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  • The Masterplan

    The Masterplan
    2024/09/07
    If you have listened to episodes 125 and 128 you will know Sam Stafford sought to cover, pre-publication, what could and should be in the new version of NPPF. With the consultation deadline now starting to loom large, this episode seeks to cover what is actually in it. Sam was in London earlier this week and caught up with friends of the podcast Andrew Taylor, Hashi Mohamed, Vicky Payne and Simon Ricketts at Soho Radio Studios. They will need no introduction to regular listeners, but for new listeners, Andrew is Group Planning Director at Vistry, Hashi is a Barrister at Landmark Chambers; Vicky is an Associate at Jas Bhalla Works and an Independent Consultant; and Simon is a Partner at Town Legal. As you will hear over the next 45 minutes or so they crammed in as much as possible. They talked about the proposed new stock-based standard method and transitional arrangements for local plans, they talked about Grey Belt, 50% affordable housing and benchmark land values; and they touched on beauty, design codes, vision-led transport planning, the flood risk sequential test, neighbourhood plans, safeguarded land, and application fees. Some accompanying reading. Lichfields’ NPPF resource https://lichfields.uk/proposed-reforms-to-the-nppf-and-other-changes-to-the-planning-system?email Simon’s blog https://simonicity.com/2024/08/02/50-shades-of-grey-belt/ Zack Simons' blog https://www.planoraks.com/posts-1/planningreformday-2024-what-just-happened Vicky on Design https://www.theplanner.co.uk/2024/08/01/more-substance-style-new-nppfs-design-outlook Philip Barnes on BLV https://philipbarnesblog.wordpress.com/2024/08/28/green-belt-vs-grey-belt-vs-benchmark-land-values-vs-50-affordable-housing/ Create Streets - Stepping off the Road to Nowhere https://www.createstreets.com/projects/stepping-off-the-road-to-nowhere/ Some accompanying listening. The Masterplan - Oasis https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPPi2D6GK7A Some accompanying viewing. Alam Partridge’s big plate https://youtu.be/swJFOE49LRQ?si=bmR85Y7USmizHBef 50 Shades T-Shirts! If you have listened to Episode 45 of the 50 Shades of Planning 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 Any other business. Sam is on Bluesky (@samuelstafford.bsky.social) and Instagram (@samuel__stafford). He shares bits and pieces of planning-related interest on Instagram (@50shadesofplanning) and LinkedIn so please follow those accounts as well.
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    56 分
  • Hitting the High Notes - Mike Best

    Hitting the High Notes - Mike Best
    2024/08/31

    In Hitting the High Notes 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 Listeners can get to know people a little better personally, for every project or stage of their career Sam also asks his guests for a piece of music that reminds them of that period. Think of it as town planning’s equivalent of Desert Island Discs.

    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, 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 is Mike Best who many planners, especially in the West Midlands, will know from his twenty years at Turley.

    Their conversation was recorded at Birmingham Podcast Studios in July 2024 and takes in Mike's early career in Local Government at Rotherham and Coventry and his move into consultancy with Jones Lang Wootton as was. Taking in retail parks, racecourses and regeneration, the projects that Mike talks Sam through highlight the breadth of the planning profession.

    Some accompanying listening.

    Mike’s Spotify playlist

    https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3U6RUbhmrcUOzqBe7NvF6F?si=L-6LiPRWQ2m1zwgoIgiyCw&pi=e-3vODKymtRKed&nd=1&dlsi=df762b96aa044203

    Ignoreland – REM

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03gauuHIgME

    A Design for Life – Manic Street Preachers

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfEoVxy7VDQ

    Limelight – Rush

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgj2br-teu4

    The Whole of the Moon – Waterboys

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBW8Vnp8BzU

    Twice If You’re Lucky – Crowded House

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcKh-VeFxX0

    Inner City Life – Goldie

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-P98B2skts

    Some accompanying reading

    Mike’s Blog

    https://mikesbestlaidplans.wordpress.com/

    50 Shades T-Shirts!

    If you have listened to Episode 45 of the 50 Shades of Planning 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

    Any other business.

    Sam is on Bluesky (@samuelstafford.bsky.social) and Instagram (@samuel__stafford). He shares bits and pieces of planning-related interest on Instagram (@50shadesofplanning) and LinkedIn so please follow those accounts as well.
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    1 時間 5 分
  • To rebuild or to retrofit?

    To rebuild or to retrofit?
    2024/08/17
    To rebuild or to retrofit? That is the question posed by former Secretary of State Michael Gove’s intervention in planning applications for the redevelopment of M&S’ Oxford Street store and the former Museum of London building. According to the Climate Change Committee, direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions from buildings account for 23% of the UK total. How can we create energy-efficient, carbon neutral and climate resilient new buildings and what is needed to accelerate the decarbonisation of existing buildings? The greenest building, so it is said, is the building that already exists and a ‘retrofit fit first, not retrofit only’ position appears to be emerging as the default, but this involves understanding which development options would have the lowest embodied carbon intensity and operational carbon emissions. Who is measuring what and how? Friend of the podcast Katie Wray kindly convened a group of experts in this field to tackle these questions in a conversation recorded online in April 2024. Katie, Director in Real Assets Advisory team at Deloitte, spoke to Iain Shaw, Mike Keaveney and Alex Edwards. Iain is a Director at Max Fordham, Mike is a Land & Development Director at Grainger; and Alex is ESG Director at Bruntwood SciTech. They talk about where the drivers for change in this area are coming from, how decisions around rebuild and retrofit are arrived at, and the concept of ‘value for carbon’. Some accompanying reading. Retrofit First: The City of London, Camden, now Westminster- who will be next? https://lichfields.uk/blog/2024/april/02/retrofit-first-the-city-camden-now-westminster-who-will-be-next/ UK Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard Home | UK Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard (nzcbuildings.co.uk) Climate Change and Historic Building Adaptation Historic England Advice Note DRAFT Climate Change and Historic Building Adaptation - draft for consultation (historicengland.org.uk) City of London Corporation’s heritage building retrofit toolkit https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/assets/Services-Environment/Heritage-Buildings-Retrofit-Toolkit.pdf Retrofit and Energy Efficiency in Historic Buildings https://historicengland.org.uk/advice/technical-advice/retrofit-and-energy-efficiency-in-historic-buildings/#:~:text=We%20use%20the%20term%20retrofit,and%20use%20of%20the%20building Manchester Climate Change Framework (see section on retrofit) MANCHESTER CLIMATE CHANGE FRAMEWORK(2020-25) | 2022 UPDATE (squarespace.com) Some accompanying listening. Build It Up, Tear It Down by Fatboy Slim https://youtu.be/bxHjytBY7Z8?si=k0dTMcz8CO8Im-bg 50 Shades T-Shirts! If you have listened to Episode 45 of 50 Shades of Planning 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. You can also sign up for the 50 Shades Newsletter via the 50 Shades Blog. Any other business. Sam is on Bluesky (@samuelstafford.bsky.social) and Instagram (@samuel__stafford). He shares bits and pieces of planning-related interest on Instagram (@50shadesofplanning) and LinkedIn so please follow those accounts as well.
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    51 分
  • Labour of Love

    Labour of Love
    2024/08/03
    Sam Stafford has mentioned previously that the podcast would consider the new Government’s reform agenda and this is an attempt at doing so. The specifics of the NPPF consultation will be covered in more depth in due course, but what Listeners will hear in this jam-packed extravaganza of an episode is an exploration of that reform agenda in it’s broader sense. In anticipation of the NPPF, Sam invited some of the Shades alumni to discuss some of the policy areas of most interest to them and how the new Government could and should approach them. The voices that Listeners will hear belong to Vicky Payne, Hana Loftus, Ben Castell, Andrew Taylor, Pooja Agrawal, Claire Petricca-Riding, David Diggle, Nicola Gooch, Shelly Rouse, Gilan Macinnes, Ian Wray, Paul Smith, Mike Kiely, Simon Ricketts and Annie Gingell. Listeners will hear: Vicky, Hana, Ben, Andrew and Pooja talk about design and placemaking (05:23);Claire, David and Nicola talk about planning for infrastructure and the environment (20:02);Shelly, Gilan and Pooja talk about LPA capacity (26:32);Ian, Paul, Mike and Nicola talk about Grey Belt (38:38);Ian, Paul and Vicky talk about New Towns (50:34);Paul, Shelly and Andrew talk about devolution and ‘greater than local’ planning (01:02:03);Nicola, Andrew, Gilian and Simon talk about land value capture (01:15:32); andPaul, Annie, Shelly and Andrew talk housing targets (01:27:36). This episode only features parts of those eight conversations. Listen to the end to find out how and where to listen to all eight conversations in full in due course. Some accompanying reading. #PlanningReformDay 2024 - what just happened? https://www.planoraks.com/posts-1/planningreformday-2024-what-just-happened Letter from Deputy Prime Minister and Defra Secretary of State to environmental NGOs on planning and infrastructure bill https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/letter-from-deputy-prime-minister-and-defra-secretary-of-state-to-environmental-ngos-on-planning-and-infrastructure-bill Pathways to Planning https://www.local.gov.uk/pathways-to-planning The Green Belt. What it is and why; what it isn't; and what it should be http://samuelstafford.blogspot.com/2023/05/the-green-belt-what-it-is-why-it-is.html Policy statement on new towns https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/policy-statement-on-new-towns/policy-statement-on-new-towns Letter from the Deputy Prime Minister to local leaders: the next steps to devolution https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/letter-from-the-deputy-prime-minister-to-local-leaders-the-next-steps-to-devolution/letter-from-the-deputy-prime-minister-to-local-leaders-the-next-steps-to-devolution Land value capture back in focus https://philipbarnesblog.wordpress.com/2024/07/12/land-value-capture-back-in-fashion/ Where next for the substandard method of assessing housing need? https://www.turley.co.uk/comment/housebuilding-assessment-targets-housing-stock-approach Some accompanying viewing. https://www.youtube.com/@FiftyShadesofPlanning Some accompanying listening. Labour of Love – Hue & Cry https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CYZ6q7Wr9c 50 Shades T-Shirts! If you have listened to Episode 45 of 50 Shades of Planning 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. You can also sign up for the 50 Shades Newsletter via the 50 Shades Blog. Any other business. Sam is on Bluesky (@samuelstafford.bsky.social) and Instagram (@samuel__stafford). He shares bits and pieces of planning-related interest on Instagram (@50shadesofplanning) and LinkedIn so please follow those accounts as well.
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    1 時間 45 分
  • Let's get digital

    Let's get digital
    2024/07/20

    Long-serving Listeners might recall that for Episode 6 of 50 Shades of Planning Sam Stafford published a chat with Euan Mills, then of the Connected Places Catapult, on the potential for digital innovation, urban data, and user-centred design to improve the planning system.

    Euan, now CEO and co-founder of Blocktype, got in touch with Sam Stafford earlier this year and asked if he could put together an episode on the progress that has been made over the past five years towards this aim.

    This was both a kind invitation and a coincidental one because at around the same time the Spring Budget Statement included reference to “piloting the use of AI solutions to support planning authorities to streamline their local plan development processes, producing plans in 30 months rather than the current average of seven years. This builds on work to date which has already reduced planning officer processing times by up to 30% per application.”

    This episode features four conversations that Euan recorded back in March with four people both very knowledgeable and very active in this space. They are Alistair Parvin, CEO of Open Systems Lab; Dr Sue Chadwick, Strategic & Digital Planning Advisor at Pinsent Masons; Matt Wood-Hill, Head of Digital Planning Software at MHCLG; and Paul Downey, Planning Data Service Owner at MHLCG.

    During the course of this episode Listeners will learn a lot about how digital innovation, urban data, and user-centred design are improving the UK planning system.

    Some accompanying reading.

    Blocktype

    blocktype.co.uk

    Plan X

    planx.uk

    Planning Data

    Planning.data.gov.uk

    Open Digital Planning

    opendigitalplanning.org

    The Future of Planning - How we can rewire the planning system for the digital age

    https://medium.com/@alastairparvin/the-future-of-planning-8a1f93e17ae1

    Some accompanying listening.

    Digital – Goldie (feat. KRS One) (Armand Van Helden Remix)

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1dgKcpgKxs

    50 Shades T-Shirts!

    If you have listened to Episode 45 of 50 Shades of Planning 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. You can also sign up for the 50 Shades Newsletter via the 50 Shades Blog.

    Any other business.

    Sam is on Bluesky (@samuelstafford.bsky.social) and Instagram (@samuel__stafford). He shares bits and pieces of planning-related interest on Instagram (@50shadesofplanning) and LinkedIn so please follow those accounts as well.
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    1 時間 22 分
  • Housing by popular demand

    Housing by popular demand
    2024/07/06
    One of the new Labour Government’s manifesto pledges is the construction of 1.5 million new homes between now and the end of this new parliament. “We will ensure local communities continue to shape housebuilding in their area, but where necessary Labour will not be afraid to make full use of intervention powers to build the houses we need”, the manifesto states, which strikes a markedly different tone to the emphatically localist one adopted by the Conservatives upon entering office back in 2010. So different in fact that according to the Daily Express recently “campaigners have demanded an apology from Sir Keir Starmer for treating nature and communities with “disdain” through his approach to housing policies and energy infrastructure.” Now seemed like a good time then for Sam Stafford to publish a conversation between old friends of the podcast Andrew Taylor, Catriona Riddell and Paul Miner, and new friends of the podcast Jonathan Werran, Andy von Bradsky and Anna Clarke. This conversation, which is lead by Andrew and recorded online in April 2024 is about an essay collection compiled by Localis called ‘Building by consent – housing by popular demand’. Localis, of which Jonathan is Chief Executive, asked a wide range of policy experts, local government leaders and industry bodies, to sketch their plan for what a successful planning system that generates community support for development might look like. Andrew, Catriona, Paul, Andy and Anna all provided contributions.. Some accompanying reading. Labour’s planning proposals http://samuelstafford.blogspot.com/2024/04/labours-planning-proposals.html A new dawn has broken, has it not? https://lichfields.uk/blog/2024/july/05/a-new-dawn-has-broken-has-it-not Sir Keir Starmer accused of 'making enemies' of voters as campaigners demand apology https://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/1912206/keir-starmer-housing-nature-communities Building Communities https://www.localis.org.uk/research/building-communities/ Building Consent https://localis.org.uk/research/building-consent/ Long-Term National Housing Strategy https://hansard.parliament.uk/Lords/2024-02-29/debates/48BADB17-4BC5-4D4A-81A9-6E80B85533AF/Long-TermNationalHousingStrategy#contribution-F4869BBB-7ECD-49E2-9E36-7AEA3060249D Neighbourhood Planning Design Coding Guidance https://neighbourhoodplanning.org/toolkits-and-guidance/neighbourhood-planning-design-coding-guidance/ Independent review of build out: final report https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/independent-review-of-build-out-final-report Start to Finish 3 https://lichfields.uk/content/insights/start-to-finish-3 Streamlining planning to build more homes https://housingforum.org.uk/reports/key-publications/streamlining-planning-to-build-more-homes/ Some accompanying listening. Wind of Change - Scorpions https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4RjJKxsamQ 50 Shades T-Shirts & Newsletter If you have listened to Episode 45 of 50 Shades of Planning 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 and you can also sign up for the 50 Shades Newsletter via the 50 Shaded Blog.
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    59 分
  • What do we want?

    What do we want?
    2024/06/22

    With a General Election now imminent Sam Stafford thought that it might be interesting to try to compare what is being offered by the main political parties in relation to housing, planning and development with what the housing, planning and development sector would like to see being offered.

    In a conversation recorded at Outset Studios in Shoreditch Sam speaks to new friends of the podcast Richard Blyth, Tony Mulhall, Marie Chadwick and Ian Fletcher, and old friend of the podcast Paul Brocklehurst, about the policy proposals that their respective organisations are promulgating.

    Richard is Head of Policy & Practice at the RTPI; Tony is a Senior Specialist at RICS; Marie is Policy Leader at the NHF; Paul is Chair of the LPDF; and Ian is Director of Real Estate Policy at the BPF.

    Sam invites them all to outline their respective manifestos and then they focused on two key areas that everybody agreed need to be addressed: the need to get more resources into LPAs and the need to reintroduce strategic planning whilst at the same time getting local plans moving again.

    Towards the end of the episode Sam also asks Marie about the issue of RPs not bidding for S106 sites, which is a very live one at present.

    Some accompanying reading.

    Blue belt, grey belt, wild belt – the manifestos compared

    https://lichfields.uk/blog/2024/june/20/blue-belt-grey-belt-wild-belt-the-manifestos-compared

    RICS’ Land & Rural Manifesto overview

    https://www.rics.org/news-insights/rics-uk-general-election-land-and-rural-manifesto-review

    The BPF General Election Manifesto

    https://bpf.org.uk/our-work/general-election-2024/

    LPDF’s 10 Point Plan for a Step Change in Delivery

    https://lpdf.co.uk/latest-lpdf-publications

    RTPI’s Planifesto

    https://www.rtpi.org.uk/new/our-campaigns/rtpi-planifesto-2024/

    Some accompanying viewing.

    NHF’s campaign for a Plan for Housing

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmM3WLCjcwQ

    Some accompanying listening.

    Manifesto by Roxy Music

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjkVYOArUQM

    50 Shades - T-Shirts!

    If you have listened to Episode 45 of 50 Shades of Planning 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
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    54 分
  • Efficiency Savings

    Efficiency Savings
    2024/06/15
    In February 2024 Planning published a special report by Joey Gardiner entitled ‘how cost-saving consultants disrupted council planning services’. Cash-strapped councils have been following management consultants’ advice to split up their planning teams. Staff have been put into central departments to handle additional non-planning tasks. But the upshot, say critics, has been declining performance and a staff exodus. Joey’s piece highlighted the tumult at Tandridge, which in 2020 was formally threatened with designation over the quality of its decision-making. A subsequent PAS review of the council’s development management service, which was published in 2021, laid the blame squarely on a team structure “developed during the corporate restructure” that it said was “not fit for purpose”. That local government has borne the brunt of the age of austerity is well known. According to the IFS, during the 2010s, councils’ overall core funding per person fell by an average of 26% in real terms, with higher council tax revenues only partially offsetting a 46% reduction in funding from central government. Those in the sector know that planning and development has borne the brunt of that. Again according to the IFS, spending per person on planning and development fell by 58% between 2010/11 and 2019/20, which was second only to cuts to services for young people and Sure Start. Perhaps less well known, and what Joey’s article has helped to shine a light on, is the impact on planning services of the kind of whole-authority service transformations that some authorities have undertaken to in order to deal with these financial pressures. To explore this issue further Sam Stafford invited four of the people quoted in Joey’s article to expand upon their experiences with him. They are old friends of the podcast Mike Kiely, Gilian MacInnes and Paul Barnard, and new friend of the podcast Peter Ford. In a conversation recorded at Soho Radio Studios at the end of April 2024 they talked about the pressures that LPAs have been and are under; why the nature of planning services do not lend it to whole-authority service transformations; and the impact of such upheavals. They also talked about whether there are too planning teams and whether Chief Planning Officers could and should be at the top decision-making table. The episode starts though with a brief conversation that Sam recorded online with Joey Gardiner recently about his special report for Planning. Sam asked Joey how he went about putting the report together; what he found most striking in so doing; and what feedback he has had on it. Some accompanying reading. How cost-saving consultants disrupted council planning services (£) https://www.planningresource.co.uk/article/1860857/cost-saving-consultants-disrupted-council-planning-services Tandridge District Council - DM Review https://tandridge.moderngov.co.uk/documents/s4234/Appendix%20A%20-%20Development%20Management%20Review.pdf Guildford Borough Council - Development Management Establishment Review https://democracy.guildford.gov.uk/documents/s26379/Item%208%20-%20DM%20Budget%20Exec%20Report%20revised%20for%20Autumn%202022%20-%20FINAL-%20V4.pdf How have English councils’ funding and spending changed? 2010 to 2024 https://ifs.org.uk/publications/how-have-english-councils-funding-and-spending-changed-2010-2024 Some accompanying listening. Episode 84 of Room 106 https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/ep84-how-cost-saving-management-consultants-are-impacting/id1596110607?i=1000649057189 A Shared Sense Of Purpose - Warrington-Runcorn New Town Development Plan (Vince Clarke Remix) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpeRnH2FLA4
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    1 時間 5 分