St John's Chambers

 

Administrative Law, Highways & Rights of Way, Judicial Review, Planning, Town & Village Greens

Called 1984; speaker at the Gloucestershire Licensing Forum 2004 and many similar forums in the planning and licensing.

Barrister specialising in planning and local government law, environment law and licensing. Heads the planning, environment and local government team. Examples of his experience: appeals to the High Court and judicial review of planning and other local authority decisions; advising on and/or attending at many public inquiries in relation to residential, commercial, renewable energy and leisure developments; listed buildings/conservation area appeals; enforcement notice appeals (including Court of Appeal); major housing developments; industrial/business parks; lectures to local government training forum and elsewhere. Experience also in the areas of regulatory crime, including prosecuting and defending in the Crown Court, in planning and environmental law, licensing and in trading standards and related areas. Notable cases include: R. (Gloucestershire CC) v. Secretary of State (2001) 82 P. & C.R. 15 (footpath falling into river;  extinguished or moving on bank?);  Hart District Council v Benford [2006] EWHC 240 (QB) on the grant of injunctions under section 187B Town & Country Planning Act 1990 where motor cross racing, practising and testing is involved and whether such activities attract 14 or 28-day rights under the General Permitted Development Order 1995 Part 4 Class B; R (Port Regis School) v North Dorset District Council [2006] EWHC 742 (Admin) on planning applications where Masonic activities are involved and two of the council determining the applications were Masons and whether there was apparent bias; and East Dorset DC v Eaglebeam Ltd [2006] EWHC 2378 (QB) regarding the grant of an injunction to stop alleged statutory and public nuisance and issues relating to the legal defences to such claims (briefly reported in ‘Environmental Law Bulletin’ Nov 2006 p 14).   Trim v North Dorset DC [2010] EWCA Civ 1446 (s. 187A TCPA; challenge only by CPR54).

Planning and Environmental Bar Association Western Circuit Formerly a practising solicitor and a partner in a commercial and licensing practice in Bristol

MA, LLM (Cantab) Post-graduate Certificate in Environmental Law (Bristol University)