Public law; planning and environment law; licensing.
Asitha regularly appears at public inquiries, hearings and before the Higher Courts. His clients include developers and individuals as well as local authorities and residents’ groups. He provides strategic and legal advice across a range of sectors including development (residential, retail, and leisure), infrastructure (renewable energy and highways), and regulatory control (environmental enforcement).
Asitha recently appeared at planning inquiries for Waverley BC, successfully defending their decisions to refuse edge of settlement residential schemes for 53 and 57 units around the village of Rudgwick. He also successfully defended Huntingdonshire DC’s decision to grant planning permission for a crematorium promoted by the Town Council (R (Dignity Funerals Ltd.) v Huntingdonshire DC [2019] EWHC 2114 (Admin), and Tonbridge & Malling BC’s decision to grant full planning permission for a gypsy site R (Miles) v Tonbridge & Malling BC et al. [2020] EWHC 1608 (Admin).
In licensing, Asitha has considerable experience of contested appeals acting for the trade as well as defending licensing authority decisions. He recently acted for Islington Council on appeal, defending the Council’s decision to impose restrictive conditions on the operation of a Grade II listed pub known as The Sekforde in the Clerkenwell area following noise and disturbance complaints.
Contributor to "Cornerstone on the Planning Court" and "Licensed Premises: Law and Practice".
Called in 2001 (Inner-Temple).
Planning and Environment Bar Association (PEBA); Institute of Licensing; Constitutional and Administrative Law Bar Association (ALBA); UK Environmental Law Association (UKELA).
Pembroke College, Cambridge; (MA, MPhil Classics); Bristol Grammar School.
Cricket and travel.