Even by the standards of the fast-paced, ever-changing, rock and roll world of town and country planning 2022 has been quite a year. Who better to review it, Sam Stafford thought, than Zack Simons, one of the most erudite, informed and entertaining thought leaders in the planning profession. Sam and Zack consider some of the year's important planning stories and, excitingly, Zack hands out his 2022 #Planarak Awards.
A point of clarification. In discussing the controversial foreword to the Pre-Submission Spelthorne Local Plan, Sam suggested that it had not been removed from the Submission version. It actually has been.
Some accompanying reading.
The Levelling Up White Paper
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/levelling-up-the-united-kingdom
Michael Gove scraps radical planning law following fierce Tory backlash
New minister suggests tweaks to local housing need and five-year land supply requirements
Turleyâs neutrality update
https://www.turley.co.uk/comment/nutrient-neutrality-march-2022-update-it-just-got-whole-lot-bigger
Counting the cost of delay: The economic impact of Local Plan delay to housing delivery
The LURB
https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3155
Michael Gove: Britain needs beautiful homes and communities. Thatâs why Iâll clamp down on developers of soulless dormitories
âNew NPPF to come out next month, says Gove
https://www.planningresource.co.uk/article/1789261/new-nppf-next-month-says-gove
Council rips up local plan following Trussâs pledge to cut âStalinistâ housing targets
The Growth Plan
https://www.gov.uk/government/topical-events/the-growth-plan
Michael Goveâs Written Ministerial Statement
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2022-12-06/hcws415
The #Planoraks 2022 đ - worst planning reform of the year
https://www.planoraks.com/posts-1/-the-planoraks-2022-worst-planning-reform-of-the-year
Council says its draft local plan will make area a âless attractive place to liveâ due to brutal housing targets
Sunakâs vow to stop housebuilding on green belt labelled as âdesperateâ
Boris Johnson pledges no homes will be built on green fields
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2021/10/06/boris-johnson-pledges-no-homes-green-fields/
Some accompanying listening
Round and Round by New Order
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1tjQqWqqAA
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:Â http://samuelstafford.blogspot.com/2021/07/50-shades-of-planning-t-shirts.html
50 Shades of Planning
50 Shades of Planning was Sam Staffordâs attempt between April 2019 and October 2024 to explore the foibles of the English planning system and it's aim was 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 contributorâs 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:Â http://samuelstafford.blogspot.com (from where you can also sign up for his newsletter).
The 50 Shades platforms were expressions of Sam's personal opinions, which may or may not represent the opinions of his past, present or future employers.
The 50 Shades of Planning Podcast and YouTube channels were 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....
