Jenny Wigley

Jenny's practice is focused on planning and environmental law and non-domestic rating (local government tax).

Jenny appears regularly in planning inquiries and in the High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court in judicial review and statutory review claims including those related to climate change, adequate consultation, legitimate expectation, water, heritage, Habitats Regulations, EIA, SEA, air quality, s.106 obligations and conditions, the GPDO, enforcement, interpretation of policy and adequacy of reasons.

Of notable interest, Jenny represented the successful claimant in the statutory review challenge to all the Green Belt allocations in the Leeds Site Allocations Plan. She also recently represented a community interest group in four successful High Court challenges relating to the protection of a local playing field.

Jenny represents developers, public interest groups, campaign groups, local authorities and central government agencies. She is currently advising a large unitary local authority in defending refusals of applications by HS2 under Schedule 17 of the High Speed Rail (London – West Midlands) Act 2017. She is also representing National Highways in the High Court in statutory reviews of highway schemes. Additionally, she advises in relation to DCOs. Jenny has also recently represented hotel owners and Government contractors in successful High Court injunction proceedings (both defending against an application for a planning injunction and obtaining an injunction against protesters) relating to the emergency housing of asylum seekers.

On the non-domestic rating side, her practice includes cases in the Valuation Tribunal, Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) and the Higher Courts, including in the landmark Divisional Court cases concerning empty rates relief (Makro, Kenya Aid, Digital Pipeline, Pall Mall and Public Health England). She recently represented the ratepayer in a case concerning the valuation of museums (Hughes (VO) v. Tyne & Wear Museums and Archives [2022] UKUT 206 (LC)) and she represented the Valuation Officer in the leading case concerning the valuation of tenant’s fit-out works in commercial offices (Bunyan (VO) v. Acenden Limited [2023] UKUT 17 (LC)).

Jenny was formerly a solicitor at Stephenson Harwood.

MA (Hons) (Cantab) (Jesus College, Cambridge)

Publications

Joint Editor of Ryde on Rating and the Council Tax (2003 - 2023) Contributor to Atkins Court Forms (rating section) Contributor to Encyclopaedia of Forms and Precedents (rating section) Articles in the JPEL and Planning Magazine