This chapter explores the genesis and development of this volume, which lies largely in the relative neglect of planning by legal scholars. Planning is central to the response to many of the significant challenges of our time (from the climate and environmental crises to social and economic inequalities); and planning law raises some of the most fundamental questions faced by legal scholars (from the legitimacy of authority to the relationship between public and private rights and interests). This book aims to contribute to stimulating conversations about planning law, and to create a space for planning law scholarship in all its variety, and for curiosity about law in all its complexity. This introductory chapter outlines English planning law, focusing on the Local Planning Authority (LPA) system of developing plans and dealing with applications for planning permission. It would be impossible to do justice to the complexity and detail of planning law (and we might even wonder whether there is such ‘a’ single thing as ‘planning law’); the aim is to ease progress through the rest of the book (for authors and readers), and to provide just a hint of the fascination of planning law. The outline incorporates a discussion of four things: the identity of the ubiquitous but underexplored figure of the LPA; decision- making on applications for planning permission; the making and role of development plans; and the relationship between policy and law. This chapter concludes with a brief overview of current and uncertain plans for reform, suggesting that plan-ning law may be as difficult to reform as it is to summarise.