Planning Day 2025
Speakers
Planning and Environment TeamVenue
The Royal College of Surgeons of England, 38 – 43 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, WC2A 3PEFee
From £155 plus VAT
Cornerstone Barristers flagship Planning Day returns for 2025!
Designed for planning specialists, solicitors, consultants and policymakers, this year’s event promises to delve into the hottest topics in planning and environment law.
Topics under discussion include NSIPs, renewables, grid connection, Grey Belt, plus much much more. A full programme can be found below.
Join us after the conference for a complimentary drinks reception, a perfect opportunity to engage with our barristers, gain insights from their expert views in a relaxed setting, and network with fellow planners and solicitors. Plus, as a delegate, you’ll receive an exclusive booklet featuring articles from our esteemed speakers – available only to attendees.
Tickets
Early Bird: £155 + VAT (until 20th October)
Standard: £185 + VAT
Don’t miss this chance to stay ahead in the field. We look forward to welcoming you!
- Programme
09:15am – Registration and refreshments
10:00am – Welcome
Opening remarks from the new joint heads of the Cornerstone planning team, Josef Cannon KC and Robert Williams.
10:15am – Case Law Update
A round up of the most important case law developments from the past 12 months, delivered by Hannah Taylor and Jackson Sirica.
10:45am – DCO decisions: Faster, Higher, Stronger?
This presentation will explore the legislative and policy reforms to the DCO decision making process, and examine whether the NSIP process can be made quicker, delivering more consents, which are better protected from legal challenges, and at the same time achieve high quality decisions that respond to their receiving environments and command respect in the communities that host them. With Michael Bedford KC and Ruchi Parekh.
11:15am – Coffee break
11:45am – Unlocking Renewables and Issues with Grid Connection: Legal Challenges and Future Change
This session will explore delivering renewable energy projects, focusing on common practical issues including the materiality of a nearby grid connection and whether or not the grid connection is part of the same project as the renewable energy production. We will also look ahead to potential future changes in law, policy and practice. With James Findlay KC, Estelle Dehon KC and Jack Barber.
12:15pm – Speeding up delivery of projects: Tackling the Roadblocks
Delays in project delivery continue to challenge planners and developers across the sector — but what are the real barriers, and how can we overcome them? In this session, Clare Parry and Olivia Davies will explore the key factors slowing down delivery, from nutrient neutrality and the reluctance of registered providers to take on affordable housing units, to bottlenecks in the appeals system.
12:45pm – Lunch
01:45pm – Grey Belt: One year on
We reflect on the significant changes to chapter 13 NPPF introduced in December 2024 and discuss their impact one year on, considering the key areas of dispute at appeals. With Ed Grant and Emma Dring.
02:15pm – Drainage and Flood Risk: Recent updates
Sustainable Drainage | Public awareness of the inadequacy of the nation’s sewerage infrastructure has never been higher, and with the effects of climate change becoming ever more apparent there is a pressing need for developers and planning authorities to know with some clarity what a sustainable drainage system looks like. We invite you to follow us into the nation’s sewers and drains and out again as we provide you with the tools to find a sustainable solution to any development site’s drainage requirements. With Harriet Townsend KC.
Flood risk: what constitutes a ‘strong’ reason for refusal? | When does a failure to meet the sequential test constitute a strong reason for refusal for the purposes of paragraph 11 of the NPPF? We look at this and other hot topics in relation to the planning and flood risk policies in the NPPF. With Ben Du Feu.
02:45pm – Afternoon refreshment break – Park View
03:15pm – Keynote: Nick White, Principal Adviser for Biodiversity Net Gain
Dr Nick White will deliver a keynote speech at Planning Day, drawing on his experience working across national and local government, as well as with developers, NGOs, and academia, to advance policy, practice, and standards around biodiversity net gain.
03:35pm – Panel: Development and the natural environment in a period of change
It’s been a whirlwind year for the relationship between development and the natural environment, with high profile litigation on water pollution and nutrient neutrality, a raft of legislative proposals in the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, a Defra consultation on the implementation of mandatory biodiversity net gain just as the new regime starts to bed in, and even more sweeping reforms currently being proposed by the Chancellor. Join Cornerstone Barristers’ Paul Shadarevian KC, Nina Pindham and Dr Lois Lane and special guest Dr Nick White – Principal Advisor on Net Gain at Natural England – to unpack what these changes might mean for developers, local planning authorities, and nature.
04:15pm – Networking Reception