Sasha Blackmore

Planning

Sasha advises on all aspects of planning and compulsory purchase law and appears regularly in the High Court, Court of Appeal and inquiries and hearings.

Over the past five years, Sasha has developed particular expertise in housing cases particularly High Court challenges and advising on matters relating to a five year housing land supply. She was instructed in one of the first cases to have considered the operation of s.106B of the TCPA 1990. Sasha also has a range of experience in enforcement cases, ranging from enforcement inquiries to obtaining a committal order. Her clients include major institutions, local authorities, central Government, major housebuilders, and small and large NGOs.

Sasha also has a marine practice in planning law, having advised on marine aspects of DCOs, and acts regularly for the MMO in relation to marine licences for planning developments (and other development).

Sasha frequently advises local authorities on planning law claims which have been issued against them. She gives practical advice as to the prospects of success, recognising when a case should be robustly defended and where it is in a council’s best interests to concede swiftly or reach other appropriate settlement, limiting costs. In 2015-2016 for example, a number of cases have been conceded on her advice at an early stage with no order for costs against the Local Authority concerned, and other cases potential claimants have not issued claims on receipt of the defendant’s response to the pre-action protocol letter before claim. Local authorities Sasha has advised since 2015 include Bath and North East Somerset, St Albans, Southwark, Camden, Stroud, Tower Hamlets, Hackney and Maldon.

Sasha advises on a wide range of planning matters. 

Notable advisory work includes:

• Advising major land-owner on multi-billion controversial plan for infrastructure to support net zero ambitions
• Advising developer on new garden village development of 15,000 homes with contested Gypsy &Traveller relocation
• Other Gypsy & Traveller work
• Advising in multiple complex cases of interpretation of planning consents on schemes seeking challenging development including major business estates in London and the South East (owners and local authorities)
• Advising in complex enforcement cases of major mixed-use or composite sites (for owners and local authorities)
• Advising in flood-risk cases (owners and authorities)
• Advising on use of Assets of Community Value and Village Green applications (owners, applicants and public authorities
• Advising on new Fire Safety policies in the new London Plan including acting in contested Inquiry.

Planning Appeals, Inquiries and Hearings

Environmental inquiries:

• Fowles Crushed Concrete Ltd APP/EPR/578. Sensitive Inquiry into one of London’s largest waste sites of significance to the Agency’s regulatory approach across England, and acted successfully in subsequent High Court challenge[CO/1538/2022] (against Richard Harwood KC in High Court)

• Feeder Road APP/Z0116/W/21/3279920. Important inquiry for Environment Agency objecting to major development in flood zone (against John Litton KC)

Enforcement Inquiries:

• Our Lady Roman Catholic School APP/C5690/W/20/3245112 - complex enforcement inquiry where Enforcement Notice upheld for demolition of a primary school. Successfully defeated challenge in the High Court marked as “significant” against Jonathan Jones KC
• Complex mixed use sites e.g. acting for owner in APP/W3005/C/19/3235042 - commercial uses of residential site
• Acting for local authority in Units B3 – B14 Suttons Business Park APP/B5480/C/20/3263118 - complex interpretation of consents in enforcement context to Ground B and C appeals
• APP/R5510/C/19/3235757 - Gypsy and Traveller and mixed use site
• Range of substantial waste cases e.g. APP/B5480/C/19/32364000 - a London site.

Controversial development:

• Brunswick Centre APP/X5210/W/21/3277179) Sasha Blackmore is against Reuben Taylor KC (previously against Paul Tucker KC). Acting in a long-running and complex matter about the Brunswick Centre, now proceeding in the High Court as a “significant” planning case. The case is about whether a 2003 consent’s condition can exclude new UCO rights
• Malmsbury Estate APP/X0360/W/19/3224329, Russian oligarch’s applications in Green Belt

Heritage Inquiries

• Former Saville Theatre APP/X5210/W/19/3243781 (against Christopher Katkowski KC). Major high-profile Inquiry on Shaftesbury Avenue as to whether the former Theatre (of Beatles fame) should become a luxury hotel, in which the Statutory Consultee (Theatres Trust) appeared at Inquiry for the first ever time
• Crookham Care Village APP/N1730/W/18/3216181 large housing scheme with significant impact on heritage assets and character
• Richborough Estates APP/C1625/W/15/3133335 major housing scheme with impacts on Grade 1 listed Berkley Castle.

Housing inquiries:

• Gondar Gardens APP/X5210/W/18/3198746, complex high-profile planning inquiry to demolish a reservoir and nature reserve for luxury housing complex, subsequently pursued in the High Court. Sasha successfully defended 16 reasons for refusal (against Sasha White KC) including the first ever successful defence on accessibility grounds
• Other care home developments including Oakwood Methodist Church APP/Q5300/W/18/3197451 - successfully defended refusal on care home site including inadequate affordable housing contribution
• Housing inquiries on green field development eg raising habitats issues Gladman Developments Ltd APP/U/1240/W/17/3169111GLADMAN - Sasha acted for Natural England appearing for the Local Planning Authority.

Public and Administrative

Sasha undertakes a variety of public law work which is at the heart of her practice, including central and local government, freedom of information, immigration, education, mental health, social security, prisons, transport as well as planning and environmentally-related public law. She has a long-standing interest in environmental and planning law, and her judicial review practice extends broadly to issues arising in social security law, equality and discrimination law (she is on the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s Panel of Counsel).

Sasha has appeared before all levels of Appellate Court and regularly appears in the High Court in judicial review and statutory planning appeal matters, in her own right and when being led by senior counsel. Her clients include government, individuals, property developers, local authorities and NGOs. As well as her long-standing interest in environmental and planning law in this area, she also has a keen interest in education, immigration and social security/welfare rights law and has recently appeared in the Supreme Court in relation to Child Tax Credits. She has experience of all types of school appeals and has been involved in immigration appeals to the courts and a variety of First Tier and Upper Tribunal work (for both Claimants/Appellants and for the Secretary of State). She also undertakes rating work.

Notable advisory work includes:

•  A range of A1P1 cases
• Covid-19 Inquiry Team for Dept of Health, leading on Adult Social Care
• Advising BEIS in complex long-running compensation schemes (£multi-million)
• Advising Parish Councils in a range of matters; (5) Advising DWP in significant compensation and recoupment cases
• Advising in significant rights-based cases against multiple Government bodies (led by Sir James Eadie)
• Advising in sanctions work for the UK
• Advising Department of Education in Mobile Phone Masts cases (conflict of domestic jurisdictions)
• National Security work.

Other public law, including social security and education and care standards law, ratings and other public law

Sasha appears regularly for a variety of claimants and defendants in other public law matters. Her clients include individuals, small or larger local groups, Parish Councils, local government, central government, the police, companies and devolved administrations or non-departmental public bodies.

Her experience in planning and environmental-related public law work is summarised above, and also includes advisory work on assets of community value (including judicial review proceedings). This also includes information-rights based work, and Sasha has advised on both appeals to the Information Commissioner and appeals under the DPA as well as access to information under the Environmental Information Regulations.

Sasha has a particular interest in equality and the protection of the vulnerable, particularly cases impacting on women and the regulation of when professionals are able to work with children or vulnerable adults. She appears regularly for the Department of Work and Pensions in the Upper Tribunal on social security and child benefit matters, and also accepts instructions from individuals (often on a pro-bono basis) in the same area. Sasha acts regularly for the Department of Work and Pensions and also does a number of pro-bono cases a year for individual claimants.

Recent reported cases of interest in this area include Kuteh v Secretary of State for Education [2014] EWCA Civ 1586 (and successfully defending the decision in the Care Standards Tribunal in 2015 and Upper Tribunal in 2016) and a range of cases for the DWP in the Upper Tribunal, including Pirroni v DWP CE/2966/2014and Taylor and Coombs v SSWP (RNIB intervening) (judgment awaited) and cases involving child support. She also appeared for Mr Humphreys in Humphreys v HMRC [2012] UKSC 18 in the Supreme Court (led by Richard Drabble KC) as to the apportionment of Child Tax Credit for substantial minority carers on subsistence benefits on the basis of discrimination between men and women. Sasha sat on the Neuberger Entry to the Bar Working Party group, set up to try to improve access to the Bar, and is one of small number of barristers appointed to the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s Panel Counsel in 2015.

Sasha has acted in a variety of prison law cases, for the Parole Board, and for the Police, including recent High Court challenges to a prison adjudicator’s decision about the meaning of a “fight in prison, the scope of the MoJ’s discretion to release on licence, and challenges to the police’s discretion in relation to maintaining data on its database and issuing harassment notices.

Immigration

Sasha is highly experienced in judicial review challenges to a variety of immigration matters. The majority of Sasha’s immigration practice is for the Secretary of State, but she also accepts instructions for both individuals/businesses. She is currently appearing in the Court of Appeal Italy returns litigation, led by Lisa Giovannetti KC. She appears in over a hundred oral permission hearings a year in both the High Court/Upper Tribunal and the Court of Appeal. She has significant experience in revocation of sponsorship licences, unlawful detention, fresh claims, Article 8 challenges, point based system challenges and “Third Country” removals (usually Article 2/3 based) and Gurka claims, as well as claims to entitlement to British citizenship.

Environment

In the environmental field, Sasha undertakes a range of environmental litigation and advisory work in the domestic and EU law spheres. She has particular experience of issues relating to marine licences, access to environmental information and the Aarhus Convention. Her experience includes environmental impact assessment, strategic environmental assessment, climate change, many aspects of energy projects renewables, pollution prevention and control, waste, and criminal prosecutions under the Environmental Protection Act for the Environment Agency and the Town and Country Planning Act for local authorities.

Her clients include local authorities, major companies, individuals and NGOs, as well as the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Marine Management Organisation, the Department for the Environment (Northern Ireland) and Natural Resources Wales. She has appeared both in her own right on a large number of cases and inquiries and has also been lead in major applications and appeals. In environmental-related planning matters, Sasha undertakes a wide range of advisory and inquiry work. Her experience includes advertising, housing development, planning appeals including on conservation and wildlife, EIA/SEA, listed building and design grounds, as well as on village greens, compulsory purchase and gypsy appeals.

Sasha has a strong personal interest in environmental-related matters in public and planning law, and spent time on a Pegasus scholarship in Australia and New Zealand examining their system of environmental and planning courts. She has a masters’ degree in sustainable development, and was also until recently a Trustee and Director of Forum for the Future and a Trustee and Director of the United Kingdom Environmental Law Association as a member of the Governing Council.

Notable advisory work includes:

• Strategic advice in major Government Fisheries policies following EU-exit and in multiple marine matters including across Select Committee Inquires
• Advice on the application of the precautionary principle in strategic policy
• Advice in complex cases of animal welfare and sentience
• Advice to Government in litigation context as to vehicle emissions standards
• Strategic advice on international Conventions in the marine environment (e.g. OSPAR, UNCLOS, London Convention, MARPOL) 
• Advice on Low Traffic Neighbourhood schemes
• Advice in range of Harbour matters.

Cross-practice

Landmark's barristers often work at the intersection of our core practice areas; bringing a wide range of skills, knowledge and experience to bear on a particular dispute or issue facing a client.

Our focus is always on achieving the best possible outcome for our client. By viewing the client's objectives in a holistic way - and not purely through the lens of one rigidly-defined legal area - we deliver the best possible advice and representation in complex matters that engage multiple specialist areas of law. 

Whether it's providing support as an individual cross-practice barrister or a cross-disciplinary team of Landmark counsel, we are able to draw on an outstanding array of complementary skillsets and knowledge bases. This often achieves a better result than instructing multiple barristers from different specialist sets. This also improves the quality of client care through increased levels of communication, quicker response times, and a coordinated approach to clerking and fees, made possible by our team-based cross-practice approach.

Please contact our practice management team for more information.

EU Law post-Brexit