Planning lawyers

Get expert advice on the planning and infrastructure consent regimes

Our specialist team of planning lawyers help clients nationally to achieve their objectives and navigate the complexities of the planning and infrastructure consent regimes.

How our planning lawyers can help you

Our specialist planning lawyers have considerable experience of all aspects of planning and related law, advising both private and public sector clients on major developments and infrastructure projects. We combine a detailed understanding of planning law with both sector knowledge and practical experience. We are team players and pride ourselves on being able to identify and negotiate solutions for clients.

Services offered by our planning lawyers

We provide strategic advice, regularly undertaking legal audits of large planning applications and environmental statements to de-risk major projects and maximise the prospects of obtaining consent.

We routinely negotiate high-value and complex planning and highways agreements and deal with associated highways and rights of way issues.

We are experienced at conducting planning appeals and have an enviable track record in relation to High Court legal challenges in a planning context.

Our team of specialist planning lawyers has advised on numerous urban extension projects and regularly advises both household name residential developers and local planning authorities nationally. In the last 12 months, our planning team has been entrusted to advise on applications for well over 20,000 dwellings.

Our team has strong major infrastructure experience — our planning lawyers have advised on over a dozen development consent order applications for nationally significant infrastructure projects, representing promoters, local authorities and statutory consultees in relation to energy and infrastructure projects.

The team has notable compulsory purchase order experience and is currently advising on the promotion of CPOs for various major development projects, including major highways and regeneration schemes. Our team of planning lawyers also regularly advises on the use of powers of appropriation to deal with adverse third party rights or to de-risk planned developments.

The firm has unrivalled knowledge of advising local planning authorities on large and often contentious developments, including advising in Committee, on Core Strategies and on local government law. This practical experience informs our advice to all clients and greatly assists in identifying solutions for often contentious schemes.

Examples of work undertaken by our planning lawyers

Examples of recent relevant experience of our planning lawyers:

Major residential and urban extension projects

Successfully advising on all aspects of the 4,500 dwelling North East Leicester SUE and various other SUEs.

Highways CPOs

Advising on planning aspects and promoting compulsory purchase orders for the £65 million major highways projects at Junction 10, M6 and for the 3.8km Gedling Access Road.

Development Consent Orders

Currently advising on the DCO application for the 2,500 MW Eggborough Power Station CCGT project and assisting a private sector manufacturer with its proposed energy NSIP. Our lawyers have advised on over 12 NSIPs.

Regeneration

Advising a City Council on a CPO to support delivery of the £1 billion regeneration project, to comprise 1.8m sq ft of science, technology, education and health space.

Energy and waste

Advising a developer and national waste operator on the development of new EfW facilities.

Shale gas

Advising a mineral planning authority on the grant of planning permission for a contentious shale gas scheme.

Commercial

Advising a national food retailer and Royal Mail Group on planning issues relating to sites across the country.

Legal challenges

Successfully defending a statutory review challenge in the Court of Appeal and bringing a successful appeal in the Supreme Court on behalf of a residential developer.

Our other real estate services

Accolades

Straight forward and no nonsense. Full service law firm with highly competent lawyers. Efficient working patterns with good results.
Legal 500 2025
From the outset the litigation team were efficient in communication. They set out all possible options and scenarios and directed myself accordingly. They were thorough in their preparation in presentation my case. They instructed a first class barrister to try my case and overall, my experience was extremely positive.
Legal 500 2025
The team performs diligently in dealing with new lease negotiations, lease renewals, deed of variations, licences to alter and deed of surrender.
Legal 500 2025
Outstanding team quality with a good understanding of our companies needs & aspirations. The team provide clear and concise advice.
Legal 500 2025
The team are really supportive. Their knowledge of the industry is fantastic and they offer good advise, describing different scenarios and potential outcomes. The billing is informative and will also provide full costs to date, which helps in ensuring spend/budgets are managed. Requests for information are dealt with swiftly and information received on return is informative.
Legal 500 2025
Responsive and well-informed with an ability to provide clear, concise advice on a range of issues.
Legal 500 2025
The team are highly knowledgeable and have worked at pace on a complex project. Responses to questions have always been timely and they provide the necessary detail to help inform decisions. The collaboration between the Weightmans team, client and third party has been exceptional, thinking outside the box and weighing up all possibilities to the challenges faced.
Legal 500 2025
Weightmans houses a fantastic team who are always able accommodate your requirements and needs no matter what the issues may be. Their ability to be able to turn matters around quickly and efficiently whilst always ensuring the client's position and interest is protected is outstanding
Legal 500 2025
They are a friendly and approachable practice which in our view makes them stand out. Their capability to be able find resolutions to all issues that may arise is extremely valuable especially when they are faced with situations where there are multiple complexities, difficult opposing parties and challenging legal obstacles to overcome.
Legal 500 2025
Exceptional people who are able to fully understand the matters at hand quickly and are able to provide suitable resolutions. What makes the individuals stand out for me is their ability to translate and communicate issues in a way that is easily understandable to the service area clients whilst at the same time being able to come to an appropriate resolution.
Legal 500 2025
Without the individuals' excellent professional skills and approach we would have not been able to have concluded many of our complex matters successfully. I truly value the commitment and relationship that we have with the organisation and the individuals that we have worked alongside so far.
Legal 500 2025
Weightmans has a good range of staff in the team.
Chambers 2025
They were very responsive and demonstrated commerciality throughout.
Chambers 2025