcast, did it for him. Andrew invited Sam to contribute to a National Planning Forum (@nat_plan) seminar on the LURB and, in preparation for the event, which took place on 5 July 2022, Sam invited the other panellists to record a preparatory chat. You will here in this episode then from: Tony Burton (@Tony4Place), free range consultant on community, planning, design and environment;Simon Ricketts (@sricketts1), Partner at Town Legal;Catriona Riddell (@CatrionaRiddel1), Director at Catriona Riddell & Associates; andJennie Baker (@1jenniebaker), Associate Director at Lichfields. PS. Perceptive 50 Shades listeners will also have spotted that the UK Government began to collapse on the evening of 5 July 2022 and that the future of the LURB is now uncertain. This though hopefully remains an interesting and relevant discussion. Some accompanying reading. The LURB https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3155 The policy paper that accompanies the LURB https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/levelling-up-and-regeneration-bill Neighbourhood Planners London https://www.neighbourhoodplanners.london/ Lichfields' analysis of the role of neighbourhood plans in housing delivery https://lichfields.uk/content/insights/local-choices Simon's recent LURB blog https://simonicity.com/2022/07/02/summer-of-lurb/ Lichfields' LURB resource https://lichfields.uk/the-levelling-up-and-regeneration-bill/ Matthew Carmona's blog on the design code pilots https://matthew-carmona.com/2022/06/22/88-testing-design-codes-in-england-21-lessons/ The National Planning Forum https://www.natplanforum.org.uk/ Some accompanying listening. Everything is simple by Widowspeak https://youtu.be/mPa08P7e_e0 50 Shades T-Shirts! If you have listened to Episode 45 of the 50 Shades of Planning Podcast 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: http://samuelstafford.blogspot.com/2021/07/50-shades-of-planning-t-shirts.html

Hitting The High Notes is town planning’s equivalent of Desert Island Discs. In these episodes Sam Stafford chats to preeminent figures in the planning and property sectors about the six planning permissions or projects that helped to shape them as professionals. And, so that we can get to know people a little better personally, for every permission or project Sam asks his guests for a piece of music that reminds them of that period of their career. Unlike Desert Island Discs you will not 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 Sam in hot water, so, when you have finished listening to this episode, you will have to make do with YouTube videos and a Spotify playlist, links to which you will find below. Sam's guest for this episode of Hitting The High Notes is Anna Rose. After eschewing a career in fashion, Anna worked as a legal advisor at the National Farmers Union before joining Rugby Borough Council and working her way to become Head of Planning & Culture. After a spell as Service Director at Milton Keynes Council, Anna has since 2017 been the Head of the Planning Advisory Service at the Local Government Association. Sam and Anna's conversation takes in the relationships and skills required to plan strategically and deliver major new development; leadership and systems thinking; and LPA recruitment practices. Anna's song selections. Fluorescent Adolescent - Arctic Monkeys Human - The Killers Try – P!NK Zombie – Jamie T Tilted – Christine & The Queens If I Got It (Your Love brought It) – Aaron Frazer Anna's Spotify playlist Some accompanying reading The Planning Advisory Service Houlton, Rugby MK Futures 2050 PAS' 'Return To Work' project 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 other episodes in this Hitting The High Notes 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 samstafford@hotmail.com. Sam is on Bluesky and Instagram. His blog contains a link to his newsletter.

When Sam Stafford saw that Create Streets and Onward were bringing their 'Restitch' conference to Halifax's Piece Hall, his favourite building, he could not have been more excited. He was though even more excited when the organisers agreed to let him set up a 'pop-up' recording studio at the back of one of the breakout rooms so as to record conversations with some of the conference's contributors during the day. This bumper episode then is the accumulation of those recorded conversations and in it you will hear from (broken down into time slots if you are dipping in and out): 2m:35s Ben Page, Chief Executive Officer, Ipsos (@benatipsos) 16m:05s Andrew Taylor, Group Planning Director, Countryside (@AndrewJTaylor3) & Pete Gladwell, Group Social Impact & Investment Director, L&G (@petegladwell) 28m:48s Amy Burbidge, Senior Master Development and Design Manager, Homes England (@AmyBurbidge2); Mike Axon, Managing Director, Vectos: and David Milner, Deputy Director, Create Streets (@djjmilner) 49m:00s Neil O’Brien, Harborough MP & Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at DLUHC (@NeilDotObrien) 54m:45s Nicky Chance-Thompson, Chief Executive, The Piece Hall Trust (@NickyChanThomDL)  01h:07m:00s Tim Swift, Leader of Calderdale Council (@TimSwift) 01h:23m:10s Nicholas Boys Smith, Director, Create Streets (@boys_nicholas) Some accompanying reading The 'Piece Hall Effect' is bringing millions into Calderdale's economy, new report reveals https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/heritage-and-retro/heritage/piece-hall-effect-bringing-millions-calderdales-economy-new-report-reveals-1746319 Some accompanying viewing/listening Gravity by Embrace, live at The Piece Hall (Sam was there) https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2421918771409236 50 Shades T-Shirts! If you have listened to Episode 45 of the 50 Shades of Planning Podcast 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: http://samuelstafford.blogspot.com/2021/07/50-shades-of-planning-t-shirts.html

Regular 50 Shades Listeners will know that Sam Stafford recently had dinner with a DLUHC Minister. The conversation during dessert turned, with a set piece Planning Bill off of the agenda, to the three most impactful things that Michael Gove could do to improve the planning system. Sam subsequently shared his thoughts on Twitter (see link below) and they provoked a bit of a discussion, which he thought worthy of exploring further in a 50 Shades episode. This then is what prompted Episode 65’s 'Call for Evidence' in which Sam invited 50 Listeners to share their own suggestions for practical, pragmatic changes that, with little fuss and fanfare, could have a positive, meaningful impact on the planning system. Sam discusses the submissions, let's perhaps call them the '50 Shades Manifesto For Sensible Planning Reform', in this episode with Claire Petricca-Riding, Jonathan Easton and Paul Smith. Claire (@PetriccaRiding) is a Partner and National Head of Planning & Environmental Law at Irwin Mitchell. Jonathan (@jonnye47) is full-time planning barrister at Kings Chambers and a part-time punster on Twitter. Paul (@paul_slg) is Managing Director at the Strategic Land Group. Some accompanying reading. Sam’s three areas for impactful planning reform http://samuelstafford.blogspot.com/2022/03/three-things.html Planning for the better future – RTPI Proposals for Planning Reform in England https://www.rtpi.org.uk/policy/2021/march/planning-for-a-better-future/ Local development planning in Scotland - regulations and guidance consultation: part B - proposals for development planning regulations https://www.gov.scot/publications/local-development-planning-regulations-guidance-consultation-part-b-proposals-development-planning-regulations/ The Future of Strategic Planning in England by the County Councils Network and Catriona Riddell Associates  https://www.countycouncilsnetwork.org.uk/report-calls-on-government-to-implement-a-new-planning-model-as-two-thirds-of-councils-say-the-pressure-on-their-infrastructure-is-excessive-due-to-housing RTPI South West Pilot Mentoring Programme for early career planners https://www.rtpi.org.uk/swmentoring 'The Queen’s Speech – Levelling Up and Planning Reform, what can be legislated for?' https://lichfields.uk/blog/2022/may/10/the-queen-s-speech-levelling-up-and-planning-reform-what-can-be-legislated-for/ Government response to the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Select Committee report on The Future of the Planning System in England https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/future-of-the-planning-system-in-england-government-response-to-the-select-committee-report/government-response-to-the-levelling-up-housing-and-communities-select-committee-report-on-the-future-of-the-planning-system-in-england The Levelling Up & Regeneration Bill: Highlights, Headlines and Henry the Eighth https://imbusiness.passle.net/post/102hof6/the-levelling-up-regeneration-bill-highlights-headlines-and-henry-the-eighth Local Plans Expert Group: report to the Secretary of State https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-plans-expert-group-report-to-the-secretary-of-state Sir Oliver Letwin’s independent review of build out https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/independent-review-of-build-out-final-report Some accompanying listening. The Verve – Three Steps https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFiM4FORyC8 50 Shades T-Shirts! If you have listened to Episode 45 of the 50 Shades of Planning Podcast 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: http://samuelstafford.blogspot.com/2021/07/50-shades-of-planning-t-shirts.html

‘Is there a local authority staffing crisis', Sam Stafford asked Catriona Riddell, Peter Geraghty and Paul Brocklehurst in Episode 60.  That episode, regular listeners might recall, was informed by a 'Call for Evidence' and Sam invited people across the profession to share their thoughts on what life is actually like on planning’s front line. It quickly became apparent that Catriona, Peter, Paul and Sam would not be able to do the submissions justice in an hour-long conversation so Sam reproduced them in full on the 50 Shades Blog. To say that this topic struck something of a nerve is a bit of an understatement. The blog, at the time of this recording, has been viewed over 12,000 times. It does make for uncomfortable reading. Joey Gardiner described it in Planning magazine as a ‘veritable howl of despair’. “It portrays a system on the edge”, wrote Joey, “manned by staff crushed by overwork and pandemic isolation, and suffering regular abuse from the public and even members”. The position is not uniform across the country, of course, and there are, also of course, lots of good planners in good local authorities doing lots of good work. That being said, based upon that Call for Evidence, there is a very strong case to say that there is indeed a local authority staffing crisis. So then. What is to be done? Planners know that planning can and indeed should be at the heart of improving existing places and making great new ones. Why doesn’t everybody? Planners know the value of planning, but if local authority planners aren’t being valued, and aren’t being paid their worth, then who can blame them for doing something more rewarding? Sam explores these themes in this episode with Ben Woolnough, Rebecca Coley, Pooja Agrawal and Paul Frainer. Ben (@benhoward_w) is Planning Manager, East Suffolk Council; Rebecca (@PlanningGeek) is Head of Planning & Development at Trafford Council; Pooja (@AgrawalPooj) is CEO and co-founder at Public Practice; and Paul (@paulfrainer) is Head of Place/Climate Programme Lead at TPXimpact (latterly Assistant Director – Strategy & Economy at South Cambs and Cambridge City Councils). Some accompanying reading. The Life on the Front Line Blog http://samuelstafford.blogspot.com/2021/12/life-on-front-line.html The Design Code Pathfinder Programme https://www.gov.uk/government/news/communities-empowered-to-shape-design-of-neighbourhoods Local Government Terms & Conditions (Green Book) https://www.local.gov.uk/local-government-terms-and-conditions-green-book East Suffolk's GIS-based Annual Monitoring Report https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/dfbbb431cf6c44c88bc58975e59ce191 Some accompanying viewing. Public Practice in Greater Cambridge https://vimeo.com/635177034 Some accompanying listening. Higher ground by Stevie Wonder https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wZ3ZG_Wams 50 Shades T-Shirts! If you have listened to Episode 45 of the 50 Shades of Planning Podcast 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: http://samuelstafford.blogspot.com/2021/07/50-shades-of-planning-t-shirts.html

Hitting The High Notes is town planning’s equivalent of Desert Island Discs. In these episodes Sam Stafford chats to preeminent figures in the planning and property sectors about the six planning permissions or projects that helped to shape them as professionals. And, so that we can get to know people a little better personally, for every permission or project Sam asks his guests for a piece of music that reminds them of that period of their career. Unlike Desert Island Discs you will not 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 Sam in hot water, so, when you have finished listening to this episode, you will have to make do with YouTube videos and a Spotify playlist, links to which you will find below. Sam's guest for this episode of Hitting The High Notes is Pete Swift. After graduating in Landscape Design & Plant Science at Sheffield University, and spending some time in Japan, Pete (@peteswifysan) co-founded landscape and design practice Planit. Their conversation takes in the Liverpool International Garden Festival, Michael Douglas in Black Rain and Tom Hicks and George Gillett's tenure at Anfield. Pete's song selections. Absolute - Scritti Politti https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7Mk_JgesEM Can’t be sure - The Sundays https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yARVs1ZNLjU Unfinished Sympathy - Massive Attack https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWmrfgj0MZI Hide and Seek - Imogen Heap https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYIAfiVGluk Silver (Tidal Wave) - Echo and the Bunnymen  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmYB8VejrC8 The System only Dreams in Total Darkness - The National https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2O6duDDkhis Pete's Spotify playlist https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3VTPF6fYR45eQhrXJUrwos?si=PgY_UlMITiyVGROEeY3Nrg__;!!CbnuSKVWDws!xq_Lry1gzPm_vSXH2qTUMwK0ui4WeiwCcGwaxdDkr8dJFnOU Some accompanying reading Planit https://www.planit-ie.com/our-projects/ Festival gardens: The fascinating and controversial history behind one of Liverpool's beauty spots https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/story-festival-gardens-wasteland-international-17133347 Why is there a Japanese Kyoto Garden in Holland Park? https://londonist.com/london/great-outdoors/why-is-there-a-japanese-kyoto-garden-in-holland-park Liverpool Waters https://liverpoolwaters.co.uk/ What’s planned for Manchester Town Hall and Albert Square https://secure.manchester.gov.uk/info/500354/our_town_hall/7297/our_town_hall_project_-_the_transformation/2 50 Shades T-Shirts! If you have listened to Episode 45 of the 50 Shades of Planning Podcast 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: http://samuelstafford.blogspot.com/2021/07/50-shades-of-planning-t-shirts.html

Sam Stafford's Twitter friends might have spotted that he had dinner with a DLUHC Minister last week. The conversation during dessert turned, with a set piece Planning Bill now off the agenda, to the three most impactful things that Michael Gove could do to improve the planning system. Sam subsequently shared his thoughts on Twitter and they provoked a bit of a discussion, which he thought worthy of exploring further in a 50 Shades episode. This then is a Call for Evidence. Sam would like to know the three most impactful things that 50 Shades Listeners think Michael Gove could do to improve the planning system. Let's not talk in general terms about things like, for example, LPA resources or in radical terms about things like, for example, 'Growth, Renewal and Protection Areas'. Let's not "level the foundations and build, from the ground up, a whole new planning system for England". Let's talk in practical, pragmatic terms about the relatively modest changes that, with little fuss and fanfare, and certainly no requirement for legislation, could have a positive, meaningful impact on what it is that Planners are trying to achieve. Sam's plan is to review your submissions with some of the regular 50 Shades crew and then he will piece everything together for onward transmission to Mr Gove. If you are interested in being involved please send your contributions to samstafford@hotmail.com before the end of April. Some accompanying reading. Sam's Three Things http://samuelstafford.blogspot.com/2022/03/three-things.html Some accompanying listening. Three is a Magic Number by Bob Dorough https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDbeVB4admk 50 Shades T-Shirts! If you have listened to Episode 45 of the 50 Shades of Planning Podcast 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: http://samuelstafford.blogspot.com/2021/07/50-shades-of-planning-t-shirts.html