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 (@EPlanna) has since 2017 been the Head of the Planning Advisory Service (@pas_team) 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
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ma9I9VBKPiw
Human - The Killers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIZdjT1472Y
Try – P!NK
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTCDVfMz15M
Zombie – Jamie T
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PU4d5Iogd4
Tilted – Christine & The Queens
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptu3TFmF0Jo
If I Got It (Your Love brought It) – Aaron Frazer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlNBg35ItSo
Anna's Spotify playlist
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4NqDjMStSYGn3tlmBEYPR0?si=uGKpLS7mSSSyoTI3Sj8QuQ
Some accompanying reading
The Planning Advisory Service
https://www.local.gov.uk/latest-news-pas
Houlton, Rugby
MK Futures 2050
https://www.mkfutures2050.com/
PAS' 'Return To Work' project
https://www.local.gov.uk/return-to-work-planning
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 of Planning
50 Shades of Planning is Sam Stafford’s attempt to explore the foibles of the English planning system and it's 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.
Sam is on Bluesky (@samuelstafford.bsky.social) and Instagram (@samuel__stafford), and his blogs can be found here: http://samuelstafford.blogspot.com (from where you can also sign up for his newsletter and buy a t-shirt).
The 50 Shades platforms are expressions of Sam's personal opinions, which may or may not represent the opinions of his past, present or future employers.
50 Shades of Planning is by planners and for planners and so if you would like to use the podcast or the YouTube channel for sharing anything you think that the sector needs to be talking about then do please feel free to get in touch with Sam via [email protected].
Why Fifty Shades? Well, planning is not a black and white endeavour. There are at least fifty shades in between....
