Camille Richards is a second six pupil at Cornerstone Barristers accepting instructions across all areas of chambers work, with a particular interest in planning and environmental law, property, housing and public law.
Prior to her call to the Bar, Camille worked as a planner for the Trinidad and Tobago government and at the London offices of Roger Tym & Partners. She also has over seven years of experience in property management and lease administration, having dealt with contentious landlord-tenant matters as a Property Officer managing a portfolio of state-owned business parks in Trinidad and Tobago. In her BPTC year she worked as a volunteer assisting solicitors at the North Kensington Law Centre with the assessment of prospective housing legal aid clients. Camille has several years of experience working alongside the senior judiciary in the Royal Courts of Justice as a Judge’s Clerk and as a High Court Judicial Assistant.
She holds a first-class BSc in City and Regional Planning from Cardiff University and achieved a Distinction in MSc Development Administration and Planning from UCL.
Camille completed the first four months of pupillage under the supervision of Sarah Salmon and is currently being supervised by Nina Pindham and Emmaline Lambert.
Expertise
- Public Law and Judicial Review
Camille is interested in building a broad practice including public law.
Early in her first six, she assisted Sarah Salmon with drafting a skeleton argument and post-hearing costs submissions in a complex appeal to the High Court by way of case stated in Lewis v Francis and Borie [2025] EWHC 17 (Admin). The case concerned a costs order made against a private prosecutor in the Magistrates’ Court under s.19 of the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985 following failed statutory nuisance proceedings.
The case focused on important issues such as the duties applicable to a private prosecutor in statutory nuisance proceedings, the impact of costs orders against private prosecutors on the use of the citizen remedy for statutory nuisance provided under s.82 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, and whether costs of an appeal in the High Court against a decision in the Magistrates’ Court should be considered under the civil or criminal costs regime.
- Planning and Environment
Camille is keen to draw upon her experience as a planner and build a practice in planning and environmental law.
In her first six, she drafted a skeleton argument resisting a judicial review challenge to the grant of planning permission for expansion of a caravan park development in Wales. Camille also marshalled with Mrs Justice Lieven on a major air pollution judicial review case concerning the London Borough of Havering’s decision not to designate a site in Rainham, formerly used as an illegal dump, as contaminated land.
She conducted legal research and drafted advice on:
- The applicable planning enforcement time limit under s.171B of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 for operational development carried out in breach of an extant planning permission;
- Whether a local planning authority has any legal basis to charge applicants for legal costs associated with the preparation and completion of s.106 agreements;
- The merits of two grounds of challenge in a potential judicial review against the grant of planning permission for a 49.9MW solar farm in Nottinghamshire; and
- Strategic solutions to the control of water discharge activities.
During her time at the Royal Courts of Justice she worked closely with Sir Keith Lindblom, Senior President of Tribunals, preparing case notes and assisting with the review and finalisation of judgments for several significant planning and environmental law cases including:
- C.G. Fry & Son Ltd v Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities [2024] EWCA Civ 730 (appeal to the Supreme Court outstanding) – concerning whether appropriate assessment under the Habitats Regulations can be required at the discharge of conditions stage;
- Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities v Caldwell [2024] EWCA Civ 467 – regarding planning enforcement time limits and the correct interpretation of the Murfitt principle;
- R (Strack) v Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs [2024] EWCA Civ 420 – regarding deregistration of a village green;
- R (Global Feedback) v Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs [2023] EWCA Civ 1549 – considering whether the duty under s.13 of the Climate Change Act 2008 applied to the preparation and adoption of SSEFRA’s Food Strategy;
- R (Together against Sizewell C Ltd) v Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero [2023] EWCA Civ 1517 – judicial review challenge to the grant of a development consent order for a new nuclear power plant; and
- R (Fiske) v Test Valley Borough Council [2023] EWCA Civ 1495 – solar farm judicial review challenge on whether the local planning authority was bound to consider a planning application’s incompatibility with an earlier planning permission on the same site as a mandatory material consideration.
- Housing
Camille is accepting instructions on housing matters in her second six. She gained broad exposure to housing law in her first six including possession claims, homelessness, disability discrimination and housing conditions. Based on her experience as a property manager she has a particular interest in housing fraud and matters arising from the Building Safety Act 2022.
Under the supervision of Sarah Salmon, she has:
- Drafted a research note ahead of a hearing in the First-tier (Property) Tribunal (‘FtT’) on determining the principal accountable person (‘PAP’) under the Building Safety Act 2022, and considering whether there can be more than one PAP for a higher-risk building (‘HRB’);
- Conducted legal research on how to effect service out of the jurisdiction in the FtT in the absence of express provisions in the Procedure Rules, and assisted with resolution of the issue of service to a party with no UK address by locating a UK-based agent whose address the FtT judge accepted for service;
- Drafted advice on an Equality Act 2010 disability discrimination claim brought against a housing association;
- Drafted advice on the potential risks and the options available to a housing association seeking to address severe building defects in an HRB containing numerous leasehold flats;
- Been exposed to issues under the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 in the context of Coastal Housing Group Limited and ors v Mitchell and ors [2024] EWHC 2831 (Admin);
- Drafted a skeleton argument and advice on the merits of a claim for costs following the compromise of proceedings in a homelessness appeal under s.204 of the Housing Act 1996; and
- Drafted a defence and counterclaim resisting possession proceedings on the basis of disability discrimination and a breach of the landlord housing association’s duties under the Equality Act 2010.
- Licensing
Camille is happy to accept instructions on licensing matters. During her first six she gained exposure to several cases in this area:
- An appeal in the Magistrates’ Court against the revocation of a taxi licence for excessive speeding;
- An appeal against the revocation of a sexual entertainment venue (SEV) licence based on a breach of ‘no-touching’ conditions; and
- A review by a council’s licensing sub-committee of a restaurant licence prompted by longstanding complaints of severe noise nuisance affecting nearby residents.
- Information Law
Camille welcomes instructions on Information Law matters. During her first six, she drafted a response to a letter of claim against a state agency alleging misuse of private information and a breach of the first and sixth data protection principles under GDPR articles 5(1)(a) and (f) respectively through the internal distribution of an employee’s document in processing an internal transfer request.
- Property
Camille welcomes instructions on property matters and, based on her involvement in legal research and drafting advice on matters relating to the Building Safety Act 2022, is particularly keen to focus on cases relating to this new legislation.
During her first six, she conducted legal research and drafted an opinion advising on whether proprietary estoppel or a common intention constructive trust could be relied on by a leaseholder to establish an interest in property which had been sold to the freeholder on the basis that a trust, which never materialised post-sale, was to be set up for the joint benefit of the freeholder and the leaseholder.
With over seven years of experience in property management, Camille brings a practical perspective to her approach to property cases. As a Property Officer she worked with in-house counsel to understand the company’s legal position and devise strategies for dispute resolution. She liaised directly with tenants to deal with disputes over rent reviews and service charges, as well as breaches through rent arrears, unauthorised subletting, and unauthorised changes of use.