Emma is a Senior Associate in the Development and Planning teams.
Experience in providing planning support to landowners, developers and funders across a wide range of sectors including residential, telecommunications, commercial, retail, leisure and energy. This includes securing significant employment and residential development via infrastructure agreements and planning obligations; providing strategic advice on planning applications to minimise possible claims for Judicial Review; advising on telecommunications infrastructure including permitted development rights and applications for planning permission; advising on Community Infrastructure Levy issues and on enforcement proceedings and appeals. Emma also provides advice on town and village green applications, heritage buildings and undertakes planning due diligence for funders of development.
With specialist knowledge of telecommunications infrastructure, Emma has acted for a number of residential management companies in the successful prevention of telecommunications equipment being located on property. She also advises regional Code Operators and telecommunications providers in relation to permitted development rights and enforcement action. Emma is known for providing strategic commercial advice to clients based on an understanding of their objectives.
Clients include international retailers, UK developers and regional offices of national house builders, as well as SME’s, private estates and high net worth individuals.
Examples of how Emma has supported clients include:
- working with an international retail client in connection with the development of a new store in South Yorkshire, including strategic advice and the securing of a section 106 Agreement required to alleviate concerns raised by Sports England in relation to the planning application;
- assisting in the development of a new motorway service station with particular advice on complex highways and other infrastructure agreements and strategic traffic signage agreements with parties that included Highways England and Leeds City Council;
- advising a national house builder client in relation to a potential claim for judicial review for a significant residential development site in West Yorkshire, including the specific advice on the discharge of conditions and noise issues and the potential implications of a re-plan application for part of the site;
- acting on behalf of a number of London residential management companies in making successful representations on applications for prior approval and planning permission to prevent the development of telecommunications equipment on or adjacent to their properties;
- working with a significant London land owner in relation to planning agreements for mixed use retail and hotel development, and retail, leisure and residential development across its portfolio of properties located in Ealing and East Ham. These related to issues of affordable housing provision, development viability and the increasing importance of carbon offsetting for developments pursuant to climate change planning policy; and
- acting for a developer client on a complex highways agreement and amendments to a planning agreement required in order to facilitate a substantial employment and residential development in West Yorkshire.