Francis Taylor Building

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Since joining Chambers in 2014, Alexander has developed a busy specialist practice at the planning, environment and local government bar, and is rated as one of the top planning barristers under the age of 35. Recent notable cases in which he has been involved in include: Acting (as junior to Gregory Jones KC) for West Cumbria Mining Ltd, regarding its application for a new metallurgical coal mine in Whitehaven, which has drawn international press coverage. Planning consent was granted by the Secretary of State in December 2022, in accordance with the recommendation of a planning inspector who held a 4 week inquiry into the proposal in September 2021 after it was called in by the Secretary of State. Alexander appeared at the inquiry and is currently instructed as junior counsel by West Cumbria Mining Ltd, as interested party, to defend two s. 288 challenges to the Secretary of State’s decision. Acting for West Oxfordshire District Council, who successfully resisted an appeal against their decision to refuse planning permission for a retirement community of up to 160 extra care units within the grounds of a former country house, which were found to comprise a Valued Landscape. Acting for the claimant in a 2 day s. 113 claim (Norton St Philip PC v Mendip DC [2022] EWHC 3432 (Admin)), which successfully challenged the adoption of a local plan on grounds relating to misinterpretation of policy and a failure to consider reasonable alternatives through the sustainability appraisal. Advising and acting for HS2 (as junior to Morag Ellis KC) in a number of judicial reviews concerning appeals under Schedule 17 to the High Speed Rail (London to West Midlands) Act 2017, which were either refused permission, or dismissed by the High Court in Buckinghamshire Council v SST [2022] EWHC 1923 (Admin). Alexander welcomes instructions to act individually or as part of a team across all of Chambers' areas of practice.

Alexander Booth KC

Alexander Booth KC has a practice which encompasses all aspects of planning, infrastructure and compulsory purchase law. He regularly appears on behalf of private and public bodies in Examinations, Public Inquiries, the High Court and the Lands Tribunal; he has also appeared in the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court. Overseas he advises clients in Commonwealth jurisdictions where his experience includes having successfully brought judicial review proceedings in the Turks and Caicos Islands and acting for the Government of Bermuda in both compensation and constitutional litigation. He is regularly instructed in connection with nationally significant infrastructure development. In which context he promoted the Thames Tideway Tunnel on behalf of Thames Water as junior counsel, and since taking silk he has promoted a number of Development Consent Order applications, including the Northampton Gateway and West Midlands Strategic Rail Freight Interchanges, the Riverside Energy Park, and Esso’s Southampton to London aviation fuel pipeline. He is also instructed in respect of a broad spectrum of development promoted pursuant to the TCPA 1990, including residential, commercial and energy related schemes. In this regard he regularly appears in Section 78 and Local Plan proceedings, on behalf of a range of developer and planning authority clients. Areas of particular focus include housing, heritage and minerals & waste operations. Recent instructions have included promotion of major residential development in Manchester, restoration and hotel-based regeneration of the Grade II* Listed Whitechapel Bell Foundry in London, and securing approval for mineral extraction and waste deposition operations in Surrey. As regards compulsory purchase, he has extensive experience and has successfully sought CPO powers in various different contexts; these include infrastructure (pipe lines and highways) and regeneration (both commercial and residential). In addition, he regularly appears for landowners (both corporate and individuals) resisting compulsory purchase orders. Current instructions include the promotion of a series of compulsory purchase orders for regeneration of housing estates in London Borough of Merton and a road improvement scheme on the A40 in Oxfordshire. He also specialises in valuation/compensation proceedings arising out of compulsory purchase. In this regard he acted for the GLA in a series of references to the Tribunal concerning the compulsory acquisition of land for the London 2012 Olympics, and for claimants in a number of references relating to the acquisition of land for both Crossrail and Thameslink. He is currently advising a range of claimants in respect of proceedings related to HS2, and a number of acquiring authorities including National Highways and Transport for London. Parliamentary work includes acting for parties petitioning against HS2, both in the Commons and in the Lords, and bringing proceedings pursuant to Special Parliamentary Procedure in respect of a contested Development Consent Order.

Andrew Tait KC

Andrew Tait KC’s areas of work are in planning, environmental, administrative and land compensation. He has wide experience across the planning field. He has extensive experience of Development Consent Orders (including the East Anglia One North, East Anglia Two and Sizewell C DCOs in 2021) Transport and Works Act Orders, Compulsory Purchase Orders and parliamentary bills. Schemes he has promoted include the Victoria Station Upgrade, the Northern Line Extension, Barking Riverside Extension, Bank Station Capacity Upgrade, the Poole Twin Sails Bridge, the DLR (2012 Games Preparation) Order, the A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon scheme, the Weymouth Relief Road, the South Devon Link Road and the East Leeds Orbital Extension. He acted for BAA on Crossrail, for BAA and BMW on HS2 and for ABP on the M4 Newport scheme. He has successfully resisted many judicial reviews, such as BBOWT v Secretary of State for Transport (2019) and in Client Earth v Secretary of State for Business (2021).

Andrew Fraser-urquhart KC

Andrew Fraser-Urquhart KC (known universally as "AFU") practices in planning, environmental and compulsory purchase law. He specialises in Housing, Regeneration, Minerals, Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects, Energy, Waste, Renewables and all aspects of Compulsory Purchase. Andrew is identified as a Leading Silk in Chambers and Partners and the Legal 500, He is described as "A well-prepared barrister who fights for his clients. He has a very impressive brain" and is "a name to turn to for big planning inquiries." Having occupied "a pre-eminent place at the junior bar", Andrew took silk in 2015 in a "richly deserved and popular appointment." Before taking silk, Andrew was recognised as a leading junior in the Legal 500, Chambers and Partners and Legal Experts. As "an experienced counsel possessed of great style", he is described in the legal directories as "ambitious and hard-working [and] provides excellent, pragmatic advice" and is "a robust advocate" who has "great tactical awareness and the ability to highlight and concentrate on the main issues of a case". Andrew is the consultant editor of Halsbury's Laws: "Mines, Minerals and Quarries", 5th and 6th editions and writes the Legal Comment column in Mineral Planning. Andrew prides himself on his "approachable, modern style", flexibility and quality of service. He is always happy to travel to clients' offices and to discuss cases informally before instruction. He is qualified to accept instructions directly from the public under the Direct Public Access Scheme.

Annabel Graham Paul

Annabel is a front-rank junior in planning law. She has acted in many leading judicial reviews and planning inquiries of national significance. Clients include major developers and corporate landowners; the UK and Welsh Governments; local authorities; statutory bodies, and private individuals.

Armin Solimani

Armin is building a busy practice across Chambers’ practice areas, following his successful completion of pupillage. He is currently instructed as junior counsel to Gregory Jones KC in a statutory challenge to a compulsory purchase order, and recently appeared as sole counsel for a Parish Council in a two-day planning appeal hearing. He has gained extensive experience appearing as sole counsel before the Magistrates’ Court and licensing sub-committees.

Cain Ormondroyd

Cain Ormondroyd practices in the fields of public and planning law, with a particular focus on heavyweight land valuation disputes and contentious planning appeals He combines work in these areas with an interest in several specialist areas including highways, commons and village greens, listed buildings, planning enforcement and ecclesiastical law. He is an acknowledged expert in the area of rating and the council tax, being one of the editors of Ryde on Rating and also the author of The Rating and Council Tax Pocketbook. Cain is ranked in ‘Band 1’ by the Chambers and Partners Directory for his work in this area and described as ‘a go-to practitioner for rating appeals’. He was named as Government and Third Sector Junior of the Year 2022 by the Legal 500 Bar Awards. Cain acts for a broad range of clients including major public companies, developers, central and local government bodies. He is a member of the Attorney General's 'A' Panel of specialist counsel and is often instructed by HMRC. He appears most frequently at hearings in the Valuation Tribunal, Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) and High Court and at public inquiries, but has appeared in and accepts instructions to appear in all courts from the magistrates' court up to the Supreme Court. He is also a member of the Planning and Environment Bar Association, the National Infrastructure Planning Association and the Compulsory Purchase Association.

Caroline Daly

Caroline was called to the Bar in 2013 and is currently the third highest rated planning barrister under 35 (Planning Magazine’s Planning Law Survey, 2022). She is ranked in both Chambers and Partners and the Legal 500. Caroline has a broad practice within Chambers’ core areas with a particular focus on planning and compulsory purchase and compensation matters. She acts for and advises central and local government, landowners, developers, private individuals, utilities companies and community interest groups. Notable clients include Countryside Properties, the City of London Corporation, CPRE and the London Borough of Southwark. Caroline has appeared in the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal, the High Court, the Upper Tribunal, magistrates’ courts, the Crown Court and in planning inquiries, including in enforcement and CPO inquiries. Caroline is a member of the Attorney General's C Panel.

Charles Forrest

Charles welcomes instructions to advise and represent clients across all of Chambers' practice areas. He is regularly instructed by local authorities and other public bodies, large and small developers, action groups and similar, and individuals. He specialises in Planning and Environment; Public and Local Government including judicial review; Rights of Way, Highways and Traffic; Infrastructure; Compulsory Purchase and Compensation; Licensing; and related areas (see the section of this profile on ‘Practice Areas and Experience’ for further information) Charles has appeared as sole counsel before the High Court, planning inquiries, enforcement inquiries, traffic inquiries, DCO issue specific hearings, the Valuation Tribunal, Crown Court, County Court, Magistrates’ Court, and Council sub-committees. Recent/current work includes: For the last 3 years he has been acting for TfL, with Andrew Fraser-Urquhart KC, in three High Court claims against hundreds of people (both named and persons unknown) protesting under the banner of Insulate Britain, Just Stop Oil, and other groups, see TfL v Persons Unknown [2023] EWHC 1201 (KB). TfL v Persons Unknown [2023] EWHC 1038 (KB), TfL v Lee [2023] EWHC 402 (KB), and TfL v Lee [2023] EWHC 3102 (KB), This has included obtaining and extending multiple final and interim injunctions, all initially granted on an urgent without notice basis Currently acting for an appellant in an upcoming 3-day CLEUD inquiry Currently acting a local planning authority in an upcoming 3-day enforcement inquiry Currently representing a local authority being sued in negligence and breach of statutory duty under s.36(6) Highways Act 1980. Charles also recently, in two different multi-track claims, successfully represented local authorities being sued in misfeasance in public office and negligence/negligent misstatement, arising from their interpretation of a planning permission and handling of a planning application respectively. Charles is direct and licensed access qualified, which means in appropriate cases he can be instructed by members of the public directly or through a professional other than a solicitor. Charles is also happy to work pro bono in appropriate cases and in 2024 he was included in Advocate’s Inaugural Pro Bono Recognition List in recognition of his dedication to providing pro bono services.

Charles Holland

Charles Holland's practice combines licensing work and a broad range of contentious chancery and commercial litigation. He is ranked by the independent legal directories as a leading practitioner in both these areas.

Charles Merrett

Charles’ practice spans all areas of Chambers’ work, with a particular focus on planning and environmental, public law, non-domestic rating and compulsory purchase. He acts for developers, local authorities and a range of individuals and interested parties. He frequently appears in the High Court, public inquiries and examinations, both in his own right and as junior counsel. Charles is ranked by Legal 500 as a “rising star” for planning Recent and ongoing court work includes: R (Okedina) v Royal Borough of Greenwich – Series of applications for judicial review seeking to challenge grant of planning permission for comprehensive redevelopment of an estate providing up to 254 dwellings; Guildford Borough Council v Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities [2023] EWHC 575 (Admin) – Successful challenge to the decision of the Secretary of State to grant planning permission on basis of misinterpretation of Green Belt policy concerning the meaning of “original building”; Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council v Troika Developments Ltd [2023] (KBD) – As junior counsel, successfully defended an appeal against the decision of the County Court that a strip of land was not highway. Charles was also instructed as junior counsel in the County Court trial on behalf of the successful claimant; R (Kinsey) v London Borough of Lewisham [2022] EWHC 1774 and R (Helen Kinsey) v London Borough of Lewisham [2021] EWHC 1286 – Junior counsel for the defendant in two judicial reviews against the decision of a local planning authority to grant planning permission for the demolition of existing buildings to provide 110 residential units; Build Hollywood v London Borough of Hackney [2022] EWHC 2806 (Admin) – Leading case concerning the issue of who is a “person with an interest in the site” for the purposes of the Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) (England) Regulations 2007; London Borough of Hackney v JCDecaux (UK) Ltd [2022] EWHC 2621 (Admin) – Leading case concerning the approach a court should take in determining whether a display of advertisements is continuous; National Highways Limited v Insulate Britain – Obtained a series of injunctions to prevent the group Insulate Britain protesting on the country’s strategic road network; R (Red Lion Leisure Ltd) v South Cambs DC – Successfully resisted an application for judicial review against a grant of planning permission for a hotel near the Imperial War Museum; R (Boruch Roth) v London Borough of Lewisham CO/1049/2021 – Sole counsel for the defendant in a judicial review against the decision of a local planning authority to exercise their discretion under section 70C of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 to decline to determine the Claimant’s application for planning permission; R (Swainsthorpe Parish Council) v Norfolk County Council CO/4064/2020 – Sole counsel for the claimant in a judicial review against the formal response of a highways authority, the first case to consider the scope of the duty imposed upon a statutory consultee under the Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) Order 2015; R (Julia Ewans) v Suffolk District Council [2021] EWHC 511 (Admin) – Sole counsel for the claimant in a judicial review against the grant of outline planning permission for the erection of up to 300 dwellings; Sevenoaks District Council v Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government [2020] EWHC 3054 (Admin) – Junior counsel for the claimant in a judicial review against the decision of a planning inspector that a draft local plan had to be withdrawn as the local authority had failed to comply with the Duty to Cooperate; Wokingham BC v Scott [2019] EWCA Crim 205 – Junior counsel for the appellant in one of the leading cases concerning the enforcement powers available to a local planning authority when seeking to prosecute breaches of planning control and the correct exercise of those powers; R (Shiva) v London Borough of Lambeth [2019] EWHC 2387 (Admin) – Junior counsel for the defendant in an application for permission for judicial review which sought to challenge a part of the Westminster Bridge Road Regeneration Scheme. Permission was refused by both the High Court and Court of Appeal; East Hertfordshire District Council v Docherty and Ors [2019] EWHC 2292 (QB) – Charles acted for the successful party in committing 19 individuals for contempt of an injunction obtained to prevent breaches of planning control; Recent and ongoing public inquiry and examination work includes: Glory Hill, Holtspur – upcoming planning appeal concerning the provision of three football pitches and associated facilities in the green belt; Willow Way, London – six day inquiry concerning a mixed use scheme (comprising 60 residential units and 1,401 sqm of employment floorspace) on a plot forming part of a wider site allocated as Local Employment Land (identified as a LSIS in the emerging local plan); Quinbury Farm, Braughing – three day combined planning and enforcement hearing concerning the demolition and proposed erection of buildings in the rural area beyond the green belt; Former Staple Hill Infants School, South Gloucestershire – four day inquiry for the redevelopment of a site to form 42 retirement apartments; Barn Springs, Andover – two day enforcement hearing concerning a change of use and redevelopment of land located within a gap between settlements; HM Prison Grendon, Grendon Underwood – two week inquiry concerning the construction of a new Category C prison to create provision for 1,468 prisoners; Barnet Local Plan review – Charles acted for the London Borough of Barnet (with Gregory Jones KC and Flora Curtis) in the promotion of the Barnet Local Plan Dun Roamin, Buckinghamshire – three week inquiry into 21 conjoined appeals for the continued use of land as Gypsy and Caravan plots Homestead Farm, Bothenhampton– four day inquiry concerning an appeal against the refusal of planning permission for the demolition of a farmhouse in a conservation area and the erection of a 4-bedroom low carbon house; Land west of Finchampstead Road, Wokingham and Land off Finchampstead Road, Wokingham – four day inquiry concerning development of up to 80 dwellings outside of a settlement boundary and a Suitable Alternative Natural Greenspace. Alongside appearing in the High Court and Planning Inquiries, Charles frequently appears in specialist tribunals such as the Valuation Tribunal for England. Charles has also appeared in and welcomes instructions to appear in the magistrates’ court and to appear in front of local authority committees (most commonly for licensing matters). Before coming to the Bar, Charles read Philosophy and Theology at Oxford University. He completed the GDL and the Bar Course at City University. Charles was a paralegal at a specialist planning and environmental law firm. In appropriate cases, Charles is happy to work on a pro-bono basis.

Charles Streeten

Charles Streeten has rapidly earned a reputation as one of the leading junior barristers in planning, environmental and public / administrative law. He was appointed to the Attorney General's panel of counsel ('C' Panel) at the first opportunity and in 2021 joined the ‘B’ Panel, as the most junior barrister presently appointed. Charles is currently ranked across three different practice areas (Environment, Planning, and Licensing) by both the Legal 500 and Chambers and Partners, including as a Tier 1 Leading Junior. He is ranked by the Planning Law Survey as one of the top 10 barristers under 35, as well as one of the overall top-rated planning juniors. In 2018 he was nominated as the Young Pro Bono Barrister of the year. Charles specialises in environmental, planning, licensing, EU and wider public/ administrative law. He regularly appears at public inquiries and is particularly highly regarded for his judicial review work. He has appeared before the Supreme Court and Court of Justice of the European Union, as well as in around 50 reported cases before the Court of Appeal and High Court, more often than not as sole counsel. He acts for central government, developers, public/ local authorities, and other interested parties including pressure groups. His clients range from large energy and minerals companies, including Shell and Tarmac, to major infrastructure provides (Thames Water and Hirwaun Power) and one of Europe’s largest renewables investment funds (Greencoat). He has also acted for high profile environmental campaign groups including Friends of the Earth, a well-known Extinction Rebellion protestor, and the Sheffield Tree Protesters. In the past year he appeared in a number of the most significant planning and environmental cases, including the Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre Inquiry, the Sizewell DCO Examination, and the 8 Albert Embankment Inquiry. He has particular expertise in cases raising difficult points of public, EU, or international law.

Claire Nevin

Claire is building a busy practice across all of Chambers’ practice areas. Before her call to the Bar in 2021, Claire gained valuable experience of the intersection between environmental and human rights law in her work for the United Nations in Geneva, the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs and a number of NGOs. The breadth of Claire’s previous experience with international organisations, a government department and campaign groups means she is already well-practised in considering complex and sensitive legal issues from a range of perspectives. Given Claire’s previous career, she is frequently instructed to advise on matters where there is an overlap between environmental and human rights law. She has advised campaign groups in relation to a gold mine, a proposed oil terminal and the Port of London’s proposed Harbour Revision Order. The law of chemical regulation is of particular interest to Claire. She has recently advised on the lawfulness of industrial discharges containing PFAS (“forever chemicals”), participated in an investigation into PFAS contamination by the ENDS Report and written about this area for Chambers’ Environment Law Blog. Some of Claire’s most recent planning work involved advising a major developer in relation to the translocation of protected species, advising an environmental NGO on potential breaches of conditions attached to a planning permission for a gold mine and advising a local authority on housing developments involving s.73 and s.96A applications. Claire is currently instructed as sole and junior counsel defending several planning judicial reviews on retail and permitted development rights. Claire is developing a busy inquiry practice. She acted as sole counsel for a successful Rule 6 Party in a high-profile five-day planning inquiry encompassing issues such as designated Local Open Space, a Grade I listed heritage asset, ecology and the provision of affordable and market housing. She recently acted as junior counsel to Suzanne Ornsby KC in a two-week planning inquiry on behalf of the successful South Gloucestershire Council and was instructed as sole counsel for a Rule 6 Party in a three-day planning enforcement inquiry where Claire secured a costs award against the appellant. Claire is currently instructed as sole counsel for a London-based local authority in an upcoming four-day inquiry centred a proposed housing development where affordable housing and viability are main issues. Claire is keen to continue developing her inquiry practice as she enjoys working as part of a team and cross-examining expert witnesses. She has a particular interest in planning inquiries with a heritage element and most her inquiry work so far has involved potential impacts of a development on a listed heritage asset. In terms of her environmental work, Claire’s recent work has focused on international maritime law. She is currently instructed as junior counsel in a judicial review concerning the lawfulness of UK fishing opportunities and has been involved in another international fisheries law dispute. She has been instructed on several occasions to advise on claims in statutory nuisance with one recent advice considered the merits of appealing a court’s refusal to quash an abatement notice. Since coming to Chambers, Claire has assisted with a wide range of work raising complex issues of domestic and EU environmental law, including the application of human rights law in an environmental context and challenges involving Habitats Regulations Assessments. Claire conducted research and drafted advices and skeleton arguments on matters including major energy projects, commons and village greens, flood defence works, sewage pollution from storm overflows, charitable exemptions from the Community Infrastructure Levy and permitted development rights in a conservation area. Claire also provided research and drafting assistance during a two-week planning inquiry on a proposal for a major solar farm in an historic parkland containing listed heritage assets. Alongside practice at the Bar, Claire regularly contributes to policy and educational initiatives in the field of environmental law. Claire was invited to deliver a workshop on the Rights of Nature alongside environmental lawyers working in the UK and internationally, representatives from NGOs and academics. She co-authored the Environmental Justice Network Ireland, Queen's University Belfast School of Law and Lawyers for Nature’s submission to the Irish Citizens’ Assembly on Biodiversity Loss and supervised LLM students at the University of Essex on a project focusing on the right to a healthy environment in the UK. She is a regular contributor to Chambers’ Environmental Law Blog and an expert contributor to Lexis Nexis’ environmental module on the law of sewers and drains.

Conor Fegan

Conor accepts instructions across Chambers’ specialisms in planning, environmental, and public law. He is ranked by Legal 500 as a rising star in planning, environmental, and administrative law and human rights (2024). Conor has also been recognised in Planning Magazine as one of the top rated planning juniors under the age of 35 (2023). He acts for a wide range of clients including central and local government, utility companies, national interest groups and charities, developers and landowners, and local residents. He is widely sought after for strategic advice and representation on planning and environmental matters. Conor also has a busy judicial review practice and is frequently instructed to appear as sole counsel both on behalf of claimants and on behalf of defendants He has particular expertise in the agricultural, residential, energy, renewables, and retail sectors. He has rapidly established a busy local plan practice. Over the last twelve months alone has promoted three local plans at independent examination and advised six other councils on their emerging local plans. He is particularly sought after for his judicial review work and has appeared twice before the Court of Appeal and once before the Supreme Court over the last twelve months in high profile judicial reviews. Conor is also called to the Bar of Northern Ireland. Details of his experience in Northern Ireland can be found below and on the Bar Library website. Notable examples of his recent and ongoing work include: Judicial Review acting as junior counsel on behalf of the successful respondents in a claim challenging the decision of the United Kingdom Government to provide export finance in relation to the Area 1 liquefied natural gas facility in Mozambique (R (Friends of the Earth) v Secretary of State for International Trade and Ors [2023] EWCA Civ 14); acting as junior counsel on behalf of the appellant in the challenge to the Natural England nitrate neutrality guidance (R (Wyatt) v Fareham Borough Council [2022] EWCA Civ 983); acting as sole counsel in a number of planning challenges including for an interested party developer to defend a judicial review against the grant of planning permission for a mixed-use, residential-led development in a World Heritage Site (R (Walker) v Bath and North East Somerset Council [2020] EWHC 1836 (Admin)) and for the claimant in an ongoing challenge to a storage and distribution facility in the open countryside (R (Gendy) v Central Bedfordshire Council (CO/2077/2022)); acting as junior counsel on wider public law matters including a challenge to a street trading policy (R (Poole) v Birmingham City Council [2021] EWHC 1198 (Admin) and a challenge to the lawfulness of guidance issued by the Parole Board (R (Pearce) v Parole Board [2022] EWCA Civ 4). Inquiries and Hearings acting as sole counsel promoting three local development plans at independent examination over the last twelve months; acting as sole counsel for the developer securing planning permission for a paragraph 79 inspired dwelling in the New Forest on appeal (APP/B9506/W/19/3242767); acting as sole counsel on behalf of a third party objector group during the latest public inquiry into the A5 Western Transport Corridor (the largest infrastructure public in Northern Ireland at an estimate cost of over £1 billion); acting as sole counsel successfully resisting an appeal against the refusal of planning permission for 100 residential units on habitats grounds related to increased nitrates in the Solent (APP/A1720/W/19/3225866); acting as sole counsel successfully resisting an appeal against the refusal of planning permission for residential development on grounds relating to design, impact on character, and impact on a heritage asset (APP/Y3615/W/20/3265828); acting as sole counsel for a developer in an ongoing appeal against the refusal of planning permission and listed building consent for residential development in London raising issues of heritage impact and viability (APP/A5270/W/3300120).

Craig Howell Williams KC

Craig Howell Williams KC specialises in planning, environment and related areas of public law. He is acknowledged as one of the leading practitioners in the field and has acted in some of the most high profile cases. Craig is consistently rated as one of the leading planning silks in Chambers and Partners and Legal 500, and was voted a top-rated silk in the Planning Magazine Survey 2023. Commendations in recent directories include: “a superb barrister”; “his cross-examination is courteous and polite but ruthlessly effective”; “incredibly hardworking and a modern silk”; “Craig is a master strategist”; "a fantastic advocate and adviser”; "intellectually smart and astute"; “A go-to on planning and CPO matters"; “great to work with, great with clients and gives top notch advice and representation”; “The trust you can place in the quality of his case preparation is without comparison – and that thoroughness shines through with the clients come the execution of the case at the inquiry or hearing”; “Craig is an incredibly strong advocate with a tenacious appetite for detail. His preparation is incredibly thorough, leaving no stone unturned. Craig is proactive and his advice is delivered commercially and with conviction”. He represents developers and operators, local authorities, third parties and others at public inquiries and in a range of other tribunals. He is regularly involved in large planning/major infrastructure schemes such as proposals for urban extensions, new settlements, airport expansions, new road and rail schemes, employment, leisure, retail and other commercial development projects and in development plan matters. His experience is extensive with versatility across many different legislative regimes, including that of planning and major infrastructure, highways, heritage and listed buildings, compulsory purchase and compensation, wildlife and countryside and outdoor advertising. Craig was appointed and served as Junior Counsel to the Crown (B Panel) and since taking silk has appeared in a number of significant court cases. Craig was appointed by the Secretary of State to serve as the Lead Assistant Commissioner for the West Midlands region to hold hearings and report into proposals to modify Parliamentary constituency boundaries. Craig is also a CEDR Accredited Mediator and a RICS Accredited Evaluative Mediator, a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and a member of the RICS President's Mediation Panel. He was also appointed to serve on the first DCLG's Planning Mediation Services Panel. (See his separate ADR/mediation profile). Planning Craig has extensive experience and a wide ranging practice in the field of planning law. He is acknowledged as one of the leading practitioners in the field and has acted in some of the most high profile cases. His court work in relation to planning cases is separately noted under Public Law..

Daisy Noble

Daisy Noble was called to the Bar in 2015 and has been a member of Chambers since October 2018. She is consistently ranked as one of Planning Magazine’s top-rated junior planning barristers (2021 – 2024) and has been ranked in the top three in the under 35 category for the last two years. Daisy is currently ranked in Legal 500 (2023 and 2024), gaining particular recognition for her work in major infrastructure planning and compulsory purchase and compensation. Daisy was nominated as Planning and Land Use Junior of the Year, Legal 500 Bar Awards 2023. Daisy has a First Class law degree from Cambridge, and a Masters' degree from Oxford. Her practice spans Chambers’ core areas, but has a particular interest in planning, compulsory purchase and compensation and infrastructure planning. She frequently acts for and advises utilities companies, developers, landowners, private companies, individuals and local government. Notable clients include National Grid (transmission and distribution arms), Electricity North West, the Department for Transport, Network Rail, Thames Water, Bristol Airport, London City Airport, the Environment Agency and the Greater London Authority. Daisy’s experience covers the appellate courts at all levels, as well as the Upper Tribunal and planning inquiries, and she welcomes instructions to act individually or as a junior across all of Chambers' practice areas. Daisy has been a board member of the Compulsory Purchase Association since 2023 and is also a committee member of the National Infrastructure Planning Association EYP Steering Group.

David Graham

David practises across Chambers' specialisms, including public, planning and environmental law. He was called to the Bar in October 2010 and joined Chambers in January 2012. Practice areas: Public and Administrative Law; Planning Law; Environmental and Regulatory Law; Infrastructure; Licensing Law; Highways, Commons and Prescriptive Rights; European Union Law; Torts; Equalities and Discrimination Law; Contract Law; Property Law.

David Matthias KC

David Matthias K.C. was called in 1980 and took Silk in October 2006. He is a qualified Arbitrator having been appointed a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators in 1998, and has been an LSM Accredited Mediator since 2018. David acts for a wide range of individual, corporate and local authority clients, specialising in licensing, judicial review, commercial and property dispute resolution, planning and compulsory purchase, and local government law. He has a wealth of experience and a strong reputation for advising and for conducting both litigation and arbitration in major cases in all those areas - recently, for example, on behalf of clients including the Sutton Harbour Group, Bristol Rovers FC, Capita, Datasharp UK, West Ham United, Westminster City Council, the London Boroughs of Camden, Havering and Hackney, and Casinos Austria International GMBH. David's overseas work has included appearing for a consortium of property developers before the Court of Appeal in the Turks and Caicos Islands, and appearing before the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg on behalf of Westminster City Council in ‘Hemming’ - the most important licensing case of recent times. He is instructed by major firms of solicitors and some of the busiest local authorities in the country, as well as acting directly for companies, individuals and pressure groups who choose to engage him on their own account on a Licensed Access or Direct Public Access basis. As a qualified arbitrator since 1998 and an accredited mediator, David enjoys a high reputation for arbitration – both as an advocate and a sitting arbitrator – and for mediation.

Douglas Edwards KC

Douglas Edwards KC practices in the fields of town and country planning, infrastructure, compulsory purchase, environment, administrative and local government, highway law and the law of easements and restrictive covenants. He is acknowledged as one of the leading silks at the planning bar and a recognised expert in the law relating to common land and town/village greens. He appears regularly for both appellants and local planning and other authorities at inquiries and in the courts. Douglas Edwards was elected a bencher of Lincoln's Inn in 2017, and is a member of the Inn's Estates Committee. He was appointed as a Crown Court Recorder in 2019, and, as such, sits as a Judge in courts in London and on the South Eastern Circuit. He has served as an assistant Parliamentary boundary commissioner and as lead assistant commissioner for the East Midlands region. In that capacity, his role has involved holding hearing and considering representations into proposals to modify Parliamentary constituency boundaries.

Emyr Jones

Emyr was called in 1999 and practised in Cardiff until joining FTB in 2018. Before coming to the Bar he took a first in PPE at Jesus College, Oxford and was a lecturer at Keble College whilst undertaking research in political philosophy. He has been recommended for planning and chancery work in Chambers and Partners and the Legal 500 for many years. Appointed to the Welsh Government's panel in 2013 he has a thorough knowledge of Welsh planning law and policy, and of Welsh law in general, and is the current editor of the Wales section of the Green Book. He has great experience of promoting roads in England and Wales at inquiries held under the Highways Act 1980. His main areas of interest are: Infrastructure Planning Compulsory Purchase and Compensation Property and Chancery Litigation Local Government Public Law

Esther Drabkin-Reiter

Esther is a busy and sought-after junior practitioner with a broad practice across all of Chambers’ areas of specialism. She is ranked as a Leading Junior for Planning in the Legal 500 and has been recognised as a top-rated junior under 35 in the Planning Law Survey since 2022. She is a Commissioning Editor of FTB’s Environmental Law Blog. Esther read Jurisprudence at Merton College, Oxford, and has a master’s degree in EU Law from the European University Institute, Florence. Prior to coming to the Bar she spent a year as Judicial Assistant to Lord Justice Lloyd Jones (as he then was) at the Court of Appeal, working on cases involving issues of public and EU law. Recent and current work includes: Acting for an interested party in the examination into the proposed DCO to relocate the Cambridge Waste Water Treatment Plant, including making submissions at DCO hearings. Acting for the Open Spaces Society (led by Richard Honey KC and Ned Westaway) intervening in Darwall v Dartmoor National Park Authority [2023] EWCA Civ 927 in support of the successful Appellant. The Court of Appeal accepted the Intervenor’s and the Appellant’s argument that the right to access common land for open-air recreation included a right to “wild camp” on that land. Acting for the Green Lane Association in a five-day inquiry into whether a Definitive Map Modification Order made by Kirklees Council should be confirmed, which raised complex legal issues concerning the “discovery of evidence” under s.53 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, whether use was “by right” or “as of right” and the impact of settlement of land on the ability to imply dedication of a right of way. Acting for Dacorum Borough Council (led by Simon Bird KC) in a five-week inquiry recovered by the Secretary of State in an appeal against a refusal of planning permission for a new urban extension to Tring comprising up to 1,400 dwellings, a new local centre and sports/community hub, primary school, secondary school and public open space, on a site located in the Metropolitan Green Belt. Esther has undertaken cases for Advocate and the Environmental Law Foundation and is happy to work on a pro bono basis in appropriate cases.

Gabriel Nelson

Gabriel is building a busy practice across all of Chambers’ practice areas, including public, planning and environmental law. He has appeared (successfully) as sole counsel at a planning inquiry and will appear as sole counsel in the High Court in October. Gabriel has experience acting for local communities and public bodies, as well as advising a range of clients including local government, public bodies, local residents and NGOs. He welcomes instructions across all of Chambers’ practice areas and has a particular interest in environmental law, having both studied and worked in the area prior to joining Chambers. Gabriel is happy to work on a pro-bono basis.

Gary Grant

Gary Grant is one of the UK's leading licensing barristers. He is top-ranked in both of the major independent legal directories where he is described as "The go-to counsel for licensing matters” (Legal 500) and “Star Individual: the best licensing lawyer in the country... phenomenal intellect and superb advocate” (Chambers Guide). In addition to his licensing expertise, Gary has a wealth of experience in the criminal courts at all levels up to and including the House of Lords/Supreme Court. Consequently, he is frequently instructed in cases at the frontier of both licensing and criminal law that require expertise in both. He is also at the forefront of advising businesses and trade bodies in regard to the legal cannabis and CBD market in the UK and is the Head of FTB’s Cannabis Law Group. Gary has over 25 years' experience at the Bar dealing with complex and important cases in all areas of licensing. They include many of the most hard-fought and high-profile licence applications, reviews and appeals involving the country's leading nightclubs, bars, restaurants, hotels, supermarkets, taxi and private hire operators, gambling operators (online and terrestrial), sex entertainment venues, sporting and entertainment arenas, gambling operators (online and land-based), large mixed-use food and leisure developments, cinema groups, museums, theatres, markets, street carnivals and music festivals. His clients have included the Hard Rock Cafe, Amazon, Chiltern Firehouse, McDonald's, Tate Modern, Pacha, Spearmint Rhino, Marriott, Hilton and Britannia hotel groups, the nightclubs of Rekom UK ("Atik", "Pryzm"), the restaurants of Sir Terence Conran ("Albion") and Alan Yau OBE ("Park Chinois", "Wagamama", "Busaba"), Secret Cinema, Everyman Cinemas, the Inception Group's bars ("Mr Foggs" "Bunga Bunga"), Ola Cabs, Notting Hill Carnival and the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police. He recently obtained a 5am premises licence for a new London nightclub, a result that Time Out magazine described as "a landmark ruling...unprecedented". As a true "independent" he represents the trade (from sole-traders to multi-national PLCs), residents, police forces, local authorities and central Government. This broad experience enables Gary to employ his insights to the advantage of all his clients at tribunals ranging from local Council licensing sub-committees through to the Supreme Court. He has a reputation for pursuing his clients' interests with fierce independence, skill, tenacity and integrity. He is widely experienced in judicial reviews and has appeared in several of the leading reported cases of recent years in the High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court/House of Lords (including R v Rimmington the leading modern case defining "public nuisance", and the landmark cases of ''Funky Mojoe'' and ''Essence'' on procedural defects in licensing). Gary is a Consultant Editor of Paterson's Licensing Acts ("the bible of licensing law"), the Principal Contributor to the "Clubs" volume in the Encyclopaedia of Forms and Precedents (Lexis Nexis), and is widely published in the Journal of Licensing and other law journals. He is the Vice-Chairman of the Institute of Licensing. In 2021 he was made a Fellow of the Institute of Licensing in recognition of his exceptional contribution to the field of licensing. For more information, please visit: www.licensingbarrister.com.

George Mackenzie

George is a leading planning junior (Legal 500, 2023) with a specialist practice in the following core areas: major infrastructure planning compulsory purchase and land valuation rating and council tax property and commercial highways, commons and open space George has a busy contentious and non-contentious practice, with a focus on the former. His practice involves advice, drafting and advocacy at all levels: he regularly appears (mostly unled, often against silks) in the High Court and Court of Appeal and is well-versed in procedural matters. He particularly in demand as an inquiry or examination advocate for controversial and complex projects, particularly those involving disputes in technical fields. George is a huge team player, something recognised by the directories which praise his “ability to see the commercial drivers in the case” and his impressive “ability to work seamlessly with different personalities in the client team.” He makes an effort to ensure that the whole team (client, solicitors, experts) is on the same page, aligned on strategy, and that the ultimate commercial objective is prioritised at all times. George is both a detail fanatic and a strategic thinker, and is as comfortable with fine-grained disputes about numbers or law/policy as he is with joining the dots between the strategic “big picture”, procedural tactics and the preparation of evidence.

Gerald Gouriet KC

Gerald’s practice embraces the full range of licensing regulation, with recent emphasis on gambling, alcohol and entertainment, and taxi licensing. He is widely recognised as “the doyen of the [KCs] in this field”: Chambers and Partners, 2022. He is General Editor of ‘Patersons Licensing Acts’ and of ‘Smith & Monkcom: The Law of Gambling’. As a known expert in his field, he was invited to give evidence before the House of Lords Select Committee on the Licensing Act 2003 (2017), and before the House of Lords Select Committee on Gambling Harm (2020). Gerald’s list of clients includes: The Royal Opera House; The Albert Hall; John Lewis; Waitrose; The Dorchester Hotel; Tottenham Hotspur Football Club; The Football Pools Ltd; Trust Inns Ltd; Mitchells & Butlers; The British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA); Caesar's Palace (Las Vegas); Cashino Gaming Ltd; Paddy Power; Ladbrokes; Corals; and William Hill. He was successful in obtaining gaming licences for the last of the great 1968 Act Casinos in Liverpool, Middlesbrough, Birmingham and Huddersfield; climaxing with the grant, on appeal, of the Hippodrome Casino in Leicester Square.

Gordon Anthony

Barrister in Northern Ireland (called 2011). Academic Tenant FTB (joined 2020). Areas of practice: public law generally and judicial review in particular; human rights law. Professor of Public Law, Queen’s University, Belfast. Director the Academy of European Public Law, Athens, Greece. Areas of expertise: constitutional law (especially devolution); administrative law; tort law.

Gregory Jones KC

Gregory's practice covers all aspects of administrative law including judicial review and statutory challenges, town & country planning (including major house building), motor sports, major infrastructure projects (DCO consents), compulsory purchase, environmental law, Parliamentary, EU law and public procurement, education, and local government. Regularly appearing at both public inquiries and in the higher courts, Gregory acts on behalf of developers, local planning authorities and third parties. Gregory has also developed a particular expertise in off shore marine spatial planning and EU environmental law.

Guy Roots KC

Guy Roots KC is an Associate Member of Chambers and is available for appointment as an arbitrator or mediator, to conduct early neutral evaluations or to provide expert determinations. Guy Roots retired as a practising member of the Bar in April 2021 having specialised in town and country planning, environment, compulsory purchase and compensation, rating and valuation, and other local government and administrative law subjects with a wide range of clients including companies, public utilities, local authorities, government and other agencies and individuals. He appeared in a wide variety of Courts and Tribunals including public inquiries, arbitrations, the Lands Tribunal, the Upper Tribunal, the High Court, Court of Appeal and House of Lords His practice extended to Hong Kong, the Cayman Islands, the British Virgin Islands and Anguilla. After reading law at Oxford (MA), Guy Roots was called to the Bar by Middle Temple in 1969 and became a KC in 1989. Prior to 2004, he was a member of chambers at 2, Mitre Court Buildings which was one of the leading sets specializing in Local Government including planning, environment, rating and Parliamentary Bills. In 2004, he joined 2, Harcourt Buildings which in 2007 moved to, and became known as, Francis Taylor Building. His planning practice encompassed a broad range and scale of matters including housing, retail, regeneration, development in the greenbelt, new country houses, heliports and wind farms. He became particularly well known for his expertise in relation to major projects such as Heathrow Terminal 5, the regeneration of Greenwich Peninsula, the Maidenhead and Windsor Flood Relief Scheme (the Jubilee River) and the decommissioning of Trawsfynydd Nuclear Power Station. Guy Roots KC became one of the leading experts in compulsory purchase having acted in numerous cases for both acquiring authorities and landowners. He acted for the acquiring authority (the London Development Agency) in relation to the compulsory purchase of 300 hectares for the London Olympic Games 2012. He also became one of the leading experts on the assessment of compensation for compulsory purchase and other forms of statutory compensation (such as wayleaves for electricity transmission lines). He appeared in numerous leading compensation cases in the Lands Tribunal, Upper Tribunal and Court of Appeal, several of which arose out the acquisition of land for the Olympic Games and the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (HS1). Guy Roots KC has appeared in many of the leading rating cases, and in particular cases involving valuation for rating. In addition to appearing in the Lands Tribunal, Court of Appeal and House of Lords in such cases, he has also appeared in the Hong Kong Lands Tribunal and Court of Appeal in a number of significant rating matters. Guy Roots was Editor of ‘Ryde on Rating’ prior to 1990 when it became a looseleaf work ‘Ryde on Rating and the Council Tax’ for which he was the General Editor until 2018. Between 2000-2019, he was the principal author and General Editor of the looseleaf work ‘The Compulsory Purchase and Compensation Service’ initially published by Butterworths, now published by Bloomsbury Professional, and he remains Consultant Editor. He was also General Editor of the first three editions of the single volume work ‘The Law of Compulsory Purchase and Compensation’, published by Bloomsbury Professional, and remains Consultant Editor of that work also. Between 1991-1998, he was an Assistant Recorder of the Crown Court. He was elected a Bencher of Middle Temple in 2000. He was Chairman of PEBA (the Planning and Environment Planning Bar Association) 2000-2004. He was an Assistant Boundary Commissioner for the Reviews of the Parliamentary Boundaries in 2005 and 2013.

Hereward Phillpot KC

Hereward Phillpot KC took silk in 2015, and has rapidly become recognised as one of the foremost practitioners at the planning and environmental bar. Chambers and Partners and the Legal 500 both rank him as one of the highest rated planning silks overall and the Planning Law Survey also ranks him as the second highest rated silk for infrastructure work. As a junior, the Chambers and Partners guide consistently rated Hereward as a 'Star Individual' junior in the field of planning, including him in the Chambers 100 UK Bar List of the top juniors, and naming him 'Junior Barrister of the Year' in environment and planning. Before taking silk, Hereward was a member of the Attorney General's 'A' Panel of Junior Counsel, having previously served on both the 'B' and 'C' Panels. Hereward specialises in planning and environmental law, judicial review and statutory challenge. Regularly appearing in public inquiries, hearings into Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects, and the higher Courts, he acts on behalf of developers, the Government, local planning authorities and third parties. He has particular expertise and experience in dealing with Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (including energy generation and transmission, waste water, carbon capture and storage, and transport schemes) and other major strategic developments such as airports, sustainable urban extensions, tall buildings, large housing and employment schemes, and in Administrative Court litigation.

Horatio Waller

Horatio specialises in planning, infrastructure, licensing, judicial review, education, landlord & tenant, local government, and other related areas. He is an experienced advocate, appearing regularly in court and in planning inquiries, whether in person or via telephone or video link. Horatio was appointed to the Attorney General C Panel at the first opportunity. He is also frequently instructed to provide oral and written advice on matters within his practice areas. He is instructed by major firms of solicitors and local authorities, and also acts directly for companies, individuals and local action groups who engage him on their own account on a Licensed Access or Public Access basis. He will in appropriate cases act pro bono. A full breakdown of Horatio’s experience by area of practice can be found below. The following are examples of recent cases in which Horatio has acted: Court of Appeal Secretary of State for v Manchester City Council [2021] EWCA Civ 1920, Horatio appeared for the City Council before the Court of Appeal in a case concerning enforcement, planning units, and the I’m Your Man principle. Horatio is currently instructed as junior counsel in two cases before the Court of Appeal. High Court Piffs Elm Ltd v Commission for Local Administration in England & Tewkesbury Borough Council [2022] EWHC 1547 (Admin), Horatio appeared on behalf of a local authority as junior to James Pereira KC in a High Court hearing concerning the refunding of planning fees, implied powers and the jurisdiction of the Local Government Ombudsman in relation to planning decisions. Ashchurch Rural Parish Council v Tewkesbury Borough Council [2022] EWHC 16 (Admin), Horatio appeared on behalf of a local authority as junior counsel to James Pereira KC in a planning infrastructure case concerning EIA “salami-slicing”. Inquiries / local plan examinations Latteridge Road, Horatio appeared at a 3 day enforcement inquiry concerning a gypsy site in South Gloucestershire. Magistrates’ Court / County Court Walleys Quarry Ltd v Newcastle-under-Lyme, Horatio is instructed as junior to Jeremy Philips KC for a local authority defending an appeal against an abatement notice. The case concerns a landfill site in Stoke-on-Trent. The trial which is listed for 6 weeks will consider issues of contamination, odour, and waste-law. Richard Roberts v Co-Operative Group Food Ltd, Horatio appeared for a local councillor in an appeal against the grant of an alcohol premises licence to a national supermarket. Taxi licensing appeal, Horatio appeared for a taxi driver who appealed the decision of Luton Borough Council to revoke his dual licence. Wilson v Tonbridge and Malling BC, Horatio is instructed for a local authority in a civil claim in the Central London County Court concerning works of repair to a building in Kent. First-Tier Tribunal (SEND) Horatio appears regularly before the Tribunal and has experience of the full range of issues that arise in the context of EHCP appeals. In May Horatio appeared in two separate appeals concerning arguments about waking day provision and placement at residential schools and which involved multiple expert witnesses instructed by both parties.

Hugh Flanagan

Hugh Flanagan has a practice encompassing all aspects of planning, major infrastructure, and compulsory purchase law. He specialises particularly in energy (including renewables), transport, waste, and residential projects, as well as compensation, land valuation and rating. He acts for developers, individuals, central government and local authorities. He frequently appears in courts and tribunals at all levels up to the Supreme Court, as well as at planning inquiries and examinations. He is a member of the Attorney General's A Panel of Counsel, in which capacity he acts for the Government in significant planning and public law cases, and he is an editor of the Encyclopaedia of Compulsory Purchase and Compensation and Ryde on Rating. He has been shortlisted for Planning and Land Use Junior of the Year by the Legal 500 Bar Awards 2024 and is consistently ranked as a top-rated junior in Planning Magazine’s survey. Hugh is ranked as a leading junior in the Legal 500 and described in Chambers and Partners as “a very talented junior who can more than hold his own in the company of KCs” (2017), "a standout junior" (2022) and “very strong at written advocacy and a very neat cross-examiner – the sort of person who gets his opponent to make unforced errors” (2020). Recent examples of his work include: Acting for EDF Energy in promoting the Sizewell C nuclear power station Acting for Scottish Power Renewables in promoting the East Anglia One North and East Anglia Two offshore windfarms Acting for Heathrow Airport Limited in relation to its plans for a third runway Acting for Network Rail in promoting the expansion of Oxford station Appearing for London City Airport in securing planning permission for its airport expansion Appearing for the valuation officer in the Supreme Court in Telereal Trillium v Hewitt [2019] UKSC 23

Isabella Tafur

Isabella is a leading junior at the Planning Bar, described in the legal directories as “one of the best juniors for planning JRs at the Bar…with excellent drafting skills and superb in court”; "Really impressive, amazingly hard-working and destined for great things." She is consistently ranked in the top ten junior barristers in the Planning Magazine survey where she has also been recognised as one of the top ten ‘sector leading’ barristers in the field of infrastructure. Isabella advises widely on all aspects of planning and infrastructure law and has particular expertise in housing, compulsory acquisition and nationally significant infrastructure projects. She has a busy inquiry and infrastructure practice, both promoting and resisting all forms of development and has appeared in numerous reported cases in the High Court and Court of Appeal. She acts for major companies; housebuilders; public authorities and individuals. Notable clients include bp; National Grid; Dong Energy; the GLA and several London authorities.

James Pereira KC

James Pereira K.C. specialises in planning, environmental, local government and administrative law, compulsory purchase and compensation. He enjoys both contentious and non-contentious work, loves advocacy of any kind, and finds a great deal of pleasure working with others to realise his clients’ ambitions. James is consistently ranked among the top silks in his field. He was nominated as Real Estate, Environment and Planning Silk of the Year by the Legal 500 Bar Awards for 2016, 2017 and 2019, and regularly ranked in the top planning silks in Planning Magazine review of the UK planning bar. Before taking silk he was the number one in Planning Magazine's survey of the Junior Planning Bar for three consecutive years (2012, 2013 and 2014), and twice named 'Junior Barrister of the Year' in Planning and Environmental Law by Chambers and Partners Directory of the UK Legal Profession. James is the co-author of leading text books in compulsory purchase, compensation, infrastructure planning and environmental law. For many years he was a Visiting Professor of Law at King’s College, London.

James Rankin

With over thirty years' experience in licensing and regulatory work, preeminent licensing barrister James Rankin is ranked by Chambers and Partners Directory as a starred licensing junior. He is also named in the Chambers 100 UK Bar list of the top juniors. He appears up and down the country on behalf of applicants, and objectors and appellants from local authority decisions. A true ''independent'', he also represents the police and local authorities on reviews of licences and on appeals.

Jeremy Phillips KC

Jeremy Phillips KC offers the highest levels of expertise and advocacy as a barrister following, uniquely, an equally successful career as a solicitor, both in his own practice and subsequently leading teams in leading international law firms. Licensing & Disciplinary - from local authority to Court of Appeal, advising upon and determining novel issues arising in numerous important licensing applications relating to gambling, taxi, alcohol & entertainment legislation in the UK and overseas. Editor in Chief of Paterson's Licensing Acts and a General Editor of Smith & Monkcom - The Law of Gambling he has been recognised for the past three decades as a leader in these fields. Regulatory & Environmental - representing the Environment Agency, HSE, Marine Management Organisation and local authorities in inquests and prosecutions concerning a range of waste, food, health & safety and breach of licensing offences, as well as companies in relation to due diligence and criminal confiscation issues. Also statutory nuisance abatement appeals and prosecutions. The Law of Regulatory Enforcement Sanctions - A Practical Guide - OUP (2011) and LexisPSL: Corporate Crime, Environmental Statutory Nusiance and wildlife Crime (2017) Advisory & Judicial Review - numerous High Court challenges on a wide range of public law issues ranging from: local authorities' Standards of Conduct to Assets of Community Value (ACV); from the repayment of s.106 monies, to the sufficiency of Reasons. Contributions also to the work of the Law Commission, Department of Culture Media and Sport, Cabinet Office and former Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform, as well as the Bar Council, its Ethics committee and the Licensed Trade Charity (trustee/school govenor). Public Inquiries - various major footpath, TVG and planning Inquiries as well as objection to the £4.1bn Thames Tideway Tunnel infrastructure project, promoting rail crossing extinguishment orders (Network Rail) and representation of the Ramblers' Association in relation to the Bristol Bus Rapid Transit Scheme. Also, supporting the successful Weymouth Relief Road and South Devon Link Road and others. Complex Mediations - including the multi-party multi-issue mediation which he devised arising from the Business & Enterprise Select Committee (BESC): Relationship Between Pub Companies and Lessees - Seventh Report of Session 2008-09. Resolution (both as mediator and mediation advocate) of major environmental litigation involving local authorities and national and international operators as well as smaller property disputes. Head of FTB's Mediation Group.

John Jolliffe

John Jolliffe practises across a range of environmental, planning and public law. His clients include central and local government, landowners, developers and individuals. He appears regularly in the High Court and at inquiries. In July 2018 he was appointed to the Attorney General's A Panel of Counsel to the Crown, and in 2020 he was appointed as a Deputy Judge of the Upper Tribunal.

Jonathan Welch

Jonathan is ranked by Legal 500 as a rising star in environmental law (2024), and is consistently ranked by Planning Magazine as a leading planning junior under the age of 35. Jonathan welcomes instructions across all of Chambers’ practice areas. His clients include local authorities, developers, utility companies, statutory undertakers, interest groups and local residents. He regularly appears in the High Court, public inquiries and hearings, both on his own and as part of a team. Jonathan’s principal areas of experience include: Planning and environment Infrastructure Compulsory purchase and compensation Rating and valuation Public law, injunctions and committal proceedings Rights of way and highways Notable examples of Jonathan’s recent and ongoing work include: Planning inquiries and tribunal work: Counsel for Guildford Borough Council in 8-week inquiry relating to a proposed new settlement at the former Wisley Airfield in Surrey; Junior to Rebecca Clutten acting for Acquiring Authority in a reference to the Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) for determination of compensation for compulsory acquisition of retail business premises (Warren James v Watford BC [2023] UKUT 153 (LC); Counsel for local authorities (including LB Hackney, and Bracknell Forest Council) in a number of enforcement inquiries; Counsel for Bracknell Forest Council in 4-day section 78 appeal inquiry following refusal of planning permission for 82 homes; Counsel at 9-day inquiry promoting 55 home residential development at appeal following refusal of planning permission by local planning authority; Appearing for the successful Westminster City Council as Rule 6(6) party in call-in inquiry into 8 Albert Embankment redevelopment scheme. Judicial review and statutory challenges: Jonathan has a busy court practice. Over the last three years Jonathan has appeared in cases before the High Court and Court of Appeal on 15 occasions. Some examples include: Junior counsel for Secretary of State in two Court of Appeal cases arising from challenges to East Anglia One North and East Anglia Two DCOs (CO/1696/2022 and CO/1707/2022); Junior counsel for Secretary of State defending judicial reviews of compensation payable to poultry keepers for culling of birds due to Avian Influenza (junior to Mark Westmoreland Smith) (CO/4451/2022). Counsel for claimant in litigation following the successful challenge to local plan policies considering the issue of appropriate relief and steps taken to remedy unlawful policies in adopted plan ([2023] EWHC 1776 (Admin)) Counsel for Buckinghamshire Council in successful s.288 challenge to Inspector’s decision (CO/3711/2022). Counsel for claimant in challenge to grant of planning permission in LB Croydon (CO/1225/2022); Junior to Richard Honey K.C. in judicial review of planning decision in Buckinghamshire (CO/1608/2022); Junior to Richard Honey K.C. in successful judicial review of planning decision affecting SEN school (issues including the scheme of delegation, noise, traffic and air quality) R (G) v Thanet District Council [2021] EWHC 2026 (Admin). Junior to Cain Ormondroyd acting for billing authority (City of London) successfully resisting a challenge to a completion notice in the Valuation Tribunal for England (VTE). Recent infrastructure work: Jonathan has particular experience of advising water undertakers on their strategic planning, infrastructure consenting and the abstraction licencing regime; Jonathan is advising Thames Water and Anglian Water on their Water Resources Management Plans, and supporting environmental assessments, which include strategic resource options proposed to be brought forward as NSIPs. Injunctions and committal proceedings: Sole counsel for National Highways Ltd in the High Court responding to an application by defendants to adjourn committal proceedings against them on the basis of prejudice to criminal trials (KB-2022-004333); Junior counsel for HS2 Ltd in successful application for injunctive relief over the entire route. Jonathan has also acted for HS2 Ltd in successful applications for injunctions in respect of protesters at Euston Square Gardens (CO/361/2021), and in subsequent successful committal for contempt of court (QB/2021/4465); Junior counsel for National Highways Ltd in successful injunction and committal proceedings relating to Insulate Britain direct action protestors on UK roads. Jonathan is a member of the Attorney General’s Junior counsel scheme, a Commissioning Editor of FTB’s Environmental Law Blog, and an editor of Planning Appeal Decisions. Jonathan undertook pupillage at FTB under the supervision of Melissa Murphy K.C., Mark Westmoreland Smith and Hugh Flanagan. Before this, Jonathan spent a year as judicial assistant to Sir Keith Lindblom L.J. (now Senior President of Tribunals), in the Court of Appeal. Jonathan is the current Chair of the Compulsory Purchase Association Future committee.

Kate Olley

Kate is an established and highly experienced planning and public law practitioner. She is valued for her judgment, good legal sense, the clarity of her advocacy and written advice, and for her approachability and excellent client care. In her planning work Kate acts for both developers and local authorities at planning inquiries and hearings and in the High Court and Court of Appeal. Kate acted for the Secretary of State promoting the United Kingdom Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre at the call-in Inquiry heard in October and November 2020, and defended the grant of planning permission in the High Court. In April 2022 she acted for the developer interested party successfully defending a grant of planning permission to build another storey on top of an existing building. She acted for Ealing LBC in the 55 West tall building inquiry heard in July 2021 and in the appeal in relation to 56-58 Stanley Gardens in Ealing in which a landmark residential building was proposed in the LSIS (industrial area) in place of the current storage use, heard in November - December 2021. From October-December 2022 Kate acted for the Peak District National Park Authority in an enforcement appeal inquiry raising many heritage issues. In July 2019 she appeared for Wiltshire County Council at the Stonehenge DCO hearings. Kate was instructed by Wirral Council on an ongoing basis in connection with the preparation of the new Wirral Local Plan and was deeply involved since the Regulation 18 consultation stage, also producing the experts' verification report of Wirral's Action Plan, in one of the first cases in which the Secretary of State intervened under the 2004 Act in the Local Plan process. Kate appeared for the developer at the Notting Hill Gate Newcombe House Inquiry in November 2019 and for most of the Rule 6 parties at the Swiss Cottage 100 Avenue Road tall building Inquiry. She has also advised on various issues in relation to the 40 Leadenhall Street redevelopment. She acted on behalf of the developer (Nam Sang Wai Development Company Limited) in a complex and lengthy planning appeal in Hong Kong (where she is also called to the Hong Kong Bar), raising many important ecological issues, from 2018 to 2021. Kate also has very strong public law experience and appeared as sole Counsel in the Supreme Court in C v Secretary of State for Justice [2016] UKSC 2 (concerning the principle of open justice) and appeared in the Court of Final Appeal in Designing Hong Kong Ltd [2018] HKCFA 16 (which made the law on protective costs orders/cost capping orders for Hong Kong). She also acted (with Christopher Jacobs) for the successful claimant in the constitutional law case of R (Roszkowski) v SSHD [2017] EWCA Civ 1893 (concerning the ability of the Secretary of State to intervene in grants of bail made by Immigration Judges). Kate practises both in the UK and internationally and is one of a very small group of barristers who are able to accept instructions in Hong Kong cases without the need to seek ad hoc admission. A keen Mandarin speaker, Kate welcomes instructions from overseas clients with business interests in London and throughout the UK. Kate is also becoming involved in planning and urban design projects in the Middle East. Kate has been interviewed on topical cases by Jim Reed on Newsnight and has in the past acted as a legal adviser to the TV series, Holby City.

Leo Charalambides

Leo is an expert local government barrister who is regularly instructed to act on behalf of local authorities, public bodies, and professional and law clients in a wide array of legal challenges. Leo is highly regarded as a leading figure in Licensing Law, a Fellow of the Institute of Licensing and the Editor of the Journal of Licensing. As a nationally recognised licensing specialist, Leo has developed a strong reputation as a knowledgeable and skilled advocate who boasts a portfolio of clients including highly recognisable international brands as well as family-run businesses. He has a proven track record of success and is highly sought after by individuals and businesses looking for skilled, innovative, and successful legal representation. He appears at first-instance before licensing committees and magistrates’ courts throughout England and Wales. On appeal he appears before the First and Second Tier Tribunals, the High Court and the Court of Appeal.

Mark O'Brien O'Reilly

Mark was called to the Bar in 2021. He has a strong and busy practice across all of Chambers’ practice areas, including in planning and public law. Mark has a strong reputation as an advocate and, unusually for his year of call, has regularly appeared in the High Court, including as sole counsel (and will appear as sole counsel in the Court of Appeal in December). His advocacy experience, including cross-examining in the Old Bailey, means he is often instructed against more senior counsel, including KCs. He appears before a broad range of courts, tribunals and planning inquiries. He is also regularly instructed as junior counsel to other members of Chambers, including leading silks (such as Morag Ellis KC, Craig Howell Williams KC, Douglas Edwards KC, Greg Jones KC, James Periera KC, Jeremy Phillips KC and Meyric Lewis KC). Mark is noted for his planning work, and is instructed in several forthcoming planning inquiries, including a solar farm development in the Green Belt. He is also noted for his strong experience of injunctions, including section 187B injunctions, and is regularly called upon, often urgently, to advise upon and obtain High Court injunctions. He has a broad range of clients ranging from developers and landowners to local residents. He has extensive experience of acting for, and advising, central government and local government. Recent cases include R (Dawes) v Secretary of State for Transport [2023] EWHC 2352 (Admin), Buckinghamshire Council v Twynham [2023] 7 WLUK 126, Fenland District Council v CBPRP Ltd [2022] EWHC 3132 (KB) and R (Suliman) v Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council [2022] J.P.L. 1281. During his pupillage, Mark was awarded the Reid Scholarship by Gray's Inn, a Senior Scholarship for Pupillage, which is the Inn's most prestigious scholarship and awarded to a pupil barrister of exceptional merit. He is a First Class Honours graduate of University College Dublin and the University of Cambridge. Mark was called to the Bar of Ireland in July 2023. Mark welcomes instructions across all of Chambers' practice areas, with a particular interest in planning, public and compulsory purchase/compensation as well as licensing and environmental law.

Mark Hill KC

Mark Hill KC is recognized as pre-eminent in the field of ecclesiastical law and religious liberty. He has represented clients in the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal, as well in the European Court of Human Rights, other international courts and tribunals, and the ecclesiastical courts of the Church of England. He sits on the Panel of Experts of the International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance, and advises foreign governments on freedom of religion, as well as conducting judicial training overseas including Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nigeria, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. He is Visiting Professor and Distinguished Fellow at Notre Dame University London Law Program where he is course director for its acclaimed module on International Religious Liberty. He is also Honorary Professor at the Centre for Law and Religion, Cardiff University; Extraordinary Professor at the University of Pretoria; Visiting Professor at the Dickson Poon School of Law at King's College London and Adjunct Professor at Notre Dame University, Sydney. Mark took silk in 2009 and was elected a Bencher of the Honourable Society of the Inner Temple in 2011. He was appointed President of the European Consortium for Church and State Research in 2012. He is Vice President of the International Consortium for Law and Religion Studies, and a Director of the Board of the African Consortium for Law and Religion Studies. He regularly publishes and lectures on matters of Church and State.

Mark Westmoreland Smith KC

Mark’s practice focuses on nationally significant infrastructure projects and other strategic developments such as large-scale housing, urban extensions, waste management facilities, electricity generation stations, including renewables, and grid infrastructure, and transport projects as well as compulsory purchase orders, compensation and land valuation. Mark acts on behalf of the developers, the Government, local planning authorities and third parties. He advises and represents his clients at all stages of the process from strategic advice at the inception of a project to appearing at planning inquiries and in the High Court or Court of Appeal. Mark’s time on the Government A Panel means he has been involved in some of the most important planning and infrastructure cases. Mark has recently been at the forefront of the climate change/ net zero litigation acting in some of the most important climate change cases of recent times. Mark was appointed King’s Counsel in March 2024. Before then, Mark was consistently ranked as a top planning junior in Planning magazine's annual survey of barristers and was appointed to the Attorney General's A Panel of Junior Counsel to the Crown.

Merrow Golden

Merrow is ranked by Legal 500 as a leading junior at the London Planning Bar (2024), London Environment Bar (2024) and the Local Government Bar (2024), and by Chambers and Partners as an “up and coming” barrister in Planning (2023, 2022). She has also been ranked as one of the top rated planning juniors under 35 (Planning Magazine 2023, 2020, 2019). Merrow is nominated as Planning and Land Use Junior of the Year, Legal 500 Bar Awards 2024. She was also nominated in the same category in 2023. Merrow joined Chambers in 2017 and has built up an impressive practice across Chambers’ practice areas, with a particular focus in environmental, planning, public and highways law. She has acted on behalf of local authorities, non-governmental organisations and private developers and welcomes instructions to act individually or as part of a team. Merrow studied Social and Political Sciences at Cambridge before going on to study law. She has a First Class law degree from City Law School, London, and a masters degree from Columbia Law School, New York. Prior to starting her pupillage, Merrow worked as a Foreign Law Clerk for Justice Edwin Cameron at the Constitutional Court of South Africa and she is a qualified attorney in the state of New York.

Meyric Lewis KC

Meyric was described by The Lawyer as "standing out" for his expertise in planning and judicial review. He specialises in all aspects of planning (including environmental assessment) and compulsory purchase both at inquiries and in the courts at all appellate levels. Clients range from substantial developers to public authorities and individual developers or objectors. He is frequently reported in the specialist law reports in notable cases. His court practice ranges from judicial and statutory review in the higher courts to prosecutions and other regulatory proceedings in the Crown Court and Magistrates' Court. He has particular experience in proceedings relating to planning enforcement, statutory nuisance and land contamination. He has widespread expertise in compulsory purchase and compensation law acting for and advising clients on CPO and major infrastructure proposals and the compensation issues arising from them. He is Chambers' Pro Bono Champion. Meyric served as B Panel Treasury Counsel 1995-2001 defending Secretary of State's planning decisions in the High Court He was the elected Chair of the Compulsory Purchase Association 2014 - 20156. He is regularly invited to speak at specialist seminars including RTPI Planning Law Updates and at the Planning Inspectorate's Enforcement Conference. He has published many articles including Expediency in Enforcement [2003] JPL 1106, The New Procedures for Planning Challenges in the High Court [2008] JPL 1720, Enforcing Planning Obligations [2012] Local Government Lawyer and Planning and Proceeds of Crime Act [2014] JPL 972; The Sanctity of Contract - Enforcing Section 106 Obligations [2019] JPL 748. He is the author with Bob McGeady of Law Brief Publishing's Certificates of Lawfulness - A Guide (2018) and Planning Obligations Demystified (2019). He is an Editor of the Sweet & Maxwell Compulsory Purchase Encyclopaedia.

Michael Rhimes

Michael has a developing practice in all areas of Chambers’ expertise. He has repeatedly appeared in the High Court both challenging and defending decisions, for developers and for local residents, often against much senior Counsel. Michael read law at Queen Mary where he graduated with First Class Honours in 2014, and completed the BCL at Oxford University in 2015. He then worked as a law clerk to the British Judge at the Court of Justice of the European Union for two years. His main areas of interest include: Planning law; Public law and human rights; Licensing; Rating; Enforcement; Local Government; Infrastructure; Village greens and Public Rights of Way and Environmental law, in particular with an EU law dimension.

Michael Feeney

Michael is building a strong practice across all of Chambers’ practice areas and acts for a wide range of clients, including central and local government, developers and landowners, and local residents. Michael regularly appears in court, inquiries and hearings in his own right and as junior counsel. Michael is currently seconded part-time to Westminster City Council and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, where he has gained experience in advising on a broad range of planning issues.

Michael Fry

Michael Fry is an administrative and public law barrister with a strong specialism in planning and environmental law. He is ranked consistently in the leading legal directories and legal publications. Michael is particularly well known for his major infrastructure planning work and his cutting-edge injunction practice. In the past year, Michael has appeared in the Supreme Court, several Court of Appeal hearings, promoted three Development Consent Orders, acted in over 30 judicial reviews, appeared in numerous planning hearings and inquiries, secured an anti-trespass injunctions over the land required for the HS2 Scheme and the M25 and Kent motorways and A roads, and committed to prison a number of people found in contempt of court. Michael is instructed regularly to lead teams of junior counsel and solicitors. He practiced previously as an employed barrister at a global elite law firm for 5 years, and has also spent a 9 month secondment in house, so understands the pressures and level of service required by professional and lay clients. He is currently a member of the Attorney General’s B Panel of Counsel, in which role he has delivered advice directly to Secretaries of State and Ministers in conference.

Michael Humphries KC

Michael Humphries specialises in all aspects of property development law, but is particularly well known for his major infrastructure planning and compulsory purchase and compensation work, where he has acted in relation to some of the largest and most important projects in recent years. Michael has acted for and advised utilities, developers, landowners and objectors, as well as central and local government. Michael also has an extensive compulsory purchase inquiry and Lands Chamber practice. Michael was the Chambers and Partners UK Bar Environment and Planning Silk of the year in 2013 and 2021. In the Chambers and Partners UK Bar online guide 2022 he was the highest ranked London Planning Silk. He is always one of the highest rated planning barristers in the annual Planning Magazine Law Survey and has been the highest ranked infrastructure planning silk every year that the survey has been undertaken. Michael was a Senior Visiting Fellow in the University of Cambridge Land Economy Department where he delivered an annual lecture on infrastructure planning.

Michael Brendan Brett

Brendan is an established public and administrative law junior specialising in the regulation of the use, development and management of land by public authorities of every stripe, encompassing all of chambers’ practice areas. His areas of expertise include planning (under both the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 and for nationally significant infrastructure projects), highways and rights of way, and open spaces (commons, greens, and rights of access), with environmental issues cutting across and informing all these areas. Brendan welcomes instructions from all stakeholders, including from public access and licensed access clients. In appropriate cases he will also consider pro bono or reduced fee arrangements. This broad range of clients combined with Brendan’s experience prior to joining chambers as a legal advisor to central government on transport and environmental matters allows him to adopt an approach to advice and litigation which is both holistic and pragmatic. Brendan has appeared as sole counsel at hearings at every level, from the Court of Appeal to local authority committee meetings. He has also appeared as junior counsel in both the High Court and Court of Appeal. Recent work undertaken by Brendan includes: Acting for the successful local planning authority resisting a large data centre development in the Green Belt. Securing the successful committal of seven anti-HS2 activists for contempt of court for breaches of injunctions restraining trespass and nuisance on land required for the project ([2022] EWHC 2457 (KB)) as junior to Michael Fry, the sanctions being upheld by the Court of Appeal ([2022] EWCA Civ 1519). Obtaining the quashing of the development consent order for Norfolk Vanguard windfarm as junior to Ned Westaway (Pearce v Secretary of State for BEIS [2021] EWHC 326 (Admin).. Acting for the local authority in an appeal relating to the listing of a former golf course as an asset of community value.

Morag Ellis KC

Morag Ellis KC is widely recognised as a leading expert in planning and local government law in England and Wales, with a wide ranging practice covering all aspects of development. She is consistently praised in the Chambers & Partners and Legal 500 Guides and the Planning Magazine Survey of barristers. Morag is a member of the Silks' Panel to the Welsh Government and a past Chairman of the Planning and Environment Bar Association. She gave evidence to the Parliamentary Select Committee on the National Policy Statement on Ports and the Welsh Government Senedd on the review of TAN 8 (Renewable Energy) and the Planning Law (Wales) Act 2015 and served as a member of the Interim Planning Advisory Group advising the Welsh Minister on changing culture in Welsh Planning.

Ned Westaway

Ned is a highly regarded junior who accepts instructions in a wide variety of work, in particular across all areas of planning and environmental law. He is consistently rated as a leading junior by Chambers and Partners and the Legal 500 in three categories: planning law, environmental law and agricultural & rural affairs. Who's Who Legal 2019 lists him as one of the most highly regarded juniors for environment law. Ned regularly appears in the senior courts and at public inquiries in planning, environmental and highways matters, as well as other related areas of public law such as animal health and CITES. He has experience of advising on, and appearing at, examination hearings for major infrastructure projects. Ned is on the Attorney General's B Panel of London counsel. He is a Trustee and Vice Chair of the United Kingdom Environmental Law Association and is standing counsel for the Campaign for National Parks. He regularly undertakes work pro bono and is accredited to take work on a direct public access basis. Ned is also a trustee of the Organic Research Centre. The main areas of Ned's practice are: Planning Environment Highways, rights of way, commons and village greens Compensation, rating and land valuation Public and local government law Land and property law

Pavlos Eleftheriadis

Pavlos is an academic tenant specialising in European Union law, public law, public procurement, state aid and planning law. He is Professor of Public Law at the Faculty of Law, University of Oxford and Fellow and Tutor in Law at Mansfield College, University of Oxford.

Philip Petchey

Philip Petchey enjoys unravelling what is complicated, obscure or dense (or all three) and his practice affords him the opportunity of doing so. Thus in R (Newhaven Port and Properties) v East Sussex County Council it was necessary to investigate the law relating to access to the seashore going back to Bracton as well as the power of a corporation in Scotland to grant a servitude, In Evans v Wimbledon and Putney Conservators he had to consider not only the powers of the Conservators under an obscure act of 1871 but also how those powers had been exercised in providing access to a hospital built on an island in the common. In In re St Stephen Walbrook the history of the installation of a painting by Benjamin West in the church in the eighteenth century had to be investigated as well as the circumstances of it being moved in the nineteenth century and removed in the twentieth. And so on. A grasp of the foundations in fact and law of the case under consideration cannot ensure success, but experience shows that it is a good starting point.

Rebecca Clutten

Rebecca Clutten was called to the Bar in 2008 and is recognised as a leading junior in the field. She currently holds a top 3 position in Planning Magazine’s Planning Law Survey 2023. She is also in Planning Magazine’s top three rated barristers for Infrastructure Planning, the highest ranking junior. Rebecca is listed in both Chambers and Partners’ Guide to the UK Bar and the Legal 500, and is a past nominee for Chambers and Partners Planning and Environment Junior of the Year. Rebecca's practice spans Chambers' core areas, but has a particular focus infrastructure planning and compulsory purchase and compensation matters. She has acted for and advised utilities, developers, landowners and private individuals, as well as central and local government. Notable clients include National Grid, Network Rail, Peel Group and Transport for London. Rebecca's experience covers the appellate courts at all levels, as well as the Upper Tribunal and planning inquiries, and she welcomes instructions to act individually or as a junior across all of Chambers' practice areas.

Richard Honey KC

Richard Honey KC practises as a barrister in the broad fields of public law and environmental law, with particular specialisms in judicial review and similar statutory challenges, infrastructure projects, compulsory purchase and compensation, and climate change and ESG litigation. He is called to the Bars of England and Wales and Northern Ireland. Richard appears most frequently in the Administrative / Planning Court and in the Upper Tribunal Lands Chamber. He is also an experienced appellate advocate, having appeared in the Court of Appeal 21 times, including 16 appearances as lead/sole counsel, and in the Supreme Court four times. Until he took Silk, he was a member of the Attorney General’s A Panel of junior counsel to the Crown, having spent some 12 years on the AG’s panels in total. Richard is ranked as a leading barrister in four separate fields in the Chambers UK Bar Guide: environment; local government; planning; and, agriculture and rural affairs. He is also ranked as a leading barrister by Legal 500 in four fields: administrative law and human rights; environment; local government; and, planning. Richard was the environment/planning junior barrister of the year at the Chambers UK Bar Awards in 2018 (nominated in 2016 also) and was nominated for planning and land use Silk of 2023 in the Legal 500 Bar awards. He has been ranked as a leading barrister in environmental law by both Chambers and Legal 500 since 2010. In planning law, Richard has been ranked as a leading barrister by both Chambers (since 2012) and Legal 500 (since 2008). Prior to taking Silk, he was regularly ranked in the top 10 highest rated planning junior barristers in the Planning magazine survey and was ranked top of Band 1 in Chambers 2020 and the 2021 Legal 500. As a Silk, Richard is now ranked in the top 30 highest rated planning Silks by Planning magazine. He was also ranked by Planning magazine in 2023 as a leading barrister for infrastructure planning.

Richard Glover KC

Richard Glover KC practices in town and country planning, local government, rating, compulsory purchase and compensation law, parliamentary bills, infrastructure, and administrative law. He is a CEDR accredited mediator. He has a wealth of experience and a strong reputation for advising and conducting litigation and mediation - both in England & Wales and further afield (having been involved in cases in Northern Ireland, Hong Kong, the Caribbean and Ascension Island) - in those fields. He appears regularly at inquiries, in tribunals and the courts. He acts for claimants, ratepayers, developers and local authorities. Recently, he has been involved in multi-million pound cases for BT, the GLA, Salford City Council, a range of water companies (including Anglian, Northumbrian, United Utilities and Yorkshire), Virgin Media, Belfast International Airport, Harrods and a number of clients with claims arising out of HS2. He is Leader of the Parliamentary Bar. He is General Editor of Ryde on Rating & the Council Tax, the leading text book on rating. He is General Editor of the Encyclopedia of Compulsory Purchase and Compensation.

Robert Mccracken KC

Robert McCracken KC is a leading public, planning and environmental lawyer. He appears at all levels from the European Court of Justice to magistrates courts and planning inquiries. His wide experience includes the petrochemical industry, renewable and conventional power, water, retail and transport sectors, waste and contaminated land and statutory nuisance. He represents a wide range of clients including multinationals, utilities, regulators, planning authorities, community groups and individual citizens. He is recognised as a leading silk by Chambers Directory in the fields of Environment and Planning.

Saira Kabir Sheikh KC

Saira’s practice covers all aspects of planning and environmental law, local government, highways, compulsory purchase, Transport and Works Orders and parliamentary. She regularly appears in the Court of Appeal, High Court and Public Inquiries in a wide range of proceedings. She also regularly advises and appears at hearings in relation to Community Infrastructure Levy Regulations issues. She has a wide understanding of public law and local government issues. Saira acts on behalf of both public authorities and developers. She has recently acted on behalf of the Westminster Property Association in respect of their representations to the revised Westminster City Plan 2019 – 2040 securing significant changes to the proposed approach to the delivery of commercial development and affordable homes. She is presently acting for numerous developers in London and South East in respect of hotel and shared living developments. She is also involved in several compulsory acquisition and compensation matters including in relation to a retail development and a religious institution scheme. Recent local plan examination work includes promoting the Central Bedfordshire Local Plan which plans for approximately 40,000 homes and significant employment and infrastructure. The plan also raised complex issues relating to the duty to co-operate. It is the first local plan to be adopted for its area since the local government re-organisation in 2009 of the former Bedfordshire authorities. Saira is also acting in respect of several other emerging local plans. Saira has also appeared at the East West Rail Inquiry and acted for the local authority in respect of the judicial review to the M1/A6 link road. Other recent work includes acting for Westminster City Council in a series of High Court and Court of Appeal cases concerning the correct interpretation of permitted development rights for telephone kiosks and advertisements, the proper approach to a mixed hotel and hostel use and in various planning and enforcement appeals in respect of viability, affordable housing contributions and the proper approach to specialist housing. She appeared for the developer in a significant High Court case relating to the meaning of public benefits in the context of harm to heritage assets. Saira has considerable experience in respect of school developments including SEN schools having recently appeared in several planning inquiries. Saira acted on behalf of HS2 in relation to the widely publicised proceedings at Euston Garden Square where protestors had created underground tunnels in order to prevent the progress of the HS2 infrastructure. She is also instructed in a number of other actions relating to protestors. She secured a Strategic Road Network wide injunction on behalf of National Highways against Insulate Britain protestors who were causing serious disruption. Other recent work includes advising and appearing in numerous High Court and Court of Appeal proceedings relating to challenges to the grant of permission for significant development in respect of housing, mixed use development, loss of community services, listed buildings and trees. Saira also acted on behalf of Westminster City Council in respect of the Carlton Tavern Public House which was unlawfully demolished. She advised and acted in respect of the subsequent enforcement proceedings, appeal and injunction orders which resulted in the public house being entirely rebuilt in facsimile to the original building.

Simon Bird KC

Simon is Head of Chambers. Simon specialises in Planning, Environment, Compulsory Purchase and Compensation and Major Infrastructure Projects. He is a member of the Planning and Environmental Bar Association the National Infrastructure Planning Association and the Parliamentary Bar Mess Simon's past and present clients include major national house builders, port operators, international oil companies, airports, National Grid, rail freight operators, waste companies, hotel chains, executive agencies of Government, many local authorities and private clients. He has an extensive advisory, inquiry and advocacy practice.

Stephanie Bruce-Smith

Stephanie has a busy practice across all of Chambers’ practice areas, including public, planning and environmental law. She regularly appears in court and at inquiries, both in her own right and as junior counsel. Stephanie has experience acting for and advising a range clients including NGOs, central and local government, public bodies, developers, landowners and local residents. She welcomes instructions across all of Chambers’ practice areas. In appropriate cases, Stephanie is happy to work on a pro-bono basis.

Suzanne Ornsby KC

Suzanne Ornsby KC specialises in planning law and has spent most of her career acting in three main capacities. Firstly, for local planning authorities in promoting their local plans and in defending their position at large public inquiries usually against volume housebuilders or land speculators. Secondly, for high end niche developers in promoting residential schemes in the countryside or on previously developed land at local plan or at appeal. Thirdly, for water utility companies mainly in promoting their water resource management plans and advising on drought planning and drought orders. Suzanne has also been instructed on a number of other cases that are somewhat unusual and which are also identified below. Suzanne is consistently recognised as a leader in this specialist field of work in the Legal 500 and in Chambers and Partners. Suzanne is committed to training the future bar to ensure high standards of advocacy are maintained. She is a grade A advocacy instructor for the Middle Temple where she trains other barristers in the skills of cross-examination. She has also been involved in training planning Inspectors under the new Rosewell Procedure. She is a Bencher of the Middle Temple and chairs the Pupillage and Tenancy Committee in Chambers.

Timothy Comyn

The principal areas of Timothy Comyn's practice include town and country planning, highways, environmental, local government, transport and works, compulsory purchase and compensation, parliamentary law, and judicial review in these fields. He appears regularly at public inquiries and in the Administrative Division of the High Court acting for appellants, local authorities and third parties. He appears regularly at public inquiries, hearings and examinations and in the High Court / Planning Court acting for applicants, appellants, local authorities, statutory undertakers and third parties.

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