Rebecca Sage

Environment

Rebecca has gained experience across a range of environmental law matters, including assisting Lord Carnwath CVO in his role as mediator following service of an abatement notice for statutory nuisance under the Environment Act 1990 in relation to a landfill site.

During pupillage, Rebecca was supervised by Guy Williams KC and Andrew Byass. She assisted with advice on SEA and EIA issues, including the application of EIA to highways works, and with a judicial review claim concerning the power of the Environment Agency to issue “stop notices” under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and the “end of waste” process under the Waste Framework Directive.

Rebecca is a contributor to Garner’s Environmental Law, for which she writes the chapter on the management and shipment of waste. She also headnotes for the Journal of Environmental and Planning Law.

Planning

Rebecca has a varied practice covering all aspects of planning. Before coming to the Bar, Rebecca trained and qualified as a transactional real estate solicitor in the City before working as an advisory lawyer at the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (as was). In that role, she advised on local and neighbourhood planning, drafted secondary legislation and worked on the 2018 consultation on the revised NPPF. She has a thorough understanding of the legislative process and Ministerial decision-making and is particularly interested in the intersection between planning and property issues.

Rebecca advises on a wide range of planning and infrastructure issues, with recent advice including:

• Advising a property owner on the prospects of challenging a decision to uphold an enforcement notice relating to the construction of a building without planning permission.
• Advising a local resident concerning the scope of a section 106 agreement and the prospects of enforcing a local authority’s obligations thereunder
• General advice on the scope and application of permitted development rights, including Class E and the right to ‘build up’
• Advising a local authority on liability to pay compensation under Part 1 of the Land Compensation Act 1973
• Drafting submissions on behalf of a property owner to oppose an application to list the property as an asset of community value
• Providing advice for the Environmental Law Foundation on the prospects of judicially reviewing a decision not to list a local garden as an asset of community value.

Her experience also includes:

• Acting (led by Richard Turney) for Coventry City Council in promoting the Coventry City Centre South CPO, which was confirmed following a three-day inquiry.
• Acting (with Paul Brown KC and Nick Grant) for the Secretary of State in Braintree DC v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2023] EWHC 1076 (KB) in which the High Court struck out an application for an injunction under s.187B of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 made in relation to the use of land at RAF Wethersfield to accommodate asylum seekers. The decision was subsequently upheld by the Court of Appeal.

Rebecca also headnotes for the Journal of Environmental and Property Law.

During pupillage, Rebecca was supervised by Guy Williams KC and Andrew Byass. She assisted with several section 78 inquiries which involved issues including green belt policy, waste policy and landscape impacts, gaining experience drafting opening and closing submissions as well as submissions on costs. She also assisted in drafting pleadings and skeleton arguments for various High Court challenges, including a challenge to the grant of permission for the redevelopment of Dulwich Hamlet Football Club stadium and a judicial review claim in relation to a local authority’s refusal to remove a dropped kerb crossover installed pursuant to s.184 Highways Act 1980.

Property

Before coming to the Bar, Rebecca trained and qualified as a solicitor. She worked as a transactional real estate solicitor in City firms for several years. In that role she acted for landlords and tenants in lease negotiations, advised on freehold acquisitions and disposals and provided input on the real estate elements of corporate transactions. She has a pragmatic and client-focused approach to property issues and a thorough understanding of drafting issues which might arise on leasehold and freehold transactions. Her previous experience also includes working at the Law Commission on the reform of the law relating to enfranchisement, the right to manage and forfeiture.

Rebecca’s practice in Chambers encompasses a range of property matters, with recent instructions including:

• Advice on a range of property disputes, such as interference with easements and the acquisition of easements by prescription, boundary disputes, disrepair and the validity of notices to complete.
• Drafting pleadings in disputes including trespass, breach of sale contract, breach of lease and disrepair
• Acting in possession proceedings relating to residential and commercial properties, including mortgage possession proceedings and claims against trespassers.
• Acting in county court proceedings for harassment and failure to protect a deposit
• Enfranchisement cases, including valuation disputes in the First-tier Tribunal and applications in the County Court.

Rebecca also has a broad planning practice and is therefore well-placed to advise on matters which engage both planning and property law, such as issues arising from estate regeneration schemes.

During pupillage, Rebecca was supervised by Simon Allison and Rupert Cohen. She assisted in drafting pleadings and skeleton arguments in a variety of disputes including an alleged failure to properly exercise an option to purchase, claims concerning breach of fiduciary duties, and boundary disputes. During her second six, Rebecca appeared in the Court of Appeal as junior counsel (led by Simon Allison) in Mostyn House Estate Management Company Limited v Youde and others [2022] EWCA Civ 929, which concerned the interpretation of leases and freehold transfers on a residential estate.

Public and Administrative

Rebecca formerly worked as a lawyer in the Government Legal Department and has a thorough understanding of Government lawyers’ roles in the legislative process and Ministerial decision-making.

Her recent work includes:

• Acting for a local authority in its claim for judicial review of the use of a hotel in its area as asylum accommodation (led by Gwion Lewis KC)
• Government work, including working as part of a departmental team on the Covid-19 inquiry and instruction as junior junior (assisting Julia Smyth) in Robins v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions [2023] EWCA Civ 890.
• Clerk to an Independent Review Panel reviewing the decision to permanently exclude a school pupil.

During pupillage, Rebecca was supervised by Andrew Byass and gained experience in a wide range of public law matters. These included drafting pleadings and skeleton arguments for matters including responses to claims engaging Article 9 of the Bill of Rights, permission for judicial review of “fresh claim” decision under the Immigration Rules and particulars of claim relating to a refusal of support and accommodation under the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999. Her advisory work encompassed a range of public law issues, including those engaging the Upper Tribunal’s power to retain an immigration appeal and the public interest considerations in deporting foreign criminals.

Cross-practice

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.

Highways and Rights of Access