Mary Cook

Mary successfully appeared at a waste local plan inquiry successfully resisting the allocation of land for a waste incinerator on behalf of a local action group of local residents in Wiltshire.

Most of the large planning schemes Mary works on involve the preparation and submission of Environmental Statements and advising on the content and form of ESs, including Regulation 19 requests is a regular part of Mary’s work.

Equally she has considerable experience of water related issues for example dealing with EA objections for the development of a site along the River Thames; the Blue Ribbon policies in the London Plan.

She has several clients with sites in close proximity to the Thames Basin Heath SPA and is familiar with the issues that residential development in close proximity to the SPA throw up. She is currently awaiting an appeal decision in respect of a housing scheme in Hartley Witney she promoted on behalf of Barratt Southern Counties where additional open space was promoted to offset any impact on the SPA.

She is currently advising Neath Port Talbot on issues arising in connection with the redevelopment of the former BP Oil Refinery at Llandarcy which is being promoted for redevelopment and which forms one of the largest brownfield sites in the UK. The site lies in close proximity to an SPA.

Recent court appearances include In Northern Ireland acting with leading counsel in High Court proceedings successfully for and brought by Seaport Investments Limited concerned with the SEA Directive and the extent of its transposition into the development plan system in that jurisdiction under the Environmental Assessment of Plans and Programmes Regulations (Northern Ireland). In An Application by Seaport Investments Limited and others [2007] NIQB 62 the judge found that the promulgation of the Northern Area Plan had resulted in failures to comply with the Articles in the SEA Directive.

In Environment Agency v Stamford [1998] COD 373 Mary acted for the EA on an appeal by case stated involving prosecutions under the Environmental Protection Act 1990.