Caroline Daly

• Planning
• Environment
• Infrastructure
• Compulsory Purchase and Compensation
• Rating and Valuation
• Village Greens and Assets of Community Value
• Licensing
• Housing
• Information Requests
• Other Experience

Planning

Caroline has a wide-ranging planning practice and regularly advises on planning matters, appearing for both developers and local authorities in planning appeals, judicial reviews and statutory challenges.

Recent and ongoing work includes:

• Acting as junior to Gregory Jones QC in a judicial review challenging the adoption of a local authority's affordable housing guidance on the basis that the guidance ought to have been adopted as a development plan or supplementary planning document. This case also raises SEA issues.
• Acting as junior to Douglas Edwards QC in the Court of Appeal (Turner v SSCLG [2015] EWCA Civ 582) in which she and Douglas Edwards QC successfully argued that there was no apparent bias on the part of the inspector at the planning inquiry in relation to the proposed redevelopment of the Shell Centre on the Southbank.
• Acting as junior to Suzanne Ornsby QC in a planning inquiry concerning a large edge of settlement housing development, which raised five year housing land supply issues and the weight to be given to an emerging local plan.

Development Plans and Housing Land Supply: Caroline (acting as a junior to Simon Bird QC) is instructed to advise a local authority on the preparation of their development plan documents. She has also advised on fulfilling the duty to cooperate and has been involved in a number of inquiries at which five year housing land supply was at issue.

Enforcement and Certificates of Lawful Development: Caroline has acted as sole counsel in a number of enforcement and lawful development certificate inquiries and hearings. Examples of her work includes appearing for the London Borough of Harrow in an inquiry concerning the application of the decision in Miaris, acting in a hearing concerning the question of whether a swimming pool enclosure was sufficiently permanent and fixed to the ground to constitute 'development', and advising in respect of the change of use of small houses in multiple occupation to separate self-contained flats.

Heritage Assets:  Caroline has a good understanding of the law relating heritage assets. She has advised the owner of a Grade II* listed building located within the setting of a Grade I listed church on the approach that a local authority would take to granting planning permission and listed building consent, with a particular focus on the impact of setting. She has also advised on the extent of the curtilage of a listed building.

Planning Conditions, Planning Obligations and CIL: Caroline regularly advises on the adequacy of planning conditions and planning obligations and is experienced in dealing with Regulation 122 compliance issues.  She also frequently advises on the steps required to discharge planning conditions. Caroline recently advised on the lawfulness of a car free clause in a s. 106 agreement in respect of residential development in a London borough.

Injunctions: Caroline acts in injunction applications under section 187B of the Town and Country Planning Act. She has appeared as sole counsel before the High Court in successful applications for injunctions against gypsies and travellers.

Control of Advertisements: Caroline has experience of the advertising consent regime and has assisted with advising a landowner seeking to appeal against a removal notice issued by a local authority.

Caroline is seconded to the planning department at the London Borough of Bexley on an ad hoc basis, where she provides advice on a variety of planning matters and acts as the legal adviser to the planning committee.  

Environment

Caroline has experience of a variety of issues relating to environmental law.

Recent and ongoing work includes: 

• Assisting with drafting grounds for judicial review on behalf of Friends of the Earth (Northern Ireland) in relation to unlawful sand and gravel extraction at Lough Neagh, the largest freshwater lake in the British Isles. This case involved issues relating to the EIA Directive, Habitats Directive, and obligations under the RAMSAR convention.
• Assisting with drafting an advice on liability for remediation of contaminated land under Part 2A of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
• Assisting with drafting an opinion on the renewal of old mineral permissions and compliance with the EIA Directive.

Infrastructure

Caroline has a keen interest in infrastructure and has worked on a range of infrastructure and energy matters. She has assisted with advising on a development consent order for an electrical system in relation to the adequacy of both the consultation process and the environmental statement.

She also recently assisted with the successful resistance of a s. 288 challenge to the grant of planning permission for the erection of a series of wind turbines with a generating capacity of 49MW in Wales.

Compulsory Purchase and Compensation

Caroline has a strong interest in compulsory purchase matters and is a member of the Young Compulsory Purchase Association Committee.

As a pupil, Caroline gained extensive experience of compulsory purchase issues due to all three of her supervisors being experienced compulsory purchase practitioners. She assisted with petitions before the HS2 Parliamentary Select Committee and with the promotion of a compulsory purchase order relating to a large urban regeneration scheme in south London.

Caroline has also undertaken research for a complicated case in the Lands Chamber concerning injurious affection under s.10 of the Compulsory Purchase Act 1965.

Rating and Valuation

Caroline was instructed (as junior to Richard Glover QC) on Mainline Pipeline v Colston, a case in the Upper Tribunal (which ultimately settled) regarding the valuation of an oil pipeline.

Caroline represents ratepayers in a wide range of contentious and non-contentious rating matters. She regularly appears in the Magistrates' Court on rating matters. She has advised in relation to a number of issues including the backdating of liability, empty rates relief and the setting aside of liability orders.

Village Greens and Assets of Community Value

Caroline is experienced in the law relating to village greens and assets of community value.

She acted (as junior to Douglas Edwards QC) in the Upper Tribunal in Banner Homes v St Albans City and DC [2016] UKUT 0232 (AAC), which was a challenge to the registration of an open area of land as an asset of community value under the Localism Act 2011. Banner Homes was the first case concerning assets of community value to go to the Upper Tribunal.

Caroline has assisted with drafting objections to the registration of a village green, which covered many aspects of the test in s. 15(2) of the Commons Act 2006.

Licensing

Caroline represents the police, local authorities and applicants at licensing sub-committee hearings and on appeal in the Magistrates’ Court.

Recent work includes:

• Advising and acting for a local authority in a prosecution under s. 136 of the Licensing Act 2003.
• Advising and representing a client seeking to retain a 24 hour licence in the London Borough of Islington.
• Advising on deregulated entertainment and noise nuisance.

Caroline has written a series of articles published in the Journal of Licensing.

Housing

Caroline regularly advises on a number of matters relating to the Housing Act 2004. Recent examples relate to:

• The continuation of a local authority's additional licensing scheme for HMOs.
• An appeal against an improvement notice issued as an enforcement measure under Part 1 of the Act.
• The imposition of conditions on a licence subject to a selective licensing regime
• HMO Prosecutions.

Information Requests

Caroline has advised on requests made under the Freedom of Information Act and the Environmental Information Regulations in a variety of fields, including in relation to requests for the disclosure of viability assessments for proposed housing development.

Other Experience

Caroline is currently instructed as a Treasury appointed 'Junior Junior' in Speciality Produce Limited v DEFRA, a Francovich claim brought by a producer organization in relation to the Rural Payment Agency's administration of the EU Fresh Fruit and Vegetables Aid Scheme. 

Caroline is also regularly instructed by the Government Legal Department to work on immigration cases.