Life Lessons artwork
50 Shades of Planning

Life Lessons

  • E92
  • 29:18
  • May 6th 2023

A short while ago friend of the podcast Shelly Rouse got in touch with Sam Stafford asking for suggestions for a lecture that Shelly was giving for another friend of the podcast Charlotte Morphet and her soon-to-be planning grads at Leeds Beckett University.

Shelly was after some words of wisdom to help the students with job hunting and the move into the big wide world of work. Sam and Shelly subsequently opened it up to some of the 50 Shades gang and the level of interest and insight was such that Tom Whitehead proposed that it be turned into a 50 Shades episode.

This episode then is comprised of some of the past 50 Shades contributors sharing their life lessons. These are predominantly aimed at soon-to-be-grads, but Sam (@samuel_stafford) and the gang hope that they will be of relevance and interest to all planners.

In addition to Shelly (@rouse_shelly) and Tom, there are contributions from Andrew Taylor (@AndrewJTaylor3), Ian Wray, Katie Wray (@kluw), Catriona Riddell (@CatrionaRidde1) and Hana Loftus (@hanaloftus).

Some accompanying reading.

The RTPI

https://www.rtpi.org.uk/

Shelly’s presentation

https://www.slideshare.net/PAS_Team/leeds-beckett-lecture-career-advicepptx

Sam’s blog

http://samuelstafford.blogspot.com/2020/04/memories-of-200809-career-advice-for-my.html?m=1

Some accompanying viewing .

Sam’s RTPI London ‘Career Stories’ presentation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtzHdB1Hr3w

Some accompanying listening.

Sam’s ‘Careering Off Course’ playlist

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7wBmP4UjeN1Av0y5xQpx9J?si=7aRF5CZRQNSsOU4zMFlzug&nd=1

Sam’s podcast with the Society of Local Council Clerks

https://www.slcc.co.uk/news-publications/slcc-podcasts/

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

The image of the Piece Hall is used with the kind permission Ellis Robinson (I: @ellisjrobinson) and has been turned into the 50 Shades logo by Vicky Payne (I: @_.vicky_payne._).

50 Shades of Planning

Sam Stafford started posting on the 50 Shades of Planning blog in 2012 and in 2019 turned it into a podcast. 50 Shades of Planning is about 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 is 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. If you would like to feature on 'Hitting The High Notes', or know somebody that would make a great guest, please email [email protected].

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

Sam is on Bluesky (@samuelstafford.bsky.social) and Instagram (@samuel__stafford), and his blogs can be found here: http://samuelstafford.blogspot.com.

As with the 50 Shades Blog, the 50 Shades Podcast is a platform for Sam's personal opinions, which may or may not represent the opinions of his past, present or future employers.

50 Shades of Planning is produced in partnership with Cratus Group.

Why Fifty Shades? Well, planning is not a black and white endeavour. There are at least fifty shades in between...

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