Planning Law Update Hybrid Seminar

Since graduating from UWE with an MA in Town and Country Planning Alexis started out in development management. After being made an offer he couldn’t refuse, Alexis transferred into transport planning where he now has over 10 years’ experience as a chartered Town Planner. Alexis has a wide range of experience from leading on the Western Gateway Sub-National Transport Body’s Rail Strategy, preparing major transport bids, writing supplementary planning documents, to delivering small scale projects on the ground. Not content with just the two degrees Alexis completed an MSc in Transport Planning and Engineering at the University of Southampton to broaden his knowledge and expertise in transport planning. Looking for new challenges Alexis moved back into development management and is BCP’s Transport Development Manager.

Daniel is a senior associate in the Planning and Compulsory Purchase team. He trained at Burges Salmon before qualifying in 2017.

He has experience advising clients on a wide range of planning and CPO issues, including planning appeals, High Court challenges, compulsory purchase order promotion and compensation and public rights of way.

Daniel has particular interest and experience in heritage planning issues, and has presented webinars and authored a range of articles on heritage law and policy.

Find out more: Daniel Whittle (burges-salmon.com)

Liz is an experienced development and regeneration lawyer, with expertise in property, compulsory purchase and planning issues, spanning over 15 years in both local government and private practice. She has extensive experience of acting in connection with a range of infrastructure projects and also on general real estate, including acquisitions, disposals and landlord and tenant matters. Through her work in local government, Liz has extensive knowledge of statutory powers, constitutional and governance procedures, as well as public procurement considerations. She has advised public bodies as well as landowners, developers and property investors on a wide range of developments, including high profile and complex collaborative schemes.

Estelle Dehon KC is a versatile leading public law barrister with a broad practice, specialising in environment and planning law, with particular expertise in climate change, net zero and energy infrastructure. The other main area of her work is data protection and access to information, in which she is again recognised as a leading barrister. She also practices in election law and human rights law and is recognised in administrative and public law. Estelle took silk in 2022 and founded the cross-disciplinary centre of excellence for climate litigation and advice, Cornerstone Climate, in 2023.

Estelle appears in both the 2022 and 2023 ENDS Report’s Power List of the most influential environmental professionals in the UK. She is also one of The Planner’s Women of Influence, having been included in the list four times in the past six years. She was awarded a Climate Law & Governance Global Leadership Award at COP27. Estelle is a Fellow of the RSA. She is also a member of the European Commission’s Multistakeholder Expert Group on the GDPR and has been since its inception in 2017. She was named Environmental/Sustainability Bar Champion of the Year at the inaugural Legal 500 UK ESG Awards in 2024.

She is accredited for Public Access so tha she can be instructed by anybody directly, and enquiries about this are welcomed.

Estelle is recognised in Chambers and Partners as a “first-rate” advocate who has “a wonderful manner with clients” and in Legal 500 as “a determined and tenacious advocate, whose oral and written advocacy is nuanced, well-reasoned and highly effective and whose grasp of the law consistently impresses”.

She was called to the Bar of England and Wales in 2006

Find out more: Estelle Dehon KC | Cornerstone Barristers

Jean (Jeanie) Russell has worked as a Planning Inspector for over 20 years and specialised in Enforcement for 14. She is currently an Inspector Manager in the Enforcement division as well as co-chair of the Planning Inspectorate’s Rainbow network. Jeanie has recently been elected as a Fellow of the RTPI, and she lives with her spoiled Cavalier King Charles spaniel.

en is a director in the planning and compulsory purchase team, with extensive experience within planning and CPO law, including the following:

• Acting on large-scale infrastructure projects (including NSIPs)
• Advising on EIA, Habitats Directive, water and marine licensing issues
• Assisting with the promotion and implementation of CPOs for acquiring authorities
• Advising objectors to CPOs and dealing with complex compensation issues
• Negotiating planning and highways agreements for both local authorities and developers
• Acting for developers, funders and corporates on a wide range of renewable energy projects
• Advising in relation to town and village green and common land issues, public open space, public rights of way and listed buildings
• Advising on planning applications, appeals, statutory challenges and judicial review

Jen regularly speaks at legal and industry events and is a member of the Compulsory Purchase Association.

Find out more: Jen Ashwell (burges-salmon.com)

Matthew is a Senior Associate in the Burges Salmon Planning and Compulsory Purchase team. Matthew advises clients on a broad range of planning and compulsory purchase issues, including planning agreements and infrastructure provision in order to unlock delivery of large-scale, comprehensive schemes of development.

Matthew’s practice involves assisting clients on all practical, legal and strategic considerations required to deliver significant and ambitious development projects. His practice includes advising on planning strategy, Section 106 Agreements, permitted development, use classes, highways and the delivery of essential supporting infrastructure. 

Matthew also advises both public and private sector clients on contentious planning matters, including planning appeals, enforcement action and judicial review claims.

Find out more: Matthew Tucker (burges-salmon.com)

Nina Pindham has a wide-ranging planning practice specialising in environmental law matters in the context of planning applications, including infrastructure, energy, controversial minerals development, hazardous substances consent, waste, EIA, SEA, agriculture, water, air quality, and nature conservation issues. She has represented clients before the High Court, Court of Appeal, Supreme Court and the United Nations both for and against Government and public bodies. She has been appointed to the Attorney General’s C Panel of counsel.

She is ranked as a leading junior in Environmental Law by the Legal 500 (“a rising star”), one of the country’s top-rated juniors by Planning Magazine (2023), and a leading junior by Chambers and Partners. Comments include: “her ability to crack intellectually challenging issues is unbelievable. If you think of it as chess, she is always three or four moves ahead of the opposition”, “has a tremendous capacity to take in a great deal of information and get straight to the point”, “an incredible advocate”. Nina has also featured as one of The Planner’s Women of Influence (2022) and in the inaugural ENDS Power List of the most influential environmental professionals: “she is one of, if not the, leader in her field”.

In 2022 Nina was part of the legal team that challenged the government over its Net Zero Strategy which the High Court, in a historic ruling, deemed as “unlawful”, and led the government to revise its climate strategy to show how key emission reductions will be met.

At COP27 Nina was awarded the Global Leadership Award in Climate Law for her work with an international coalition of bar associations seeking to build the capacity of the legal sector in relation to climate change where it is relevant to legal advice, so as to best serve the needs of lawyers’ clients.

Find out more:Nina Pindham | Cornerstone Barristers

Richard was named the Planning and Land Use ‘Junior of the Year’ at the Legal 500 Bar Awards 2023.

Richard’s planning practice encompasses all aspects of planning both at inquiries and hearings and in the Higher Courts. He also advises clients on all aspects of planning law, including policy formulation, development control and enforcement. Richard regularly advised on s.96A and s.73 applications for major development schemes. His practice also encompasses compulsory purchase and compensation, harbours, highways, rights of way, commons registration and village greens (both inquiries and in the Higher Courts).

Examinations in public: Richard has appeared at several Core Strategy examination hearings for developers and interest groups. He has also advised a number of local planning authorities on issues related to preparation of Development Plans (including the Harrogate Local Plan, Waverley Local Plan Part 2, Maidstone Local Plan and the Bedford Borough Local Plan). He has also advised a number of local planning authorities on issues related to preparation of Development Plans.

Find out more: Richard Moules KC - Landmark Chambers

Bio to follow