Graeme is currently instructed on a range of matters including: the promotion at appeal of several housing developments in England, including in the Green Belt and AoNB, the promotion of a c.1,300 home development on MoD land in Kent, several logistics and industrial developments and two Local Plan Examinations.
Graeme is listed in Planning Magazine’s Top Rated Planning Silks 2023.
Graeme is a graduate of King’s College London where he read Law. After graduation he attended the Inns of Court School of Law, Bar Vocational Course, and worked as a part-time lecturer in Constitutional Law at King’s College London.
Graeme regularly gives papers at Landmark seminars and has conducted seminars on Planning Law at University College London, on the M.Phil. Town and Country Planning Course, lectured for the Local Government Group, Central Law Training, the RTPI, PINS training week and various other organisations. He also provides training for council members and officers.
Graeme is a highly experienced Public Inquiry advocate who acts for developers, local government and other interested parties. His advisory and appeal work includes: housing; logistics; retail; heritage; highways; schools; major infrastructure projects; compulsory purchase; and enforcement. Much of his Inquiry work has involved appeals recovered by the Secretary of State. Graeme also acts both for and against local planning authorities at Local Plan Examinations and appears at Development Consent Order hearings. His court experience ranges from High Court work (including judicial review and statutory appeals) to the Magistrates Court (including defending prosecutions for breach of enforcement notices).
Graeme provides strategic advice on the preparation of development schemes and technical advice on the expert evidence required to support applications and appeals. He regularly works with large teams on projects, including expert witnesses in a wide range of disciplines.
Graeme is listed in Planning Magazine’s Top Rated Planning Silks 2023.
On-going matters include:
The promotion (including at appeal) of several residential developments in, for example, Surrey, Wiltshire, Hampshire, Dorset, Northumberland, (including sites in the Green Belt and AoNB), the promotion of logistics and industrial developments in Hampshire and Kent, the promotion of land allocated in two emerging Local Plans for large scale residential and commercial development. Advising on the promotion of two emerging Local Plans.
Graeme has considerable compulsory purchase experience, in particular at Inquiry, where he has promoted CPOs for a wide variety of developments including: housing; an academy school; highways schemes; and regeneration projects. Graeme has also acted for objectors to CPOs, for example in relation to protecting commercial interests and heritage assets, including successfully opposing Manchester’s CPO of the former London Road Fire Station.
Graeme has been instructed on a number of high profile Public Inquiries involving environmental matters (including Dibden Bay, USAF Upper Heyford. and Culworth Solar Farm) and Examinations in Public of Local and Minerals Plans (including the Durham County Plan and the Nottinghamshire Minerals Plan), involving the assessment and scrutiny of Sustainability Appraisals etc. He regularly advises on Environmental Impact Assessments and the content of Environmental Statements. Graeme also has expertise in defending environmental prosecutions in relation to matters such as waste disposal and pollution.
Landmark's barristers often work at the intersection of our core practice areas; bringing a wide range of skills, knowledge and experience to bear on a particular dispute or issue facing a client.
Our focus is always on achieving the best possible outcome for our client. By viewing the client's objectives in a holistic way - and not purely through the lens of one rigidly-defined legal area - we deliver the best possible advice and representation in complex matters that engage multiple specialist areas of law.
Whether it's providing support as an individual cross-practice barrister or a cross-disciplinary team of Landmark counsel, we are able to draw on an outstanding array of complementary skillsets and knowledge bases. This often achieves a better result than instructing multiple barristers from different specialist sets. This also improves the quality of client care through increased levels of communication, quicker response times, and a coordinated approach to clerking and fees, made possible by our team-based cross-practice approach.
Please contact our practice management team for more information.
Very commercially astute and a real problem solver."
News
16 06 2023
Planning Magazine’s Law Survey 2023 features 36 Landmark barristers
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Inquiry
Newlink Business Park, Newark
Graeme advised the Appellant, Simons/Tritax for 2 years on expert evidence and strategy for a...
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News
06 09 2022
Maidstone Local Plan Review Examination Opens
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Inquiry
Invicta Barracks, Maidstone
September - June 2023 Graeme represented Defence Infrastructure Organisation, on behalf of the...
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News
24 06 2022
Another strong showing for Landmark’s barristers in Planning Magazine’s Law Survey 2022
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Inquiry
Lemans Barn Farm, Surrey
Graeme acted for the Appellant in relation to a proposed large self-build dwelling in Surrey,...
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Inquiry
Great Moreton Hall, Cheshire
Graeme represented the Council defending refusal of planning permission for 2 alternative schemes...
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Inquiry
Send Hill, Surrey
Planning Permission granted on appeal for residential development at Send Hill, Surrey. Graeme...
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Contact our friendly and helpful Practice Managers for more information about our barristers and services or to make an enquiry.
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