Planning, Environment and Property Newsletter - Summer 2024 Edition
Welcome to the Summer 2024 edition of the 39 Essex Chambers' Planning, Environment and Property newsletter. With the general election campaign underway and focusing more on national service than national planning policy frameworks, Paul Stinchcombe KC topically kicks off this edition by considering the grant of planning permission for 721 dwellings in Green Belt land and whether politics really plays that much part in the process.
We are delighted to welcome Flora Curtis to Chambers as part of the PEP team, she has hit the ground running and, in this edition, writes on an Advisory Opinion by the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea on States’ obligations to protect the marine environment from the effects of climate change.
This edition additionally contains an interesting and varied array of articles on the following topics:
- Stephen Tromans KC addresses the persistent issue of contaminated land and unfortunate ineffectiveness of Part 2A of the Environmental Protection Act 1990;
- Celina Colquhoun looks at recent procedural and legislative changes impacting the PEP sphere, in particular the introduction of permission stage replies in judicial review cases as well as changes to enforcement immunity periods;
- Daniel Kozelko considers the case of R (Low Carbon Solar Park 6 Limited) [2024] EWHC 770 (Admin) which provides a reminder of the fact sensitive nature of procedural fairness;
- Ella Grodzinski provides her thoughts on the curious discussion of victim status by the European Court of Human Rights in the KlimaSeniorinnen case;
- Christopher Moss covers the changed approach to local energy efficiency standards that exceed the levels set out in Building Regulations, as well as a challenge to the policy change brought by Rights Community Action.
Lastly, it would be remiss of us not to plug two new PEP podcasts produced by Chambers,
Tora Hutton’s “Hot Topics in Planning and Environmental Law” and “Contested Heritage” by Richard Harwood KC and Clarissa Levi of BHL Art Group.
We hope that the newsletter and podcast offerings provide plenty to keep you entertained as we move into Trinity Term and towards the election.
