Busy, busy, busy

The lapse of time between posts on this blog is an indication of the way my work is building up at the moment. It just keeps coming in.

Client confidentiality prevents my writing about my current matters in any detail, but I reflected the other day that I currently have three different cases running which involve development on the sites of former coal mines, each in a different coalfield and entirely unconnected with each other. Unrelated matters seem to come in groups like this; I still have two aviation-linked cases running (having had several others in the recent past), and a little while back I had a number outdoor advertising cases to deal with, including advertising on BT phone boxes and some big ‘shroud’ adverts on buildings in course of refurbishment.

It is the sheer variety of planning matters that makes working in this field so interesting and, despite the recession, I still have a number of housing developments on the go, as well as several single dwellings. Some are appeals, others are applications which need to be carefully steered through the planning process; hence the involvement of a planning lawyer at an early stage – a wise precaution, and probably cheaper for the client than letting it go pear-shaped and then having to run an appeal.

Needless to say, a lot of my work involves enforcement and compliance issues, including disputes over the lawful implementation of planning permissions, discharge of conditions and so on. There is certainly no sign of any fall-off in the demand for legal help in those areas.

All this is a rather lengthy excuse for the apparent reduction in the frequency of posts on this blog recently, but I still hope to keep the flow of news and comment going. There is certainly no shortage of raw material, and we shall soon be poring over the draft Decentralisation and Localism Bill. Judging by the almost unanimous chorus of dissent which greeted the government’s proposals when they were announced, it is likely to be extremely controversial.

© MARTIN H GOODALL