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Carson McDowell is advising on planning permissions for the cross-border electricity interconnector; represents Tesco on planning matters; and has been retained to advise on a large gas storage project. Gary McGhee is ‘a good planning lawyer’.

Cleaver Fulton Rankin delivers ‘excellent service, immediate responses, and excellent business acumen’. It has been representing Belfast City Airport on its runway extension application and proposed amendments; and continued to advise The National Trust on a new visitor centre at the Giant’s Causeway. The group also advises the Department of Social Development on community master planning. Karen Blair has ‘a lot of expertise on environment matters’, and is ‘diligent, well organised, polite and knowledgeable’.

Consultant David Flinn is the key contact for A&L Goodbody Northern Ireland’s environmental and planning practice. The team advised Invest NI on planning consents by applicants seeking funding; SITA (UK) on the arc21 waste project; and Contour Global regarding an energy facility in Lisburn.

Arthur Cox remains busy on waste projects, notably arc21 and SwaMP2008, and is advising a consortium on judicial reviews relating to a proposed waste-to-energy plant. Alastair Todd now heads the team, after Claire Duffy joined the Attorney General’s office.

McGrigors Belfast LLP’s Sam Beckett is ‘a very good litigator for judicial reviews’, recently advising Invest NI in that area and also on strategic land acquisitions. Ian Huddleston advised BGE on implementing natural gas transmission infrastructure.

Tughans recruited Andrew Ryan (‘a good environmental lawyer’) from Carson McDowell in April 2010 to head its newly formed environment and planning practice. Highlights included advising Schrader Electronics on the End of Life Vehicles Directive; representing Irish Recycling Services Ltd on planning permission for a waste-to-energy plant; and B Mullan & Sons Ltd regarding a proposed landfill site.

Leo Brown is Elliott Duffy Garrett’s contact for project planning.

Johns Elliot’s Ronnie Robinson has acted on several planning-related judicial reviews.

At Mills Selig, Bill McCann’s property practice encompasses planning work, most recently for a retail store site.

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Legal Developments in the UK

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