Stephanie Hall | Manchester, Leeds & Birmingham

Stephanie has particular experience of large scale projects including power stations, rail and road projects and energy schemes. She has successfully represented appellants, local authorities and statutory consultees as sole counsel and as junior both at planning inquiries and hearings including:

• successfully representing the Theatres Trust in relation to the proposed redevelopment of a listed cinema on Shaftesbury Avenue, London
• representing Bolton Council at a called-in inquiry concerning a large logistics development in the Green Belt
• representing a developer at linked appeals in Basildon which would collectively see the redevelopment of the whole town centre including several tall buildings, thousands of homes and commercial floor space
• advising a Sussex authority in relation to their emerging local plan
• successfully representing Sport England at a major inquiry into proposed development of playing fields for an extra care scheme.

Stephanie has also provided written advice and advice in conference in relation to a wide range of planning matters including prospects on appeal, CIL charging schedules, neighbourhood plans including advising clients and drafting objections, local plans including the lawful adoption of DPDs and SPDs and various aspects of the GPDO and 1990 Act.

Stephanie’s ongoing work includes representing a housebuilder at a large multi-disciplinary inquiry and several ongoing legal challenges in the High Court concerning major redevelopment projects in Manchester and London.

Infrastructure

Stephanie has experience and accepts instructions in relation to a variety of major infrastructure projects including those proceeding via all main consenting regimes i.e through Parliament, under the 2008 Act and TWAOs. She therefore has experience of a wide variety of infrastructure projects and the resulting compulsory purchase of land including:

• Wylfa Newydd Nuclear Power Station DCO: acting as sole counsel for an objector wishing to amend the Order to provide for worker accommodation for 3500 staff to be turned into sustainable homes after the project.
• Strategic Rail Freight: acting as sole counsel for the planning authority in relation to a TCPA scheme for a strategic rail freight interchange.
• HS2: Stephanie was instructed as sole counsel on two petitions at the Commons committee stage of the HS2 Bill; both clients obtained a successful outcome and for a client in the Lords where she successfully overcame the Government’s challenge to the locus of the client and assisted in obtaining the desired outcome for the client overall.
• Silvertown Tunnel DCO: Stephanie has ongoing instructions as sole counsel representing the London Borough of Southwark at DCO hearings and advising the Council on their written submissions throughout the Examination.
• Acting as sole counsel for two major commercial clients in relation to the Bank Station Capacity Upgrade TWAO, both of whom reached successful negotiated settlements.
• Onshore Wind: experience of both the Electricity Act regime and under the TCPA 1990.
• Gas and energy: Stephanie has advised in relation to gas and energy projects including gas peaking plants and a number of solar farms.

Trees

Stephanie has a busy specialist tree practice after initially working closely with Charles Mynors prior to his appointment to the Law Commission. Stephanie has been successful in challenging a number of TPOs on behalf of developer clients via s.288 challenges where the TPOs were preventing the development of important sites. Stephanie has also successfully represented defendants being prosecuted by LPAs in the Magistrates’ and Crown Courts for carrying out works to trees on their land and regularly advises on all areas where trees interact with the development of land.

Stephanie has advised both individuals and planning authorities on compensation, the extent of historic tree preservation orders, the removal of protected trees and the recovery of compensation for damage to trees on behalf of local authorities using the CAVAT system.

Stephanie has experience of CPOs and compensation matters proceeding in the Upper Tribunal. She is currently providing ongoing advice to Blackpool Council in relation to a major town centre CPO to deliver the regeneration of an allocated site for mixed uses including three indoor theme parks of national significance.

Stephanie has advised on numerous schemes across the country including in Westminster, Islington, Lancashire and Suffolk and supported the acquisition of land for a variety of projects including housing, schools, road schemes, energy projects, leisure uses and city regeneration.

She has also advised landowners and acquiring authorities on strategy, compensation issues and other matters including arising from the compulsory acquisition of land pursuant to CPOs and DCOs.

Village Greens and Commons

Stephanie has represented both applicants and objectors to village green applications including at inquiry. Most recently, Stephanie successfully acted for a Council seeking to resist the registration of an area of adopted highway verge as a town or village green and has previously successfully represented a Council resisting registration of a Council-run sports ground.

Planning court work, JR and injunctions

Stephanie regularly appears in the Planning Court and Queen’s Bench Division. She has experience of both bringing and defending proceedings including successfully defending challenges to Councils’ decisions to grant planning permission and in bringing claims against such decisions. She has several ongoing cases in the High Court due to report in 2022.

Recent cases include:

• R (Macintosh Village Management Ltd) v Manchester City Council [2021]
• R (Asda Stores) v Leeds City Council [2021] EWCA Civ 32
• R (Thompson) v Gwynedd Council
• Dunne v Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
• Care (UK) Ltd v Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
• R (Bedford Estates Bloomsbury) v LB Camden

Stephanie also has a particularly busy practice in obtaining High Court injunctions on behalf of local authorities. Stephanie has thus far been successful in obtaining every injunction sought including seeking to halt the creation of Gypsy and Traveller sites and prevent unauthorised works to listed buildings.