Planning & Environment

Keating Chambers has added planning and environmental regulatory work to its market leading construction, procurement, PFI/PPP, energy and infrastructure practice, with the addition of planning and environment silk Charles Banner KC in July 2020. This means that we are uniquely well placed to offer our clients assistance during the entire lifetime of their projects, from environmental and planning consenting, to public procurement, regulatory and project finance issues, to commercial disputes arising during or after the construction of the project.

We cover the full range of planning work in England & Wales and Northern Ireland, including:

  • Strategic advice at the outset of a project’s conception, shaping the proposal to maximise the prospects of obtaining consent.
  • Advice on planning applications.
  • Planning appeals and called-in applications.
  • Local Plan Examinations (including working with local authorities in the preparation of their Local Plans, and working with site promoters/developers to promote their proposals through the Local Plan Process).
  • Compulsory purchase orders.
  • Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects progressed under the Development Consent Order procedure under the Planning Act 2008.
  • Parliamentary Bills.
  • Judicial and statutory reviews in the High Court and Appellate Courts.
  • Neighbourhood Plans.
  • Listed Buildings, Conservation Areas and other heritage issues.
  • Green Belt and other designations such as AONB.
  • Enforcement and injunctions.
  • Marine Planning and Harbour Orders.
  • Section 106 disputes.
  • Development agreements and overage.
  • Public procurement, competition and state aid in the planning/development context.

Our environmental practice is similarly comprehensive and includes:

  • Environmental Permitting.
  • Environmental Impact Assessment.
  • Strategic Environmental Assessment.
  • Waste regulation.
  • Water regulation (including water quality and regulation of water abstraction).
  • Air quality.
  • Climate change.
  • Contaminated land.
  • Environmental-related nuisance actions.
  • Flooding and drainage.
  • International environmental law, including the Aarhus Convention, the Kyiv Protocol and the Escazu Convention.
  • EU environmental legislation.

Our planning and environment practice serves the full range of sectors affected by the UK regulation of these fields, including residential, retail, commercial, industry, energy, transport, utilities, major urban development (including prime London).

Example projects include:

  • Heathrow Third Runway.
  • The Thames Tunnel ‘Super Sewer’.
  • New Settlements at Dunsfold, Long Marston, Lubbesthorpe and North Essex.
  • Candy & Candy developments adjacent to Holland Park and Regent’s Park.
  • The High Speed Two (HS2) Railway.
  • Keuper Gas Storage Project.
  • The North-South Ireland Interconnector.
  • Runcorn Energy From Waste.
  • Arc 21 Energy From Waste, Northern Ireland.
  • Numerous planning appeals promoting residential developments for national housebuilders including Persimmon Homes, Taylor Wimpey, CALA and Crest Nicholson, as well as SME developers, land promoters and landowners.
  • Acting for local authorities in the plan making process and defending planning appeals, including 4 consecutive successful defence’s of East Riding of Yorkshire Council’s 5 year housing land supply (3 with costs awards in favour of the Council).
  • Acting for the UK Government on nationally significant planning matters such as the recent judicial review challenge relating to the expansion of London Stansted Airport.