About this episode
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 Shades ramblechat. They talked about the increasingly rancorous nature of planning and whether a sense of fractiousness and febrility is driving the rise of Reform as a political force. They also talked about New Towns and Ian’s 'Northern Arc' proposition, and, towards the end, they swapped holiday reading recommendations.
Some accompanying reading.
The Rise of Reform
How Britain's high street decline is fuelling Reform UK's rise: 'There's a sense that politics has failed'
We won’t let residents block big new towns, says planning minister (£)
On New Towns
‘We have to move’: historic village of Tempsford reels from plan to swell its 600 residents to 350,000
A ‘once in a generation’ opportunity for the UK’s next wave of new towns
The reality of the Northern Arc
The Planning Alliance
Life on the Front Line III
The 50 Shades Book Club
When The Circus Leaves Town - Dave Proudlove
