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 a Senior Planning Policy Officer at Sandwell and Beth is an Associate Director at Nexus.

During a good ol’-fashioned, Shades-style ramblechat, recorded at Podhaus studios in Digbeth’s Custard Factory, they talk about the NPPF's non-appearance before the parliament summer recess, local plan progress and the recent Pennycook pragmatism letter, changes to the BNG regime, Bart’s recent trip to Canada, which led them back to the reform agenda here, and towards the end, application fees.

Some accompanying reading.

Local Plan examinations: letter to the Chief Executive of the Planning Inspectorate (July 2026)

Biodiversity Net Gain: Amendments and transitional arrangements published

A Biodiversity Net Gain Solution for a High Value Brownfield Site

FUSION Montréal: Confident planners delivering resilient outcomes

Why NPPFs fail #1 - planning by committee

Some accompanying viewing.

Plan, Prepare, Progress: A practical guide to the new local plan system

What does Team Burnham mean for housebuilding