Steve Hesmondhalgh has spent over forty years navigating the wonderful madness of the UK’s planning system — first as a council officer, then as a private consultant, and always with a biro in one hand and a dry sense of humour in the other.

From windswept Yorkshire parishes to overheated council chambers, Steve has trained dozens of planners, advised hundreds of clients, and endured more site visits, committee showdowns, and enforcement notices than is strictly advisable. There was even a goat once.

His fiction includes the popular Alistair Finch series, which follows a weary, well-meaning rural planner as he battles bureaucracy, eccentric developers, and his own inner monologue. Titles include A Planner’s Guide to Happiness, Finch’s First Fall, and Penny Thornton: Holding the Line — each drawn from the bizarre, brilliant theatre of real planning life.

Steve’s semi-autobiographical books — including Still Standing and Planning Permission Required — blend memoir, satire and social commentary. Described as James Herriot meets Sue Townsend via a planning committee, they offer an affectionate but sharp-eyed take on local government’s quieter dramas.

He has also written technical books based on the practical knowledge he has built up over many years.

He divides his time between Ripon and his wife’s home country of Zimbabwe, where planning takes on a whole new meaning.

He is not quite retired. But he’s definitely thinking about it.