News & Events

Pupil and Junior Barristers – Online Training

Over the last month or so, we have been offering Pupil and Junior Barristers, online training courses. Please find below all of the recordings/presentations for your use:

• Please click here for the YouTube recording of Advocacy at Planning Appeals. This event was chaired by Tom Cosgrove QC of Cornerstone Barristers with presentations from Ian Tant, former president of the RTPI and Robert Walton QC of Landmark Chambers.
• Please click here for a copy of the PowerPoint presentation presented by Peter Rose of the Planning Inspectorate in Week 1 of the PEBA pupil training.
• Please click here to view the recording of the events at which Mr Justice Holgate provided advice on advocacy in the Planning Court.
• Please click here to view the recording of the first lecture in our PEBA pupil training, given by Peter Rose of the Planning Inspectorate.

PEBA Annual General Meeting 2020

The 2020 Annual General Meeting for the Planning and Environment Bar Association will be held at 6pm on Thursday 2nd July 2020 remotely, for the purposes of transacting the following association business:

– Approval of the Minutes of the AGM 2019
– Chairman’s report;
– Treasurers report;
– Election of treasurer (one year)
– Election of secretary (one year)
– Election of members of the committee
– Naming any co-optees

Please note that the bookings for this evenings AGM are now closed. If you would like to join, please email us on peba@peba.org.uk

COVID-19

In respect of the impact of the Covid-19 virus, the PEBA Committee has submitted 3 documents to the Planning Inspectorate which suggest a potential way forward towards holding some hearings and simple inquiries remotely. It will be for the Planning Inspectorate to decide whether that is a possibility and if so, how it might be implemented.

The documents can be found below:

PEBA Coronavirus Way Forward 
PINS Procedure Note
Video Conferences – Technical Note

PEBA National Conference 2020 – Back to Basics? Simplifying Planning for a New Decade

Due to COVID-19 this event has been rescheduled from Friday 15th May, to the new date listed below. 

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Date: Friday 2nd October 2020
Location: Ashurst LLP, London Fruit & Wool Exchange, 1 Duval Street, London, E1 6PW
Agenda: Registration from 9.00. Event starts at 9.30. Event finishes at 15.45.

The 2020 PEBA National Conference will assess the latest developments in planning and environmental law and assess policy and procedure in key areas. At the start of a new decade, there are many challenges facing the planning system. A newly elected government has promised a clearer and more accessible planning system, hinted at ambitious reforms to deliver more housing and infrastructure and aims to simplify planning. As well as looking to the future, the conference will provide a comprehensive assessment of the key case law over the last year.

The conference will include papers from leading practitioners at the Bar and a keynote address from The Right Hon Lord Sales, Justice of The Supreme Court. This year the Frances Patterson Paper is being delivered by Mrs Justice Andrews. The National Conference should prove to be an essential day for all those involved in and concerned about planning and the environment.

This event is always a sell out event, so don’t delay in securing your seat.

Pricing:
PEBA Members – £190 + VAT
PEBA Members, under 7 years of call – £80 + VAT

To book your place for the National Conference, please click here

*Please note, that if you have already booked onto the original event date, you do not need to repeat the booking process.

Leading Planning Cases Authority Book

As many of you will know, for some time now PEBA has been in discussion with the Planning Court about the production of a core volume, or bundle containing the most frequently cited planning cases. I am delighted to announce that this project has finally come to fruition, with the publication by the ICLR of the Leading Planning Cases Authority Book.

Whilst I have no doubt that everyone will be able to name at least one additional case they think should have been included, the cases selected have been chosen in close consultation with members of the Planning Court (notably Mr Justice Holgate) and Lord Justice Lindblom. Some of the well-known High Court decisions which have not been included are, of course, referred to and endorsed in more recent Court of Appeal authorities such as Mansell v Tonbridge & Malling.

The Planning Court is taking steps to ensure that all judges in the Planning Court have access to a copy of the book, in the expectation that, from 1 January 2020, it will become a standard reference work which reduces the need for the repeated, one-use-only photocopying of judgments for inclusion in the bundles of authorities in individual cases. It will also ensure that the court has cited to it the preferred reports of these cases, in accordance with Practice Direction (Citation of Authorities) [2012] 1 WLR 780.

It is not yet known whether the Planning Court will issue specific guidance on how the book should be used. In the meantime, however, Mr Justice Holgate has indicated that:

• An advocate leaving authorities out of bundles will need to make sure that opponents appreciate that the book is being relied upon.
• An advocate should make it clear in his, or her skeleton that the book will be cited and should give the usual citation references for the cases, plus the relevant internal pagination within the ICLR book.
• An advocate will also need to think about supplying copies of the authorities to a litigant in person. Alternatively, the advocate could lend a copy of the book to that party.

PEBA strongly encourages all members to use the book wherever possible. Copies can be obtained from the ICLR for £95 (or £90 per volume if buying 10 or more). Details can be found at https://www.iclr.co.uk/planningcases/.

PEBA would like to express its gratitude to Richard Ground QC and Ashley Bowes for their hard work in bringing this about.

Women in Planning

For those interested in news and events relevant to Women in Planning, please click here to be referred to their website.

Rosewell Review into Planning Inquiries

The PEBA Questionnaire Response and PEBA Response documents are available to view.

To view the PEBA Questionnaire Response, please click here

To view the PEBA Response documents, please click here

New guidance on presenting Expert Evidence as a Planner at planning appeals

The RTPI and PEBA have collaborated on new expert evidence advice.

To view the document, please click here

Consultation Response

PEBA has replied to the Consultation Paper from the Queen’s Counsel Appointments Scheme.  The response can be viewed here.

PEBA response to consultation on the draft NPPF

PEBA has recently responded to the public consultation being held by MHCLG on the draft revised National Planning Policy Framework.

A copy of the covering letter can be viewed here, and the consultation response can be viewed here.