Simon Pickles practices principally in three areas – planning, compulsory purchase & compensation and environmental law. Aside from a strong emphasis on advisory work, he routinely appears at inquiries, hearings and in the High Court and Lands Chamber. For more detail of recent work in each of these practice areas, follow the links below.
Planning
Simon has a great deal of experience of planning law and practice. He has advised and appeared at inquiries, hearings and examinations for developers and landowners, local authorities and individuals in relation to a wide range of developments. For more detail including recent cases please click here.
Compulsory Purchase & Compensation
Simon advises frequently on compensation claims, appears in the Lands Chamber and has appeared at many CPO inquiries. For more detail including recent cases please click here.
Environmental Law
Simon’s environmental law experience includes IPPC/environmental permitting, emissions trading, the Habitats Directive and appropriate assessment and contaminated land. For more detail including recent cases please click here.
Other
Simon advises on highways issues and has appeared at footpath diversion and definitive map modification inquiries. He also provides local authority councillor training.
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Planning
A more detailed indication of areas of work undertaken since January 2011:
General Advisory
Frequent advice and opinions in respect of construction of planning permissions and applications for Certificates of Lawfulness (or enforcement). Areas covered include: residential development, retail permissions including warehouse permissions (range of goods), exploratory deep on-shore mining, A3/4 uses inc. hours of operation, hotel development, the development of an aerobic digestion plant, a museum, and use classes and permitted development rights including Class O (office to resi.), Frequent advice also on the implementation of planning permission (the Whitley principle), development in the Green Belt, environmental impact assessment, proper interpretation & enforcement of s.106 planning obligations and advertisements.
Residential & retail
Many appearances at inquiries into residential developments, mixed use and retail developments. Assisting in preparation for and attendance at hearings into residential & retail development. Schemes considered have ranged from conventional residential schemes to more complicated or controversial examples including a garden suburb, affecting the Green Belt, loss of open space, Listed Buildings & Conservation Areas. Advice on specialist residential schemes for those approaching retirement or retired and on affordable housing contributions. Advice on the application of the retail impact and sequential tests.
Enforcement
Advice and inquiries concerning: enforcement notices (eg residential conversions including consideration of deception and waste-related development). Defence of prosecutions for breach of a stop notice in the Crown Court (a two weeks trial) and magistrates court. Proper interpretation & enforcement in the High Court of s.106 obligations (to connect to District Heating Facility).
High Court / Judicial review
Frequent advice, principally to developers and local planning authorities, on resisting JR claims. That advice has concerned challenges to planning permissions for regeneration proposals, a hotel (claim by a councillor), the substantial expansion of a settlement, flats, school development and extensions, play facilities, tennis facilities, a park & ride scheme, multi-storey car park, replacement abattoir, solar and windfarm development and development in the Green Belt. Hearings have involved: the refusal of permission to challenge planning permission for a large-scale incinerator; rejection of a challenge to the decision to vary planning permission to enable further flights at London City Airport (R (on the application of Griffin) v. Newham LB [2011] EWHC 53 (Admin)); the proper construction of planning permission for retail development, including the range of goods to be sold (R (Prudential Ass) v. Sunderland CC and Peel Investments [2010] EWHC 1771 (Admin)) (junior counsel); the proper construction of planning permission including TCPA s. 75 (Peel Land & Property Investments v. Hyndburn BC [2013] EWCA Civ 1680) (junior counsel); resistance to a rival’s application to quash a superstore permission (R (Sainsbury`s Supermarkets Ltd) v. Hillingdon LB [2015] EWHC 2571 (Admin) (junior counsel)); and upholding of solar farm permission (Boden v. East Staffs BC [2016] EWHC 1151 (Admin)).
Energy & Waste
Advice over several years to a team of officers at Surrey County Council on the grant and subsequent variation of planning permission for a Waste Management ‘Eco Park’ (now under construction) comprising: a Gasification Facility (60,000 tpa); Anaerobic Digestion Facility (40,000 tpa); Community Recycling Facility; etc. Issues included: classification of the gasification plant as ‘disposal’; safety; Best Available Techniques); reference back to committee; and the application of section 73 of the Town & Country Planning Act 1990. Simon also represented the County Council at associated FP diversion inquiries. The original permission was not challenged and permission to challenge its variation was refused.
Advice on other anaerobic digestion and pyrolysis plant proposals and wind farm development. This work is against the backdrop of appearances at inquiries into major waste projects including: an energy-from-waste/incineration plant to accept waste from central London; and a major integrated facility including de-inking, anaerobic digestion, combined heat & power, and MBT technologies in Essex. Advice also on planning permission for windfarm development and exploratory deep on-shore mining (with a view to fracking or not).
Other related spheres of work
Advice on Assets of Community Value, local authority disposal of land including best value. Advice on operation of the planning regime in Gibraltar.
Environmental
A more detailed indication of areas of work undertaken since January 2011:
Environmental impact assessment
Detailed appraisal of environmental statements relating to major residential development proposals.
IPPC/ Environmental permitting
Advice on permits relating to on-shore deep mining and waste-related developments, having earlier resisted judicial review challenges to permits granted in respect of energy-from- waste/incineration plants.
Habitats Directive and appropriate assessment
Advice in respect of miniplans designed to avoid a requirement for appropriate assessment of the prospect of impacts on the Thames Basin Heaths SPA (SANGS policy).
Contaminated land
Advice on the operation of the contaminated land regime.
Earlier work
Greenhouse gas emissions trading scheme – Appeared on first appeal against a refusal by the Environment Agency to allow an applicant to join the scheme (outcome reversed by amending regulations). Appeared also on first appeal against a revocation notice served under the GHG Emissions Trading Scheme Regulations 2005
FEPA 1985 – Advice on the defence of a prosecution (discontinued) for the alleged unauthorized deposit of contaminated material under the Food and Environment Protection Act 1985.
Compulsory purchase and compensation
A more detailed indication of areas of work undertaken since January 2011:
Advisory
Advice on compensation claims to claimants and acquiring authorities has included advice on claims for: business extinguishment or relocation and loss of development value
resulting from, eg, the Thameslink, London Olympics, Crossrail and new Runcorn Mersey crossing CPOs. Advice also to Petitioners and others on the compensation provisions of the HS2 Bill and associated non-statutory schemes, and on compensation issues arising from the variation of licences under the Wildlife Resources Act 1991.
Lands Chamber
Appeared at substantive hearings concerning: the effect of section 9 of the Land Compensation Act 1961 on assessment, under rule (2) of section 5 of the 1961 Act, of the value of interests acquired (G.P.E. (Hanover Square) Limited and others v. Transport for London [ACQ/83/2011]) (as junior counsel)]; and the proper interpretation of the provisions for compensation on modification of planning permission (Hanson Quarry Products Ltd v. Dorset CC [2010] UKUT 364 (LC)). Appeared also at preliminary or case management hearings (eg re CAADs) following which claims have been resolved.
Earlier cases
Appeared for Claimants at preliminary hearing concerning entitlement as a matter of law to recover, under rule 6, compensation for the loss of rental income that would have resulted from redevelopment of land taken (Pattle & Pattle v. Secretary of State for Transport [ACQ 7 2007]). Proper construction of the limitation provisions relating to General Vesting Declarations (The Estate of Reginald Hodson v. Rochford District Council [ACQ 467 2007]).
Experience in this area of the law follows appearances as junior counsel in Director of Buildings & Land v. Shun Fung [1995] 2 AC 111 (recovery of pre-acquisition losses) and Hughes v. Doncaster MBC (1991) 1 AC 382 ('contrary to law' in rule (4)).