50 Shades of Planning
by Samuel Stafford
50 Shades of Planning is Sam Stafford’s attempt to explore the foibles of the English planning system and its aim is to cover the breadth of the sector both in terms of topics of conversation and in terms of guests with different experiences and perspectives. 50 Shades episodes include 'Hitting The High Notes', which are a series of conversations with leading planning and property figures. The conversations take in the six milestone planning permissions or projects within a contributor’s career and for every project guests are invited to choose a piece of music that they were listening to at that time. Think Desert Island Discs, but for planners. 50 Shades episode also include the 'All Around the World' series, which is being led by friend of the podcast, Paul Smith. Paul put it to Sam that debates about the planning syst
Episodes
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Hail To The Chief
One of the most common topics of conversation that Sam Stafford heard at UKREiiF this year was the need for statutory chief planners. There are perhaps three factors behind that interest in building or strengthening leadership capacity within LPAs. First, the impending programme of devolution and...
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Neutral Impact IV
When 50 Shades of Planning first covered nutrient neutrality in February 2021, Sam Stafford described the process of eutrophication as a bit like the podcast itself: a little niche, but very important. When Sam published a second episode on the subject in September 2022 it had grown in…
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The New Local Plan-Making System
The previous Government’s Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023 introduced the legislative framework for a new system of local plan-making and in March 2026 the current Government introduced the regulations concerning this new regime. The headline changes are that local authorities will be...
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A Framework-Led Conversation
Whilst in London recently Sam Stafford took the opportunity to catch up with old friends of the podcast Simon Ricketts, Andrew Taylor and Mike Kiely. Simon is a Partner at Town Legal, Andrew is Group Planning and Sustainability Director at Vistry and Mike is a former Chief Planner, now…
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Meet a MP and an AM - Reform UK
As regular listeners know there is often talk on the 50 Shades of Planning podcast about the role of local councillors in the planning system, in the context of, for example, overturning officer recommendations or a decision to withdraw a local plan. There is talk less often about the role of…
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We Can't Stop Planning
Sam Stafford was in Manchester recently and took the opportunity to catch up with old friends of the podcast Lisa Tye, Shaun Knights and Jaimie Ferguson. Lisa is a Partner at Town Legal, Shaun is a Senior Planning Officer at Preston City Council and Jaimie is a Company Director at Lucid In a...
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Viable Options
The basis of this episode was a series of posts Sam Stafford spotted that Nick Cuff at Urban Sketch had shared on his Prop Views blog about the Parkhurst Road judgement and the implications thereof. Sam asked Nick if he would like to explore the themes that he writes about with another new friend...
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Why do places look the way they do?
Sam Stafford was at a symposium organised by Create Streets at Hatfield House in June last year called ‘Building for generations’. All of the presentations on the day and the conversations there upon led Sam back to the fundamental question as to why places look the way they do, which, it seemed…
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Vibes and Stuff
Sam Stafford 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…
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Hitting the High Notes - Richard Schofield
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 Sam Stafford chats to preeminent figures in the planning and property sectors about the planning...
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Emerging Planners
A couple of months ago Sam Stafford 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...
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Meet the MPs - Lib Dems
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…
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Red Hot Planning Chat
Sam Stafford was in London recently and whilst there caught up with friends of the podcast Hana Loftus, Mike Kiely, Nicola Gooch, Simon Ricketts and Andrew Taylor. Hana is a Director at HAT Projects; Mike is a former Chief Planner and now an independent planning consultant working mainly in the...
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All Around the World - New Zealand
This is the fourth of a series of episodes being led by the oldest friend of the podcast, Paul Smith. Paul put it to Sam Stafford that debates about the planning system in England tend, for the most part, to focus solely on the planning system in England. We very seldom look to other countries…
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Hitting the High Notes - Peter Soulsby
Sam Stafford was invited to a ProCon Leicestershire event in Leicester in October 2025 and also on the panel that evening was his old friend Grant Butterworth. Grant, Head of Planning at Leicester City Council, kindly invited Sam down early for a tour of the city, and whilst so doing suggested…
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The Shard Inquiry
This episode features the recording of an event hosted by Lorenzo Pandolfi and Simone Pagani in February 2026. Lorenzo and Simone invited Chris Katkowski and Russell Harris to tell the story of the Shard inquiry. Chris and Russell, two of the most prominent KCs in the country, share their...
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The Tip of the AIceberg
"The second (epochal change) is the technology revolution led by developments in artificial intelligence, which will change everything. I mean everything. There is no point in debating whether this technological revolution is a good or bad thing. Just know it is a ‘thing’. In fact, it is ‘the...
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Meet the MPs - Labour
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…
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Reform, reform and more Reform
Sam Stafford was in Manchester recently and took the opportunity to catch up with friends of the podcast Charlotte Leach, Katie Wray, Claire Petricca-Riding and Paul Smith. Their conversation, recorded at Reform Radio, was a good old fashioned 50 Shades-style ramblechat. They started with the…
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LGR
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…
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The West Midlands Problem (plus Grey Belt and some other stuff)
Sam Stafford was in Birmingham recently and took the opportunity to catch up with friends of the podcast Mike Best, Kathryn Ventham and Michelle Simpson-Gallego at PodHaus studios in Digbeth. They talked about why the recent consultation on areas for producing Spatial Development Strategies…
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What is really wrong with the Habitats Regulations?
DEFRA recently launched a consultation on significant changes to it’s guidance on how Habitat Regulations Assessments should be carried out, which comes at an interesting time. It is, firstly, not long since DEFRA announced that Natural England and the Environment Agency have been given a new...
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Some Things Just Take Time
Sam Stafford was in London recently and took the opportunity to catch up with old friends of the podcast Mike Kiely, Annie Gingell, Andrew Taylor and Iain Thomson, and new friend of the podcast Claire Tester. In a conversation recorded at Soho Radio they chatted about a few of the hot topics in…
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New Towns: Practicalities & Placemaking
New Towns are back in the news because the Government has announced the first formal step in creating the next generation of them with the launch of a public consultation on the draft New Towns Programme and its environmental implications. The consultation builds on the findings of the New Towns...
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All Around the World - The Netherlands
This is the third of a series of episodes being led by the oldest friend of the podcast, Paul Smith. Paul put it to Sam Stafford that debates about the planning system in England tend, for the most part, to focus solely on the planning system in England. We very seldom look to other countries for...
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Appeal Ready
Sam Stafford was in Manchester last week and took the opportunity to catch up with friends of the podcast Lisa Tye, Andrew Johnston and Louise Fountain to discuss some of the issues of the day. In a conversation recorded at Reform Radio they talked about the imminent changes to appeal guidance;...
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Hitting the High Notes - Catriona Riddell
Strategic planning, as Sam Stafford said in the introduction to episode number 157, is back. That episode looked at what shape it is in right now. What have authorities been able to do whilst awaiting the consolidation of the Planning & Infrastructure Act, the National Planning Policy Framework...
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We❤️Planning
Sam Stafford was in Birmingham recently and took the opportunity to record the first ‘catch up’-style episode with some of his friends working in the West Midlands. In a conversation recorded at PodHaus studios, Kathryn Ventham, Myles Wild-Smith, Michelle Simpson-Gallego and Sam enjoyed a…
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How Does Bad Policy Get Made?
In October 2025 Sam Stafford came across a blog by Jack Airey, who is now a Director at Public First but was the Head of Planning at Policy Exchange and subsequently spent a few years inside Number 10 as a Special Advisor to the Prime Minister. The opening line of Jack’s blog was ‘How does bad...
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The Return of Strategic Planning
Strategic planning is back. What do we know? We know that Policy PM1 of the revised draft NPPF anticipates the move towards national coverage of Spatial Development Strategies (SDSs), as promised by the end of the parliamentary term, and clarifies their role, content, and relationship to other...
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🏆The #Planoraks Awards 2025🏆
This is the second of Sam Stafford's seasonal offerings which serve as a review of another exciting year in the fast-paced, ever-changing, rock and roll world of town and country planning. Once again Zack Simons kindly bestowed upon Sam the honour of announcing Zack's 2025 #Planoraks Awards on…
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🎅🏻The 50 Shades of Planning Festive Christmas Quiz🎄
This episode sees the return of the 50 Shades of Planning Festive Christmas Quiz. Sam Stafford got together with friends of podcast Mike Kiely, Catriona Riddell, Annie Gingell, Andrew Taylor, Nicola Gooch, Shelly Rouse, Ben Castell and Gilian Macinnes to review what has been another exciting year...
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Discretion Advised
Sam Stafford was in Manchester recently and took the opportunity to catch up with old friend of the podcast Charlotte Leach and new friends of the podcast Andrew Johnston and Lisa Tye. Over the course of an hour so they chatted about a few of the hot topics exercising the planning profession at...
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The Snagging List II
Empirical evidence is starting to emerge, as speculated upon earlier in the year, that there will indeed be a significant increase in the number of planning applications being submitted this year, certainly for residential development and largely, it is held, driven by the introduction of Grey...
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All Around the World - Australia
This is the second of a series of episodes being led by the oldest friend of the podcast, Paul Smith. Paul put it to Sam Stafford that debates about the planning system in England tend, for the most part, to focus solely on the planning system in England. Planners here very seldom look to other...
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Planorama
In between movin' and shakin' in The Big Smoke recently Sam Stafford took the opportunity to meet a few friends of the podcast at Soho Radio Studios to pick out the highlights from another exciting few weeks in the fast-paced, ever-changing, rock and roll world of town and country planning. Sam...
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The Amazing Technicolour Green Belt
Charles Goode hosted an event in Birmingham in September 2025 to mark the launch of his book, “The Green Belt, Housing Crises and Planning Systems” (link below). Charles invited Catriona Riddell, Mike Best and James Corbet Burcher to join him at that event and Sam Stafford invited the four of…
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Who's In Control?
Wrexham Council will defend its opposition to plans for 600 homes on land south of Holt Road against the advice of planning officers. The application is due to go to appeal on September 29 but at a meeting of Wrexham County Borough Council’s Planning Committee on Monday, senior planning officer...
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Hitting the High Notes - Alice Lester
This is the fourteenth episode in Sam Stafford's Hitting the High Notes series. If you have not listened to one of these before the basic proposition is that Sam chats to preeminent figures in the planning and property sectors about the six planning permissions or projects that helped to shape…
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What's Going On?
Sam Stafford was in London recently and took the opportunity to catch up with friends of the podcast Nicola Gooch, Catriona Riddell, Andrew Taylor, Annie Gingell and Iain Thomson. Over the course of an hour or so at Soho Radio Studios they enjoyed a good ol’ fashioned 50 Shades-style ramblechat...
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All Around the World - USA
This is the first of a new series of episodes being led by Paul Smith, who regular 50 Shades listeners will know is the Managing Director at the Strategic Land Group and a Housing Today columnist. Paul put it to Sam Stafford recently that debates about the planning system in England tend, for the...
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New Politics, New Towns and New Books
Sam Stafford was in Manchester recently and took the opportunity to catch up with old friends of the podcast Ian Wray, Claire Petricca-Riding and David Diggle, and new friends of the podcast Charlotte Leach and Louise Fountain. Over the course of an hour or so they enjoyed a good ol’ fashioned 50...
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Hitting the High Notes - Tim Waring
This episode sees the welcome return of the Hitting the High Notes series, the basic proposition of which is that 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...
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The Snagging List
By common consensus there will a considerable increase in the submission of planning applications this year, certainly applications for residential development and certainly driven by applications on the Grey Belt. Data published by the LPDF in February suggested a 160% increase in the number of...
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All Builders Big and Small
It has been another exciting few weeks in the fast-paced, ever-changing rock and roll world of town and country planning... “Thousands of new homes promised to communities will be delivered faster, thanks to major changes to make sure developers deliver on their commitments and do not leave sites...
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Grey Belt: Policy Guidance and Appeals
For how long Grey Belt remains part of the policy landscape time will tell, but in the here and now it represents very welcome political recognition that the homes the country needs cannot be built without developing land that is currently identified as Green Belt. The irresistible force, it…
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A Conversation with Michael Gove
This episode is a conversation between Sam Stafford and former Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, the Rt Hon. the Lord Gove. Famous in political circles. Infamous, some might say, in planning circles. The Parliament of 2019-2024 was tumultuous for everybody, but for...
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Pre-Apps, Puddles and NDMPs
When in Manchester recently Sam Stafford took the opportunity to catch up with friends of the podcast David Diggle, Paul Smith, Rebecca Coley and Claire Petricca-Riding and over the course of an hour or so they talked about a few of the hot topics that are exercising the planning profession at…
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If I Ruled the World
Sam Stafford was down in The Big Smoke recently and took the opportunity to catch up with friends of the podcast Matthew Spry, Simon Ricketts, Hana Loftus, Vicky Payne and Mike Kiely. In a good ol’ fashioned Adam Buxton-style ramblechat they talked about anything and everything. They talked about...
About this show
50 Shades of Planning is Sam Stafford’s attempt to explore the foibles of the English planning system and its aim is to cover the breadth of the sector both in terms of topics of conversation and in terms of guests with different experiences and perspectives.
50 Shades episodes include 'Hitting The High Notes', which are a series of conversations with leading planning and property figures. The conversations take in the six milestone planning permissions or projects within a contributor’s career and for every project guests are invited to choose a piece of music that they were listening to at that time. Think Desert Island Discs, but for planners.
50 Shades episode also include the 'All Around the World' series, which is being led by friend of the podcast, Paul Smith.
Paul put it to Sam that debates about the planning syst
Hosted by
Samuel Stafford