How to balance the need to encourage inward investment with the constraints of the planning system to deliver effective place-shaping with Sam Fox

Today I sat down with Sam Fox, a Chartered Town Planner with 30 years’ experience of working in local government, currently providing consultancy and interim services for the public sector.Sam has extensive knowledge of how local government operates, which provides him with invaluable insights into how to run services, and how to successfully secure investment and grant funding within the sector.Today we discussed:“How to balance the need to encourage inward investment with the constraints of the planning system to deliver effective place-shaping.”The solution is bringing these competing roles within local government and central government together. This is something Sam has been grappling with throughout his 30 year career and he draws on some examples of this, from the local to the national level.The key topics we cover in our discussion are:· Working positively with innovators· The importance of holding onto what is right but being flexible if change is needed.· Strong local leadership is key· The importance of micro and small businesses· Nationally significant projects – the importance of team work - from No 10 to the local level!