Thomas Cosgrove KC > Cornerstone Barristers > London, England > Barrister Profile
Cornerstone Barristers Offices
2-3 GRAY'S INN SQUARE
LONDON
WC1R 5JH
England
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Thomas Cosgrove KC
Work Department
Planning and public law
Position
Leading planning and public law barrister appointed King’s Counsel in 2017. His work typically entails leading multi-disciplinary teams of experts in relation to development and infrastructure projects as well as providing early tactical advice and written/oral advocacy at inquiries or in court. Tom aims to add value to his clients’ work and deliver a very high quality service drawing on his extensive experience across a range of sectors.
Tom provides an unstuffy approach that understands his clients and their needs, providing them with clear and comprehensible advice. He has extensive experience of planning inquiries and related high court statutory challenges. Tom acts for both private clients (including several of the leading housing developers) and planning authorities. He has recently been involved in major planning inquiries concerning residential schemes in England and advising private clients on strategic planning in the context of emerging local plans and infrastructure projects.
Tom is regularly instructed in relation to major proposals concerning heritage assets and large scale commercial developments. He has a wealth of experience of large scale renewable energy proposals and of promoting and resisting development proposals in countryside areas of outstanding natural beauty, national parks and the green belt. Tom regularly appears in the higher courts.
Editor and co-author of Cornerstone on the Planning Court.
Career
- Called 1994, Inner Temple.
- Appointed Silk in 2017
- Appointed as Joint Head of Chambers at Cornerstone Barristers since 2020
Memberships
- Vice-Chair Planning and Environment Bar Association (PEBA) (2022-)
- Barrister Governing Bencher of the Inner Temple (2020-)
- Member of Bar Standards Board Professional Conduct Committee (2013-2017)
- Administrative and Constitutional Law Bar Association (ALBA)
Education
St Edwards School; Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge (1993 BA Hons Law; 1997 MA); Evan Lewis-Thomas Law Scholar 1993.
Leisure
Golf, fly-fishing, cricket, painting.
Lawyer Rankings
London Bar > Planning
(Leading Silks)Ranked: Tier 3Thomas Cosgrove KC –Cornerstone Barristers ‘Tom is an impressive advocate, with an eye for detail. He is excellent with clients.’
With ‘strong barristers at every level of experience‘, Cornerstone Barristers is involved in ‘very high-profile planning challenges‘, handling cases from the inquiry stage up to the Supreme Court. The set’s ‘real expertise in planning law‘, complemented by its proficiency in public law, property, energy, and local government law, makes it a ‘growing force in planning‘. Compulsory purchase and compensation cases is another area of expertise for the chambers. Thomas Cosgrove KC, leading Ruchi Parekh, successfully overturned a High Court decision on behalf of Mid Suffolk District Council in R (Thurston Parish Council) v Mid Suffolk DC and Bloor Homes, a significant Court of Appeal case within the planning arena on the distinction between interpretation and and application of planning policy. Several members have been involved in the Sunnica Energy Farm nationally significant infrastructure project; Michael Bedford KC appeared in the development consent order examination on behalf of Suffolk County Council, with Edward Grant and Parekh representing West Suffolk Council at the ongoing hearings. Harriet Townsend led for the local authority in R (Finch, on behalf of the Weald Action Group) v Surrey CC, arguing that, when considering an application for the commercial extraction of oil, it is not necessary to conduct an assessment of the emissions and climate impact of any subsequently manufactured products, as any such impact would not be an effect of development.