Practice Summary

Roy Martin was called the Bar in Scotland in 1976 and appointed Queen’s Counsel in Scotland in 1988. 

He is a member of the Planning and Environment Bar Association and the Founding Chairman of the Scottish Local Government and Environmental Bar Group. He is also an affiliate of the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland.

Roy is listed in the legal directories as a leading specialist in his fields of practice. The Legal 500 says “Roy Martin QC, Dean of the Faculty is pre-eminent in planning."

Planning

Since taking silk in Scotland Roy has appeared in most of the significant Scottish planning inquiries. These include:

• Braehead retail inquiry
• Gyle retail inquiry
• Harris Super-quarry inquiry
• Gartosh gas fired power station inquiry
• Princess Street Galleries inquiry

He has appeared for the promoters of, and objectors to, major transport schemes that have been before the Scottish Parliament including:

• Stirling-Alloa-Kincardine Railway Bill
• The Glasgow Airport Rail Link Bill
• The Edinburgh Tram Bills.

In England he appeared for the developer in an appeal under the Channel Tunnel Railway Link Act 1996 concerning the redevelopment of St Pancras Station.

He has acted in many court actions in Scotland concerning planning matters. He acted for the developer before the House of Lords in City of Edinburgh Council v Secretary of State for Scotland and Revival Properties Limited. He acted for the developer throughout the proceedings following the Harris Super-quarry Inquiry, including a successful judicial review challenge and the application to quash the decision to refuse planning permission which was conceded by the Scottish Ministers. He acted for the developer in the unsuccessful challenge to the permission for construction of the Cairngorm Mountain Railway.

Environmental

He has acted in a number of court actions and inquiries related to waste and environmental matters, including cases in Scotland concerning the use of fuel derived from sewage in a coal fired power station and the existence of nuclear particles on a beach adjacent to the former Dounreay Nuclear facility.

In England, he appeared in judicial reviews arising from the proposal to break up former contaminated US Navy ships (“The Ghost Ships”) in Hartlepool.

Roy is acting for the licence holder in an inquiry which is to take place in relation to conditions imposed under the Radioactive Substances Act 1993.

Compulsory Purchase

In Scotland he has acted and advised in many matters concerning compulsory purchase. He appeared for the proposed developer in a series of challenges by judicial review to the proposed use of compulsory purchase powers, and in the ultimate appeal to the House of Lords in 2007 in Standard Commercial Properties Limited v Glasgow City Council.

Currently Roy is instructed to act as Counsel for the Inquiry which is taking place into a serious explosion which occurred in Glasgow in 2004 and which resulted in the loss of life and multiple injuries. The inquiry has been called by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and the Scottish Ministers in accordance with the provisions of the new Inquiries Act 2005.

The inquiry will be wide ranging and is likely to be considering issues of:

• The cause of the gas (LPG) explosion
• The storage of LPG and the responsibilities of landowners and gas suppliers
• The responsibility of industrial operators for the carrying out of risk assessments
• The responsibility of the Health and Safety Executive and its officers for approving risk assessments
• The precautions to be taken in the storage of LPG
• The consequences of pipework for LPG existing below ground and in confined spaces for many years

It may also have to focus upon:

• The system for the prosecution of work-related offences in Scotland as compared to England
• The functioning of the emergency services in response to the explosion
• Other health and safety issues
• Building structural issues

The scope of the inquiry will also involve issues relating to the 2005 Inquiries Act such as:

• The nature of the process
• Compliance with Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights and the Human Rights Act 1998
• Who is permitted to appear
• The compulsory grouping of interested parties to result in single representation of all with the same point of view
• Awards of costs which may be made to those permitted to appear and attend.