Santa Hats, Social Rent & Squeaky Leather Trousers
Welcome to the first ever festive edition of Planning After Dark – and they’ve gone full Christmas chaos. Santa Catriona arrives in a jingling hat and squeaky leather trousers, Jackie brings the political fire, Alex attempts to keep order, and for the first time ever, they welcome three extremely brave expert gents into the PAD Pod mayhem.
Joining them for mince pies, gossip and serious policy chat are:
- Jonathan Bower, Partner and Head of Planning at Womble Bond Dickinson,
- Paul Clark, co-founder of Stories Partners and newly crowned PAD Pod superfan, and
- Michael Keaveney, Director of Land & Development at Grainger and LinkedIn’s unofficial housing truth-teller.
In this bumper Christmas special, they unwrap everything from the real subsidy required to build social rent homes, through to local plan fight clubs, the rise of celebrity planning lawyers, temporary accommodation pressures, and the surprising connection between Womble Bond Dickinson and Granger (yes, really).
There’s Number 10 gossip, investment-sector honesty, a deep dive on viability, a passionate defence of planners, and, naturally, a brief strip-tease reveal of un-official Planning After Dark merch.
And, in true PAD Pod style, Alex hands out bottles of “champagne-ish” fizz complete with custom Château PAD Pod labels.
Chaotic, candid and Christmassy: it’s the perfect end to 2025.
As mentioned in the episode, to find out more about Making Social Rent Homes Viable, head to homesforpeopleweneed.co.uk.
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Planning After Darkis the bold and insightful podcast where three powerhouse women in planning and development – Alex Notay, Catriona Riddell, and Jackie Sadek – shine a light on the industry’s biggest challenges, trends, and, yes, even a bit of behind-the-scenes gossip.
From navigating the complexities of development to debating the future of our cities, Planning After Dark is the no-holds-barred discussion you won’t want to miss.
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