He advises, drafts and regularly appears in court and at public inquiries for central and local government and private clients. His work with senior members of Chambers has given him experience of appellate litigation at Court of Appeal and Supreme Court level.
Clients value Alex's analytical ability and forensic approach to the issues. He is often instructed to appear unled against far more experienced barristers including Queen's Counsel.
22nd April 2022
11th January 2021
The Planning Court has dismissed an application for judicial review which sought to challenge and to quash the defendant local planning authority’s decision to grant planning permission for the commercial extraction of crude oil. The claimant’s main argument was that the greenhouse gas emissions from combustion of products for which the oil is a raw material, notably vehicle and aeroplane fuel, must be subject to assessment within the environmental impact assessment (EIA) required before granting permission.
Mr Justice Holgate decisively held otherwise, focusing on the development project itself and holding that these ‘downstream’ emissions are not capable of being indirect effects of the development. The defendant’s EIA obligations did not require it to assess the impact of greenhouse gas emissions arising from the consumption of oil produced at the site, which might take place anywhere in the world. Other grounds, including a claim that the defendant had misinterpreted paragraph 183 NPPF, or that it is not a lawful policy, were dependent upon success in the main ground, and failed.
You can read the article in full here.
This analysis, by Harriet Townsend and Dr Alex Williams, who acted for Surrey County Council (the defendant in these proceedings), was first published on Lexis®PSL on 11 January 2021 and can be found here (subscription required).
18th March 2019
In this article published by LexisNexis, Wayne Beglan and Dr Alex Williams discuss Humber Landlords Association v Hull City Council [2019] EWHC 332 (Admin), [2019] All ER (D) 62 (Mar), a case of practical importance to all public authorities engaged in the drafting or revision of policies.
The judgment serves as a stark reminder of the court's central role in interpreting the policy and, in turn, the primacy of the policy itself. It demonstrates that claimants who rely less on the words of the policy and more on individual council officers' summaries of it are unlikely to advance their cases very far.
You can read the article in full here.
Case: Public Law and Judicial Review, Planning and Environment
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On 16-17 November 2021, the Court of Appeal will hear an appeal against the judgment of Holgate J in R (Finch) v Surrey County Council [2020] EWHC 3566 (Admin). The case....30th December 2020
R (Finch) v Surrey CC [2020] EWHC 3566 (Admin) On 21 December 2020, Mr Justice Holgate dismissed this challenge to the grant of planning permission for the commercial extraction of oil at....Net Zero and downstream emissions in court this week
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On 17-18 November 2020, the High Court will hear judicial review claim CO/4441/2019 challenging the grant of planning permission by Surrey County Council to Horse Hill Developments Ltd for production....