Practice Summary

Scott Lyness specialises in all aspects of planning and environmental law. He is consistently rated as one of the leading junior members of the planning Bar. The Chambers and Partners Directory 2008 describes him as a "very able junior who is one to watch because he is already impressing on his feet and is very easy to deal with". The Legal 500 states that he is "building an excellent reputation". He has been placed in the top 3 most highly rated planning barristers under 35 by Planning Magazine. Examples of his work can be found within the Cases and Inquiries sections of his profile.

He acts for a wide range of developers, planning authorities and third parties at all stages of the planning process. He provides strategic and technical advice on the preparation of development proposals. He appears regularly at appeals (including enforcement cases), call-in inquiries and examinations in public, and in the High Court.

A substantial proportion of his experience has included preparing evidence for, and appearing at, major public inquiries into city centre regeneration schemes, urban extensions and mixed use proposals involving tall buildings. He has been involved in the progression of planning applications for some of most significant development schemes in London in recent years.

He has also worked on energy-related proposals (including gas storage facilities and wind farms) and many of his cases involve environmental law in areas including environmental impact assessment, nature conservation, pollution control, waste management and contaminated land.

He was called to the Bar of England and Wales in November 1996 and to the Bar of Northern Ireland in 2000. He is a member of the Planning and Environment Bar Association.