Josef Cannon KC

> People > Barristers > Josef Cannon KC

Josef Cannon KC’s practice at the Bar focuses on town and country planning, licensing and public law work. He was appointed King’s Counsel in 2024. He is co-chair of the Cornerstone licensing team and a member of the cross-disciplinary practice group Cornerstone Climate.

He acts for and advises a wide range of local authorities, the licensed trade, developers, regulatory bodies, landlords and private individuals. He is also an accredited mediator, with particular expertise in mediating disputes in the public sector, particularly where they relate to planning or licensing.

Josef is a graduate of King’s College, London, and was called to the Bar by Lincoln’s Inn in 2002.

Legal 500 recognises him as a leading silk in both licensing and planning, and describes him as “A first-rate member of the planning bar, [with] a stunning ability as both an advocate and a lawyer”. Chambers and Partners notes his “very commercial mindset”, and that he is “efficient and easy to deal with”.

For licensing he represents all sides of the licensing debate with a particular specialism in noise-related matters, sex licensing and outdoor music festivals; his planning practice is broad, but Joe has particular expertise in residential development appeals involving housing land supply issues.

Josef also has experience of regulatory work (including significant experience prosecuting and defending environmental matters) and continues to be instructed by those involved in landlord and tenant disputes.

Josef graduated in 2017 from the acclaimed accredited mediation course at Regents University, led by the late Paul Randolph. He mediates all forms of dispute but has particular expertise in the fields of planning, licensing and the public sector, where he is able to bring to bear his knowledge of those fields from his practice at the Bar.

Josef also regularly lectures and gives seminars on the benefits of using mediation to resolve disputes in the public sector and is committed to increasing the number of such disputes that are settled via mediation.

In 2020, he and three colleagues began producing the UnPlanned podcast, focusing on issues and practice at the planning bar in a light-hearted and relaxed format.

Expertise

Planning and Environment
Josef advises and represents all sides in town & country planning and environment matters and is recognised as a leading planning silk in Chambers & Partners and the Legal 500. Prior to taking silk, he was identified as one of the top planning juniors in Planning Magazine’s annual survey of the Bar.

He is a contributor to Cornerstone on the Planning Court.

In recent times, he has:
- Successfully defended, on behalf of the Secretary of State, the approach taken by a Planning Inspector to the calculation of local housing need in unusual circumstances where the authority had taken on a portion of a neighbouring authority’s unmet need.
- Appeared for the claimant local authority in a significant Planning Court claim concerned with the treatment of past over-delivery of housing against its annual target.
- Obtained a consent order on behalf of his local authority client in a high-profile High Court challenge as to whether the definition of ‘deliverable’ in the NPPF was a ‘closed list’ of site types (the consent order quashed the decision, which had been unfavourable to the authority).
- Acted for Maldon DC in the High Court and Court of Appeal, defending a judicial review challenge to its grant of planning permission for a new dwelling in the countryside;
- Defended a judicial review of East Suffolk’s decision to grant planning permission for a new activities lake at a children’s adventure facility on the Suffolk coast;
- Advised and represented a local authority during examination of its emerging local plan in the lead-up to a move to unitary status;
- Acted for a number of Essex authorities in a series of high-profile inquiries into proposed residential schemes, including issues of housing land supply, transport impact, landscape, heritage, sustainability and ecology, as well as advising on strategy generally;
- Secured, including via mediation, a successful outcome in a highly controversial enforcement case involving a large and modern new house in a North Norfolk village.
Planning enforcement

Josef is regularly instructed in enforcement cases, ranging from householder extensions and changes of use to gypsy and traveller sites, and more recently questions relating to the ‘prior approval’ provisions in the GPDO. He regularly appears in the High Court on applications for injunctions and committals, and prosecutes and defends breaches of enforcement notices in the magistrates’ court, as well as conducting hearings, inquiries, and advisory work across the field of enforcement.

Green belt and countryside

Much of Josef’s planning experience involves the question of protection of the Green Belt and countryside. His residential workload is invariable relating to greenfield (and often Green Belt) sites. He also has experience of cases involving the re-use of buildings in the Green Belt, and development within National Parks. He recently successfully defended a refusal of permission for 195 homes in the Hertfordshire Green Belt, as well as the refusal of a scheme for new housing on an allocated site on the edge of Oxford.

Housing

Josef’s main workload relates to planning for housing, ranging from the small scale (a terrace of four houses in a conservation area in Norwich) to the large scale (in several recent inquiries for large numbers of housing units in the countryside in the south-east, involving considerations of impact on landscape, heritage, questions of housing land supply and conformity with local plans). He is particularly experienced in matters concerning 5-year supply of housing land and housing need. He has advised and represented both developers and planning authorities in numerous cases involving the provision of housing, including affordable housing.

The historic environment

Josef has been instructed in a number of cases involving both listed buildings and conservation areas. He successfully resisted the insensitive redevelopment of a large hall in Essex on the basis of its inappropriate reconfiguring of the farmstead layout, defended refusal of a scheme for housing immediately adjacent to a registered Park and Garden, and has advised and represented both sides of the dispute in appeals involving heritage assets, ranging from a proposed driving range on the edge of a conservation-area village in Cheshire to a proposed retirement village in the former parkland setting of a Listed Building.

Environment

Josef advises and represents all sides in environmental matters, both in respect of planning but also on the regulatory side. In particular he has:
- Particular experience of, and interest in, enforcement cases, including enforcement appeals, s.215 notices and under environmental legislation;
- Conducted a number of complex appeals against Abatement Notices, including against a large landfill operator;
- Represented a local amenity group at the Public Examination of the Surrey Waste Plan;
- Appeared at numerous appeals before Inspectors; and
- Appeared in and advised upon challenges under s.288, 289 and in judicial review.
Environmental prosecutions

Josef has extensive experience of environmental enforcement including prosecutions in the magistrates’ court in respect of matters under the Environmental Protection Act and in particular in respect of waste.

Please see Josef’s case: Wandsworth LBC v Rashid

Habitats and species protection

Josef has extensive experience of dealing with the European legislation on habitats and species protection in respect of his planning practice, including involving the Thames Basin Heath Special Protection Area and the Essex Coast. See his planning practice for more details.

Noise

Josef’s mix of planning and licensing work means he is highly experienced in litigating and advising on matters of noise. He advises and represent clients in litigation involving noise abatement notices and other matters relating to noise and the Environmental Protection Act. He has advised a local authority on a noise abatement notice and enforcement powers in respect of a concrete crusher on a large industrial estate, a private resident living adjacent to a noisy tennis coaching operation, and has experience of noise cases ranging from crowing cockerels through barking dogs to music festivals and industrial noise.
Licensing
Josef is co-chair of the Licensing Team at Cornerstone Barristers.

He advises and represents local authorities, responsible authorities, the licensed trade and objectors on all matters under the Licensing Act 2003, the taxi licensing regimes, and in respect of sex licensing. He has appeared before very many Licensing Sub-Committees across the country, and on appeal before Magistrates’ Courts, as well as in the High Court on judicial reviews; and has also acted as Legal Advisor to Sub-Committees. He regularly trains and lectures on licensing law and the implications of the Licensing Act, as well as on related matters such as taxi and sex licensing and gambling.

He is recognised as a leading silk for licensing by Chambers & Partners (“admired for his personable advocacy style”) and the Legal 500 (“very thorough, with excellent advocacy skills.”)

In particular, he has:
- Appeared in the High Court in judicial review proceedings in respect of Sex Entertainment Venue licences, including:
- R(KVP ENT Ltd) v South Bucks DC [2013] EWHC 926, concerning the interface between planning and licensing of sex entertainment venues;
- R(Bean Leisure Trading A Ltd) v Leeds CC [2014] EWHC 878 (Admin), on the question of challenges to refusals of sex entertainment venue licences based on policy considerations; and
- R (CDE) v BCP Council [2023] EWHC 194 (Admin) on the crossover between sex entertainment licensing and the PSED
- Appeared for Uber in its litigation in respect of the interpretation of the Private Hire Vehicles (London) Act 1990 and the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 vis-à-vis the duties of ‘operators’.
- Successfully defended the first appeal in the country against interim steps (on a summary review of a premises licence) having been imposed pending appeal against revocation.
- Successful defended a challenge by way of case stated to the decision of a District Judge in the Magistrates’ Court to revoke the licence (and ‘shadow’ licence) of a premises that had become an unsafe venue for women.
- Defended, in the Magistrates’ and Crown court, a decision to revoke the licence of a taxi driver who had been accused (but not convicted) of child sexual grooming.
- Obtained licences for those promoting music festivals across the south-east and beyond.
- Advised local authorities on their new Statements of Licensing Policy;
- Acted regularly for the Metropolitan Police in respect of reviews and other licensing matters within London;
- Acted as junior counsel in the high-profile litigation concerning Fabric nightclub in London; and
- Acted for a number of local authorities in conjunction with Trading Standards teams in connection with under-age sales of alcohol.
He is a contributor to Philip Kolvin’s book Licensed Premises: Law Practice and Practice (Bloomsbury, 2013), and to Gambling for Local Authorities, Licensing, Planning and Regeneration (Institute of Licensing, 2007). He also co-edited the Licensing volume of Atkin’s Court Forms. Josef also regularly writes for the Journal of Licensing on various topics relating to licensing.
Public Law and Judicial Review
Much of Josef’s practice in the areas of licensing, planning, housing and judicial review involve questions of public law. He appears in courts of all levels litigating public law matters and advises on a broad range of public law questions and advises and represents both claimants and respondents in judicial and statutory review cases, particularly involving local authorities, and where the subject matter is related to his core areas of practice.

Often his practice brings together questions of both public and private law and the breadth of his practice means he is in a good position to accommodate that requirement.
Commercial and Regulatory
- Overview
- News
Josef retains a busy civil practice, covering most aspects of civil litigation from contractual disputes to injunctions, mediations, arbitrations and boundary disputes. He has a particular interest in alternative dispute resolution, especially by mediation.

Arbitration and mediation
Josef is a mediator, which makes him particularly able to represent clients in ADR proceedings ( as well as act as a mediator in difficult disputes involving his areas of expertise and beyond). He recenty acted for a Norfolk authorty in a highly controversial and acrimonious planning enforcement case which went to mediation; and a compromise was reached. He also has experience in arbitration, having advised in a number of cases and appeared as junior in a multi-million pound commercial arbitration involving a local authority.

Land and property disputes
Although the majority of Josef’s experience in respect of land and property is either housing- or planning-related, he also has experience of advising and representing parties in property disputes including issues over boundaries and rights of way. He is regularly instructed in the First Tier and Upper Tribunals, and has particular interest in disputes over service charges in residential properties. He recently acted pro bono for a Southwark resident and won a substantial discount on his service charges in respect of heating and hot water.

Regulatory law
Josef has acted in a large number of appeals against Abatement Notices under the Environmental Protection Act 1990; he also prosecutes and defends in the magistrates and crown courts, often in cases involving public authorities. He is also appears regularly in benefit fraud, planning and licensing matters for and against local authorities. He has also appeared at inquests on health and safety matters. He appeared (successfully) in Wandsworth LBC v Rashid [2009] EWHC 1844 (Admin), concerning the local authority’s waste enforcement policy and abuse of process.
- Josef Cannon to be appointed King’s Counsel19 Jan 2024
- Cornerstone Leisure Newsletter February 201701 Jan 2018

The perfect package – he wears his fierce intellect lightly, is charming, personable, great with the clients.
Legal 500 (2025)

He has mastered the art of persuasion.
Legal 500 (2025)

His mix of great legal knowledge and demeanour are a winning combination in all areas, but particularly in court.
Chambers UK Bar (2025)

Clear, compelling and personable advocacy with a clear strategy. He has an authentic voice and a forensic approach to cross-examination.
Legal 500 (2024)

Josef's depth of knowledge in licensing is vast and his robust and balanced approach to cases is invaluable.
Chambers UK Bar (2023)

He is very easy to work with and brilliant with clients.
Chambers UK Bar (2023)

Joe is a first rate member of the Planning Bar. He is personally charming, polite and courteous to a fault. However that belies a stunning ability as both an advocate and a lawyer.
Legal 500 (2021)

About Josef

Client Testimonials
- “This was an important case for us, and we have a highly satisfactory outcome. Our thanks go to Josef, instructed by Vanessa Blane at LGSS Law, who provided clear, timely, and expert advice that gave us the confidence to proceed” – Paul Bland BA (Hons) MRTPI, Head of Planning Services, East Northamptonshire Council
- “Anyone needing a barrister in any of these fields (planning and licensing) need look no further. First-class barrister in first-class Chambers!” – Client
Directory Quotes
- Planning – “He can also play hardball when necessary.” “Joe can cut right through to the issues, but is fair and reasonable with it.” “He’s persuasive and is able to think quickly on his feet.” “He can also play hardball when necessary.” “Joe has an easy and friendly manner which combines with his quick and incisive grasp of each case.” Chambers and Partners 2025
- Licensing – “Joe is brilliant.” “His mix of great legal knowledge and demeanour are a winning combination in all areas, but particularly in court.” “He stands out from his opponents as being more polite, gracious and knowledgeable.” “Joe is very confident and well regarded.” “He has an instinct for how local authorities will react, a deep understanding of licensing law and practice, and is practical and pragmatic.” Chambers and Partners 2025
- Planning – “The perfect package – he wears his fierce intellect lightly, is charming, personable, great with the clients.” Legal 500
- Licensing – “He is persuasive in writing and even more so in court. He has mastered the art of persuasion.” Legal 500 2025
- Licensing – “Very bright and good with clients.” Chambers and Partners 2024
- Planning – “Josef Cannon’s legal knowledge was great and he knew the planning law trends.” Chambers and Partners 2024
- Planning – “Clear, compelling and personable advocacy with a clear strategy. He has an authentic voice and a forensic approach to cross-examination.” Legal 500 2024
- Licensing – “Josef is a very congenial junior, who is also pragmatic and good with clients”. Legal 500 2024
- Licensing – “Very approachable, very attractive advocacy style, non-confrontational, but highly persuasive.” “Josef’s depth of knowledge in licensing is vast and his robust and balanced approach to cases is invaluable to ensure that the council is represented and supported well.” “He is very sensible, pragmatic and a very good cross-examiner.” Chambers and Partners 2023
- Planning – “Josef has provided very strong advice and quick responses to our queries. He deals with the examination of witnesses and cross-examination very well.” “He is very good at inquiries.” “He is very easy to work with and brilliant with clients.” “He is a good calming person to work with.” Chambers and Partners 2023
- Licensing – “Incredibly approachable advocate, with a style committees appreciate. Has achieved great results in very challenging circumstances.” Legal 500 2023
- Licensing – “He is comfortable either advocating or opposing applications.” “He has a gift for summarising the key determining issues with calm courtesy, ordering the issues in a logical sequence. His judgement is both firm and practical.” Chambers and Partners 2022
- Planning – “Joe’s knowledge of planning law, his calm professional manner and his ability to immediately grasp the point make him stand out.” “He is highly personable and very popular with clients.” Chambers and Partners 2022
- Licensing – “Excellent, thoughtful manner in front of committees. Stays calm and make key points well.” Legal 500 2022
- Planning – “He’s a real people person – very approachable and easy to work with, with a good sense of humour, and very popular with clients. He makes you feel like part of the team when cases are in court. He has an inclusive approach which is really appreciated. He is persuasive without being unnecessarily adversarial.” Legal 500 2022
- Licensing – “Handles a diverse array of work including judicial reviews, local authority prosecutions and events licence applications. His recent significant cases include those concerning serious taxi licensing revocations and appeals. Cannon primarily acts for councils and public bodies and is admired for his personable advocacy style. Strengths: “He is very efficient and effective and he pays attention and understands the client.” Chambers and Partners 2021
- Planning – “A well-regarded junior with a strong inquiries practice. He is regularly instructed in cases regarding housing schemes and developments in the Green Belt. Strengths: “He has a very commercial mindset. He naturally thinks about the client’s objective and helps to strategise.” “He is efficient and easy to deal with.” Chambers and Partners 2021
- “Josef has great charisma and a wonderful style that proves very persuasive with committees.” “He is a rising star in licensing and is comfortable either promoting or opposing applications.” Chambers and Partners 2020
- “Goes beyond what is required for the client – you can be assured of an excellent service”. Legal 500 2020
- “He has an acute legal and forensic mind”. Legal 500 2020
- “Mr Cannon is very approachable and has a relaxed attitude when talking to clients, which helps settle them in court.” “A barrister who never gives up and is very tenacious, he adapts according to which tribunal he is in front of. He is very persuasive and people want to listen to him.” Chambers and Partners 2019
- “Excellent command of the subject area in his advocacy.” Legal 500 2018
- “Bright, hardworking and highly effective.” Legal 500 2018
- “He gives no-nonsense, practical advice, he bears in mind the economics of the situation, he’s very good with clients, and he’s always prepared to go the extra mile.” Chambers and Partners 2018
- “He’s very personable, he’s incredibly likeable, and the court warms to him. Whatever he does is effective.” Chambers and Partners 2018
- “He has a calm demeanour and commands clients’ full confidence.” Legal 500 2017
- “Good on his feet.” Legal 500 2017
- “He is an extremely effective cross-examiner.” Chambers and Partners 2017
- “He always provides a first-class service. He has the local knowledge, is politically aware and adds value.” Chambers and Partners 2017
- “Always very well prepared, but able to think on his feet should an unexpected or difficult issue arise.” Legal 500 2016
- “He is empathetic with clients and operators.” Legal 500 2016
- “He is very personable and pitches his case at the appropriate level.” “He is good in front of both committees and courts.” Chambers and Partners 2016
- “He is extremely knowledgeable and able to think on his feet.” Legal 500 2015
- “Always goes the extra mile, and is the instructing solicitors’ dream counsel.” Legal 500 2015
Services
Josef is an experienced and effective trainer. He regularly travels across the country training councillors, licensing officers and other lawyers on the licensing environment (including the sex entertainment venue licensing and taxi regimes). Between 2010 and 2012 he co-ordinated and delivered the Certificate of Licensing Law course at the University of Westminster.

He can provide tailored training sessions, from large scale seminars to practical workshops.
Associations
- Institute of Licensing (IoL)
- Planning and Environment Bar Association (PEBA)
- Administrative Law Bar Association (ALBA)
Publications
Notable Cases
Events