news from 11.2008

26.11.2008

Hirwaun Windfarm Appeal Decision
Wednesday, November 26, 2008

This is a significant decision where the inspector has been persuaded to refuse permission for wind farm development notwithstanding national policy (TAN 8) that the area in which the application has been made (a Strategic Search Area) had been designated as fit for Wind farms.

Morag Ellis QC acted for the Local Planning Authority, Rhondda Cynon Taff.

Click here for a copy of the decision.

22.11.2008

Local Government Law Update 2008
Saturday, November 22, 2008

Chambers was proud to host the second of our extremely successful annual Local Government Law Updates.

The Seminar provided a practical guide to the latest legal developments and issues affecting local authorities, with the focus on the needs of local authority lawyers in day to day terms.

The day was chaired by Mark Lowe QC, and covered the following topics:

• Code of Conduct, Bias and Predetermination: Voting at Planning Committees – advice to Members, and the implications for Monitoring Officers following R (Ware) v Neath Port Talbot and Lewis (R on the application of) v Persimmon Homes Teesside Ltd (2008). Anthony Porten QC (Click here to view his slides from the event)
• Local investigations: practical implications of the new framework. Simon Bird (Click here to view his slides from the event)
• Turf Wars: Jurisdictional disputes between local authorities in the provision of services to adults and children, following Kromah v Southwark and Bromley, S v Lewisham, Lambeth and Hackney, and Liverpool v Hillingdon. Bryan McGuire (Click here to view his slides from the event)
• Governance structures: Varying executive arrangements, and new parish councils, under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007. Damien Welfare (Click here to view his slides from the event)
• Corporate Manslaughter: where we are now, from the viewpoint of local authorities and individuals. Gerard Forlin
• Covert Surveillance and RIPA 2000: opportunities and pitfalls, and the need for proportionality. David Matthias QC and Ryan Kohli. (Click here to view their slides from the event)

Click here for a full programme from the event.

18.11.2008

Harmonising the voices
Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Click here to read Morag Ellis’s September 2008 interview with Planning Magazine.

17.11.2008

Ecclesiastical appeal court clarifies local authorities maintenance duty in respect of closed churchyards
Monday, November 17, 2008

In re Hutton Churchyard, Somerset, Arches Court of Canterbury, 12 November 2008, [2008] WLR (D) 355.

In an important ruling handed down this week the Arches Court of Canterbury has clarified the extent of the duty of a local authority to which responsibility for the maintenance of a closed churchyard has been passed under section 215(3) of the Local Government Act 1972, to “maintain it by keeping it in decent order...” (section 215)(1)).

The ruling was made on an appeal by North Somerset Council against a judgment of Chancellor Briden in the Bath and Wells Consistory Court relating to Hutton Churchyard, one of 20 closed churchyards in its area. The court ruled that a council is under no obligation to reinstate and repair a memorial that it had laid flat as being unstable following the carrying out of a safety inspection in order to restore the historic appearance of the churchyard. In so ruling the Court reversed that part of the judgment of Chancellor Briden in which he had held that the council had legal power to reinstate and make safe “monuments the owners of which are untraced, and which for historic or aesthetic reasons contribute to the amenity of a closed churchyard.”

The ruling will be welcomed by many councils which have been criticised for the widespread laying flat of gravestones on health and safety grounds, often to the detrimental appearance of the churchyard, when the owners cannot be traced. However, a council does have a continuing obligation to ensure the safety of memorials it has laid flat (for example, they could be a tripping hazard). The Arches Court indicated that a scheme could provide for such memorials to be lifted and placed against the wall of the churchyard, or some could be used to create a stone pathway.

David Lamming appeared for NSC on the appeal.

(Note: the Government is about to issue revised guidance to local authorities regarding the staking or laying flat of gravestones in burial grounds. An announcement to this effect was made by Bridget Prentice, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice, in a House of Commons debate on 5 November 2008: Hansard, 5 Nov 2008 Columns 129WH-135WH.) (Click here for full text)

09.11.2008

Chambers and Partners 2009
Sunday, November 09, 2008

This year’s edition of the Chambers and Partners guide was launched on Wednesday 5th November. Chambers improvemed on last year's rankings and this is a tribute to the expertise in our areas of practice across the board in Chambers.

Brief details of the categories where we are mentioned, and who, are below:

1. Administrative and Public Law
Leading Silk; Mark Lowe QC
Leading Juniors; Thomas Cosgrove

2. Consumer
Chambers
Leading Silk; Anthony Scrivener QC
Leading Juniors; Geoffrey Stephenson, Peter Miller

3. Crime
Leading Silk; Anthony Scrivener QC
Leading Junior; Gerard Forlin

4. Environment
Leading Silk; James Findlay QC

5. Health and Safety
Leading Junior; Gerard Forlin

6. Licensing
Chambers
Leading Silks; David Matthias QC, James Findlay QC
Leading Juniors; Philip Kolvin, Karl Davies

7. Local Government
Chambers
Leading Silks; Mark Lowe QC, Morag Ellis QC, Anthony Porten QC, James Findlay QC
Leading Juniors; Ranjit Bhose, Mary Cook, Robin Green, Wayne Beglan, Bryan McGuire, Melissa Murphy, Damien Welfare

8. Planning
Chambers
Leading Silks; Mark Lowe QC, Morag Ellis QC, Anthony Porten QC, Anthony Dinkin QC
Leading Juniors; Mary Cook , Simon Bird, Michael Bedford, Richard Ground, Celina Colquhoun, Thomas Cosgrove

9.Social Housing
Chambers
Leading Juniors: Ranjit Bhose, Bryan McGuire, Kelvin Rutledge, Wayne Beglan, Sian Davies, Jon Holbrook, Peggy Etiebet

Click here for further information.

03.11.2008

Hunting with dogs under the Hunting Act 2004
Monday, November 03, 2008

Anthony Scrivener QC appeared on the BBC’s Countryfile on Sunday 2nd November on BBC 1 advising on the interpretation of the Hunting Act 2004.