Practice Profile
Philip Petchey enjoys unravelling what is complicated, obscure or dense (or all three) and his practice affords him the opportunity of doing so. Thus in R (Newhaven Port and Properties) v East Sussex County Council it was necessary to investigate the law relating to access to the seashore going back to Bracton as well as the power of a corporation in Scotland to grant a servitude, In Evans v Wimbledon and Putney Conservators he had to consider not only the powers of the Conservators under an obscure act of 1871 but also how those powers had been exercised in providing access to a hospital built on an island in the common. In In re St Stephen Walbrook the history of the installation of a painting by Benjamin West in the church in the eighteenth century had to be investigated as well as the circumstances of it being moved in the nineteenth century and removed in the twentieth. And so on. A grasp of the foundations in fact and law of the case under consideration cannot ensure success, but experience shows that it is a good starting point.
- In re St John the Baptist, Penshurst (Court of Arches)
- R (Newhaven Port and Properties) v East Sussex County Council (Supreme Court)
- In re St Stephen Walbrook (Consistory Court of London)
- Evans v Wimbledon and Putney Commons Conservators (Court of Appeal)
- Paddico (267) Limited v Kirklees MBC (Supreme Court)
- R (Barkas) v North Yorkshire County Council (Supreme Court)
- Oxfordshire County Council v Oxford City Council and Robinson (House of Lords)
- R (Beresford) v Sunderland City Council (House of Lords)
- Butler v Derby City Council (Divisional Court) (advertisements and human rights)
- Cheltenham Builders v South Gloucestershire Council (High Court) (village greens)
- R. v Sevenoaks District Council, ex parte Palley (High Court) (decision of local authority not to serve an enforcement notice subject to judicial review)
- Dunster v First Secretary of State (Court of Appeal) (reasons for planning decision)
- R. v Ecclesiastical Committee of the Houses of Parliament, ex parte Church Society (legal challenge to ordination of women)
- R. v Bishop of Stafford, ex parte Owen (judicial review of decision of Bishop not to renew term of office of team vicar)
- Gill v Davies (injunction to restrain ordination contrary to canon law)
- Barnes v Derby Diocese Board of Finance (powers of Church Commissioners under the Pastoral Measures)
- In re Blagdon Cemetery (Court of Arches) (exhumation)
- Meddick v Shiplake Parish Council (Reading County Court) (whether requirement to maintain fencing under enclosure award capable of enforcement)
Philip Petchey has always sought to maintain a broad practice, spanning many areas of Chambers experise. So in planning he appeared in a broad range of cases ranging from a statue of St Walter Raleigh to a superstore. He appeared for Eurotunnel in the promotion of the Channel Tunnel and then for the Government in the promotion of the High Speed Rail Link. He appeared for Network Rail on its proposals to enhance the Thameslink service.
Recently a lot of his practice has concerned town and village greens. There have been seven cases concerning town and village greens in the House of Lords/Supreme Court and he has appeared in five of them. He appeared for the Open Spaces Society as intervener in the litigation over the skateboard park beneath the Queen Elizabeth Hall. He advises and appears in footpath cases; these raise many of the same issues as village greens and are also decided within the framework of a complicated statutory code overlaid upon complicated common law provisions.
He regularly advises on and appears in ecclesiastical cases, both those concerning alterations to churches and also clergy discipline.
Human rights law impinges on all the areas on which he advises and, from time to time, he has had to advise on difficult applications of the Convention to fields in which he practices.
- MA (Oxon)
- Chancellor of the Diocese of Southwark
Latest from Philip
16
Oct' 25Chambers and Partners 2026 Rankings
We are pleased to again be recognised as a leading set for Planning, Environment, Licensing, Rating & Valuation, Ecclesiastical, Local Government and Agriculture & Rural Affairs. We are also delighted to have received 60 individual rankings including 32 for planning.
04
Sep' 25Publication of The NPPF Handbook Today
Chambers is pleased to note the publication of The NPPF Handbook today.
13
Jan' 22Another Case on Curtilage
Can curtilage include land which has no demarcation on the ground? The Open Spaces Society said No, but North Yorkshire County Council disagreed. The upshot was that the Council de-registered the land surrounding three historic buildings on Low Moor, Richmond (Yorkshire) which had no boundary on the ground.
21
Oct' 21Morag Ellis QC to address Ecclesiastical Law Society on “Clean and green – law and the carbon neutral Church”
Morag Ellis QC, Dean of the Arches and Auditor, will speak to the Ecclesiastical Law Society on "Clean and green - law and the Carbon neutral Church." This event takes place on 4 November while the UK is hosting COP26 in Glasgow.
Back to Barristers
25
Mar' 26The Law of Public Rights of Way, Commons and Town or Village Greens Seminar (Hybrid)
The event will be chaired by Douglas Edwards KC a leading silk in this field who acted for the successful appellant in Lancashire CC v SSEFRA [2019] UKSC 58 and has appeared in the recent cases of Cotham School and Strack.
Contributors include Richard Honey KC, Meyric Lewis KC, Philip Petchey, Annabel Graham Paul, Ned Westaway, Charles Forrest, Merrow Golden, Brendan Brett, Michael Feeney, Stephanie Bruce-Smith, Claire Nevin and Armin Solimani.
It is designed to be accessible to lawyers, practitioners and interested individuals at all levels, recognising the wider public interest in the footpath and open space network.
This seminar will address topical issues in the law of public rights of way, common land and town or village greens, including:
- Deregistration of common land and town or village greens
- Trigger events for town or village green applications
- Statutory incompatibility
- Public rights on common land and the implications of Darwall v Dartmoor
- Landowner actions: signs and notices
- The diversion of public rights of way
- The cut-off date for definitive map modification orders and update on the Deregulation Act 2015 amendments
- Section 31, interruptions, and foot and mouth disease in light of Ramblers’ Association
- The King Charles III Coast Path
- The Aarhus Convention
- Review of recent appeal decisions
Practical Information
Date: 25 March 2026
Time: Registration from 10.00am. Seminar from 10.30am to 5.30pm. Drinks reception from 5.30-6.30pm. Refreshments and lunch will be provided.
Venue: The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, Crown Office Row, London EC4Y 7HL or online via Zoom.
Booking and cost: The standard rate per person is £100+VAT for both in person or virtual attendance. A reduced fee of £50 + VAT per person is available for civic and amenity groups. There are a limited amount of free places for local authorities. Please contact Deirdre Mahon to enquire. Please note that payment must be made prior to the event. VAT invoices will be sent by Eventbrite with booking confirmations.