David Elvin KC > Chambers of David Holland KC and Jenny Wigley KC > London, England > Barrister Profile
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David Elvin KC
Position
David Elvin QC was called to the Bar in 1983 and took silk in 2000 and is called to the Bar of Northern Ireland. He is a bencher and member of the Middle Temple and a member of the Inn of Court of Northern Ireland. He was awarded the Bar Prize for Finance, Commerce & Industry in 1982. He was named as the Silk of the Year 2008 in Environment and Planning at the Chambers & Partners Bar Awards and has been nominated on several other occasions.
He specialises in planning, environmental and public law (including most aspects of local government, highways, compulsory purchase & compensation) as well as property related matters and the human rights and European Union law aspects of those areas of practice.
David appears frequently in court and at inquiries at all levels and before many different tribunals. During his time as Treasury counsel, he appeared in many planning and public law cases and acted for a wide range of government departments and bodies. Since taking silk he has appeared in the High Court, Court of Appeal, Supreme Court, European Court of Human Rights and European Court of Justice. He has also appeared on judicial reviews in the High Court and Court of Appeal in Northern Ireland and is acting in the Court of Appeal in Hong Kong.
He is regularly listed as a leading specialist in a number of fields in the main directories including the Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners (where he is named as a leader in 6 practice areas and in 2016 as a star individual in Planning).
Recent work has including a wide variety of significant planning, environmental and compulsory purchase cases. Recent CPO work has included town centre regeneration schemes most recently promoting the Croydon Whitgift Centre CPO (confirmed in September 2015) and the Mayor of London’s first CPO at Ealing Southall (to facilitate a large housing development). His work in that context includes issues concerning best value, EU state aid and procurement: see R. (Gottlieb) v Winchester City Council [2015] EWHC 231 (Admin).
Earlier regeneration work has included promoting the Liverpool One Scheme and the Winchester Silver Hill CPO Scheme 2012 as well as successfully opposing Manchester’s CPO of the former London Road Fire Station. Major infrastructure work has included promoting the Crossrail Bill in Parliament for DfT as well as opposing the HS2 scheme (both in the Courts and in Select Committee), acting and advising on DCO matters (including Covanta’s Brig y Cwm scheme, Hinckley Point C, the Thames Tideway Tunnel, the M4), advising on the Mayor’s proposed Thames Estuary Airport, Gatwick and at the recent George Best Belfast City Airport inquiry into noise restrictions. He is also experienced in waste issues having acted in a number of waste and energy from waste projects including the successful defence of the Calvert EfW plant for Bucks County Council in 2013 (Prideaux [2013] Env. L.R. 32) and of the South London facility at Beddington (R. (Khan) v Sutton LBC[2014] EWHC 3663 (Admin)). In addition to CPO and regeneration work, David also undertakes compensation work including in respect of electricity wayleaves: see Arnold White Estates Ltd v National Grid Electricity Transmission Plc [2014] Ch. 385 and Stynes v. Western Power [2014] R.V.R. 15. He is due to appear in the Court of Appeal in Hong Kong in CLP Power Hong Kong Ltd. v. Commissioner of Rating and Valuation in January 2016.
David has also continued to advise and act frequently on other environmental issues including EIA, SEA and habitats in England, Wales and Northern Ireland: For example, in 2013 he acted for the NI DOE in relation to proposals near the Giant’s Causeway (JR by the National Trust) and for the NI Department of Regional Development in the Alternative A5 Action Alliance’s Application for Judicial Review [2013] NIQB 30 and, most recently, in successfully defending DOE’s decision on habitats and EIA grounds in Newry Chamber of Commerce and Trade’s Application for Judicial Review [2015] NIQB 65. He is currently advising on the enforcement action and judicial review concerning habitats issues arising from sand dredging at Lough Neagh. He continues to act for the horse racing industry in opposing housing development in Newmarket (most recent inquiry in 2015) following the quashing of the local housing policies in Save Historic Newmarket [2011] J.P.L. 1233. In the Court of Appeal David has recently appeared in Ashdown Forest Economic Development LLP [2015] EWCA Civ 681 where be obtained the quashing of part of the authority’s core strategy for breach of SEA requirements and in R. (Larkfleet Homes Ltd) v Rutland CC [2015] EWCA Civ 597 where the Court considered the relationship of neighbourhood plans to the general development plan statutory framework and SEA. In Savage v. Mansfield DC [2015] EWCA Civ 4 David successfully defended on appeal the dismissal of a judicial review relating the effect of a draft proposal to extend the Sherwood Forest SPA. He is also advising on the interaction of CIL, habitats issues and biodiversity offsetting.
David’s current work also includes acting for the City of London Corporation and LB of Southwark with regard to their disputes with TfL over the transfer of London highways at arbitration and at an appeal hearing in the Chancery Division (October 2015), for the City of London concerning the proposals to undertake safety works to the ponds on Hampstead Heath (R. (Heath & Hampstead Society) v City of London [2015] P.T.S.R. 987) and for TfL on Crichel Down issues.
David is also Chairman of the St Paul’s Covent Garden Millennium Trust.
Career
From 1991 to 2000, David was one of the Treasury counsel having served as a member of what is now the “A” Panel of Treasury Counsel from 1995 until taking silk in 2000.
Appointed a recorder in 2001, in May 2008 he was appointed a Deputy High Court Judge in the Queen’s Bench Division including the Administrative Court. December 2008 saw David appointed as a member of the Boundary Commission for England with effect from 12 January 2009. In 2000 he was appointed as an Assistant Boundary Commissioner in 2000 and had conducted an inquiry into, and reported on, the East London Parliamentary constituencies in 2001-2. He also sits as an arbitrator and is a qualified ADR Group Accredited Mediator.
Education
David Elvin received a BA (First Class) in Jurisprudence (1981) and a BCL (1982) from Hertford College, Oxford.
Lawyer Rankings
London Bar > Environment
(Leading Silks)Ranked: Tier 1David Elvin KC – Landmark Chambers ‘David is a formidable barrister to have on your side.’
Landmark Chambers is ‘a leading set on environmental matters‘ with ‘an incredibly deep bench of expertise‘. Gwion Lewis KC is representing the Environment Agency in longrunning litigation arising from its decisions to set low catch allocations for salmon fishing in the River Wye, involving claims of alleged human rights breaches. David Elvin KC is ‘a superb advocate at the top of his game‘, and James Maurici KC‘s workload includes climate change, air quality, waste and habitat and species protection issues. The ‘robust‘ Heather Sargent is sought after for her extensive experience in advising on EU environmental matters. Bolstering the team at the senior end, Alex Goodman KC was elevated to silk in March 2023.
London Bar > Planning
(Leading Silks)Ranked: Tier 1David Elvin KC – Landmark Chambers ‘David remains at the top of his field and one of the pre-eminent planning barristers in the UK. He is a clear, incisive and skilled in his cross-examination, with a remarkable grasp of a variety of technical issues in even the most complex cases. David leads from the front.’
Landmark Chambers is a ‘go to’ set that ‘is unequalled in depth in the planning field’. The chambers has an established reputation in the development sector, while also carrying out significant work in the government and local government space. The set’s ‘enviable choice of counsel, both junior and senior’, appears in significant inquiries, promoting large urban extensions, as well as major mixed-use developments and tall buildings. Heather Sargent acted for Marks and Spencer after its application to demolish and rebuild its flagship store at Marble Arch, Oxford Street was called-in by the Secretary of State; Matthew Fraser represented the main objector, SAVE Britain’s Heritage, during the two-week public appeal. Fraser, led by David Elvin KC acting for Horse Hill Developments, was also one of several members involved in R (Finch) v Surrey County Council, a case concerning the scope of environmental impact assessments of hydrocarbon extraction projects, and its application – Richard Moules KC represented the Secretary of State in the same case Court of Appeal and led Nick Grant in the ongoing appeal in the Supreme Court. Timothy Corner KC led Guy Williams KC in Secretary of State for Transport v Curzon Park Ltd & others, representing the Secretary of State in the Supreme Court in a case concerning if CPO valuations should be increased by nearby planning applications. Tim Mould KC, as was, was appointed as a High Court Judge, effective February 2024.
London Bar > Local government (including rating law)
(Leading Silks)Ranked: Tier 3David Elvin KC – Landmark Chambers ‘An impressive intellect and ability to identify critical issues, both in writing and in court.’