Peter Wadsley (Head of Practice Group)
Call 1984 (Middle Temple)
Qualifications MA, LLM (Cantab; Post-graduate Certificate in Environmental Law (Bristol University)
Professional Memberships PEBA, Planning & Environment Bar Association
(Formerly a practising solicitor and a partner in a commercial and licensing practice in Bristol)
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Areas of Practice
Peter Wadsley is a barrister specialising in Planning & Local Government Law, Environment Law and Licensing. He heads the Public & Administrative Law Practice Group at St John’s Chambers.
The Legal 500 describes him as “regarded as the leading planning junior on Circuit”.
Planning & Local Government Law, Environment Law and Licensing
- Appeals to High Court and Judicial Review of Planning and other Local Authority decisions.
- Advising on and/or attending at many Public Inquiries in relation to Residential, Commercial and Leisure Developments.
- Listed Buildings/Conservation appeals
- Enforcement Notice appeals
- Wind Farm Inquiries and Appeals (including Court of Appeal)
- Major housing developments
- Industrial/business parks
- Lectures to Local Government Training Forum and other training bodies.
- Highway inquiries, for local authority and other parties relating to the creation and extinction of public rights of way and appeals to the High Court.
- Local Government work generally, including advice to local authorities on their statutory functions and duties; noise abatement appeals (for authorities and applicants) and other statutory appeals.
He has acted for developers and local authorities and third parties and is happy to advise on all aspects of these areas.
He has recently acted for three local authorities in major wind farm appeals in the West Country and in respect of three major housing inquiries where viability in the present economic climate was a central issue.
Licensing
Peter also has extensive experience in alcohol, entertainment and gaming licensing, dealing with many applications and objections on behalf of national companies and individual applicants. He also acts on behalf of police authorities, and local authorities in bringing and defending appeals in the Magistrates’ Court and High Court both in alcohol licensing and other areas. In the past he has acted for applicants and licensing justices and others in appeals to the Crown Court. He initially gained a substantial proportion of this experience as a practising solicitor.
He has lectured at the CLT Planning Conference in 2008 and recently spoken at the CLT Licensing Conference in 2009 and the Institute of Licensing Conference in 2009.
He has acted in other statutory appeals both in the Magistrates’ Court and the Crown Court – e.g. in noise abatement and taxi licensing cases.
Peter was Co-Chairman at the Central Law Training Annual Alcohol and Entertainment Licensing Conference in 2005 and has since spoken at the 2006 and 2007 CLT Conferences. He was also speaker at the Gloucestershire Licensing Forum in 2004.
Planning & Environment: Major Inquiries Undertaken
He has undertaken a large number of major inquiries including (under the pre-2004 Act regime) a large number of Local Plan Inquiries for local authorities and developers all over the South West. These included Minerals and Waste LPIs.
Other inquiries have included a project for the largest holiday village complex in England at South Molton in Devon; a number of retail superstore inquiries in Stroud, West Wiltshire, North Devon and North Somerset: major motorway service area inquiries in Stroud and South Gloucestershire; highway inquiries in the South West including the Barnstaple Western By-pass (Devon CC) and the Gloucester South-West By-pass (Gloucestershire CC) and many major housing enquiries in the South West., including most recently 3 major inquiries where the consideration of viability in the present economic climate was a fundamental issue – primarily in relation to the provision of affordable housing.
Minerals inquiries have included a gravel pit inquiry: Test Valley, Hampshire; a Ball-Clay Inquiry (Devon County Council); open cast coal Inquiry (Gloucestershire County Council); sand and gravel inquiry in Norfolk; Mineral Local Plan for Gloucestershire County Council.
Alternative Energy inquiries have included ten Wind Turbine Inquiries: six in North Devon, one in Shoreham, Sussex, one in Stroud, one in Cornwall and one in Torridge. The most recent three included an inquiry in the South Hams which resulted in the dismissal of the appeal, the rerun of the Denbrook inquiry and the Bickham Moor/Three Moors inquiries – the last two of which remain to be determined.
Waste Inquiries include three in Norfolk, one in North Somerset and also the North Somerset and Gloucestershire Local Plan Inquiries.
Peter also has considerable experience of prosecuting and defending in regulatory work in planning and environmental work and also in trading standards and related areas.
Notable Cases
- Welton v. Nort Cornwall DC [1998] 1 WLR 1285 (CA) – duty of care of local authority under Hedley Byrne v Heller principle and is for acts of officer “advising” member of public when exercising the local authority’s statutory functions.
- R. (Gloucestershire CC) v. SSETR [2001] 82 P. & C.R. 171 – status of footpath destroyed by river-bank erosion; whether the footpath could move with the bank; whether the public were entitled to pass into a new line of footpath because of the destruction.
- Hart District Council v. Benford [2006] EWHC 240 (QB) – on the grant of injunctions under Section 187B Town & Country Planning Act 1990 where motor cross racing, practising and testing is involved and whether such activities attract 14 or 28 day rights under the General Permitted Development Order 1995 Part 4 Class B
- East Dorset DC v. Eaglebeam Ltd. [2006] EWHC 2378 (QBD) – regarding the grant of an injunction to stop an alleged statutory nuisance under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and the operation of the legal defences to such an injunction application.
- R. (Port Regis School) v. North Dorset District Council [2006] EWHC 742 (Admin) – on planning applications where Masonic activities are involved and two of the Council determine the applications were Masons and whether there was apparent bias.
- R. (on the application of Carroll) v. South Somerset DC [2008] EWHC 104 (Admin) – a slightly unusual claim for judicial review, seeking to quash an allegedly erroneous grant of planning permission made by the South Somerset District Council when the Council had failed to follow its own procedures. The application was by the leader of the Council.
- R. (North Devon District Council) v Secretary of State for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform [2008] EWHC 1700 Admin – proper approach by SoS and Inspector to the application of policy in the context of noise and wind turbines; whether SoS properly applied policies on noise and on targets in respect of wind turbines; whether he acted fairly in applying a new technical report not discussed at the Inquiry without giving the parties a chance to comment on it first; whether he consequently struck the right balance.
- R. (Bristol City Council) v. Bristol Magistrates’ Court [2009] EWHC 625 Admin – proper application of sections 17-18 Licensing Act 2003; whether Magistrates had properly considered the applicant’s operating schedule; whether this had properly applied the law and Guidance; costs, application of Bradford MBC v. Booth.
Direct Access
Peter is qualified to undertake Direct Access work in appropriate cases, for further information, please visit our Direct Access page.
Recommendations
Legal 500 2011
- Peter Wadsley, “brings clear and concise thinking to the table”, and is recommended for planning matters.
Legal 500 2010
- St John’s Chambers’ Peter Wadsley is the leading planning junior on the circuit.
Legal 500 2009
- St John’s Chambers’ Peter Wadsley appeared recently in the Fullabrook Wind Farm Inquiry.
Legal 500 2007
- Peter Wadsley is “a specialist in the planning field, highly respected by colleagues, thorough, very swift to respond; he has a confident and commanding presence”.
Legal Experts 2007
- Recommended in Property, Planning and Construction.
