Books by Steve Hesmondhalgh
Planning meets people, policy meets farce — and occasionally someone brings a goat.
About the Author
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.
He divides his time between Ripon and his wife’s home country of Zimbabwe, where planning takes on a whole new meaning. He has four children, three grandchildren and lives under the judgemental gaze of a murderous cat named Cookie. He is not quite retired — but he’s definitely thinking about it.
Fiction: The Alistair Finch Series
Steve’s popular Alistair Finch novels follow a weary, well-meaning rural planner as he battles bureaucracy, eccentric developers, public meetings with weak coffee, and his own sardonic inner monologue.
Titles include:
- A Planner’s Guide to Happiness
- Finch’s First Fall
- Penny Thornton: Holding the Line
Each is drawn from the brilliant, bizarre theatre of real planning life — with a bit more horse manure and a lot more sarcasm.
Memoir, Satire and Social Commentary
In his semi-autobiographical works, Steve blends memoir, local politics, and affectionate mockery of the profession that still hasn’t quite let him go.
Books include:
- Still Standing
- Planning Permission Required
Described as James Herriot meets Sue Townsend via a planning committee, these books offer a sharp-eyed but compassionate look at the quieter dramas of local government, the strangeness of enforcement, and the glorious absurdity of being a planner in rural Britain.
All titles are available on Amazon.
You can find them below. Click on the links to be taken off to Amazon:
steve hesmondhalgh 