Bev Craig

That's the one.

Um, you know, so when Kim McGuinness is sitting down with, um, Rotherham and Bev Craig and all those sorts of folks, it's the coordinating place for that because devolution absolutely comes with the ability for, um, West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, and that bit in the middle to not speak to each other.

And actually, Tracy Brabin having her lovely trams is at some point people need to go from Leeds to York.

They're not actually very far apart.

So I spent the best part of two days in a room talking to seven Metro mayors, and I'm going to list them so I don't forget them.

Helen Godwin, Bev Craig, Richard Parker, Oliver Coppard, Steve Rotherham, Tracy Braben and Kim McGuinness.

And I also spent a bit of time talking to one deputy mayor, and that was Howard Dorber from London and the Minister for Growth.

Yes, there is a Minister for Growth, Dan Tomlinson.

Yeah, I think this is something that he's probably aware of, but if he isn't, he will be over the next couple of weeks because inevitably he'll be talking to MERS, he'll be talking to the advisors and the officials around them.

And although no MERS is going to say no to additional powers and additional cash, what they are all mindful of is that there are capacity issues within those big combined authorities and indeed with local government generally you know it was hollowed out during those austerity years and so if we're looking to put additional planning powers for example into the combined authorities where are the planners If we're going to say to people like Steve Rotherham, Tracy Braben and Bev Craig, well, what we need you to do now is totally reform and change the way you deliver education skills and training in your area.

Have they got the resource and the people to do that? And I think that.

Those are the sort of things that are keeping one or two chief executives of combined authorities awake at night.

A lot of that's being spent on finding candidates, doing due diligence on them because they know they can't afford another repeat of what happened at Makefield as well.

I'll ask you a quick question, Frank, because you've got your finger on the political polls.

Bev Craig has been Greater Manchester's elected mayor for nearly two months now.

It is under two months.

So this is vital.

And that's why, you know, Bev Craig, who is the leader of Manchester, sorry, the mayor of Manchester now.

She's got

promoted, Sarah.

In this deep dive edition, we'll be examining what the new MPPF's simplified heritage impact test means for planners and developers.

and proposed new planning powers for mayors that many experts believe could have a game-changing effect on decision-making.

We'll also be rounding up the key planning news from the past week to make sure you're up to speed on all the goings-on in the sector.

As ever, I'm going to speak to a couple of my colleagues who've been getting up to speed on these issues.

For more information on this topic, please check our article on Planning Resource, which is called What the New MPPF's Simplified Heritage Impact Test Means for Planners and Developers.

Natasha, we're going to be speaking to you again shortly for a roundup of the week's biggest planning news stories.

Next, I'm speaking to our deputy news editor, Alex King, who's going to tell us about proposed new planning powers for elected mayors across England and the impact they're likely to have on decision making.

Alex, great to see you in Room 106.

In, in a world of no money, and there is no money, um, I, a personal view, this is my opinion, this just needs dropping.

I understand the, the MP has secured a meeting with Bev Craig, she's the new mayor of Manchester, and I hope Bev Craig actually says, "Listen, there's loads of priorities, this isn't one, and it just would not work, so moving on." And-

And in the literature it says the longer-term aim will be to run directly into Manchester Victoria, which is even more bonkers than Heywood, given that it's a non-passenger line that just goes to the engine shed at the minute.

It's, it's, it's-