Practices

Environmental and Planning

Our expertise:

Our Environmental and Planning Group offers sophisticated and strategic advice to a broad spectrum of clients, particularly those in environmentally sensitive businesses such as oil and gas, utilities and power generation, pharmaceutical, waste management, agriculture, marine, minerals development and real estate development.

Renowned for our expertise advising on all aspects of environmental and planning law, we regularly provide advice on emerging issues in both commercial and contentious matters. We help our clients to secure robust planning consents and to deliver energy and roads projects, infrastructure schemes and other developments. We also represent clients at oral hearings, judicial review planning injunction proceedings and defence of prosecutions under environmental and planning laws.

Key areas:

Our Environmental and Planning Group lawyers specialise in European and Irish environmental law, providing advice on:

• Regulatory compliance
• Environmental licensing and permits, including negotiation of EPA financial provision
• Environmental  assessment (SEA and EIA), including judicial review proofing
• Habitats legislation, including appropriate assessment
• Waste management
• Toxic and dangerous substances
• Development on the foreshore
• Contaminated land
• Environmental due diligence
• Advice on REACH regulations
• Advice on WEEE Regulations
• Noise complaints and other nuisance issues
• Litigation, including defending challenges to approvals/consents and defence of prosecutions by local authorities and the Environmental Protection Agency
• Environmental liability, including receiver and lender liability
• Emissions Trading Scheme
• Climate change issues

The group also provides advice to businesses, local authorities and other statutory bodies on all aspects of planning law, including planning applications and appeals, regulatory compliance, unauthorised development and enforcement, section 5 referrals, development plans, local area plans, strategic development zones, transport strategy issues, due diligence and litigation.

Key highlights include advising:   

• Bord na Móna plc. in relation to both contentious and non-contentious planning and environmental aspects of Bord na Mona businesses
• County Councils in relation to planning and environmental aspects on a number of roads projects including advice on development plans, local area plans, CPO, habitats, environmental impact assessment, appropriate assessment and attendance and preparation for oral hearings
• NDFA in relation to relevant planning law matters including planning consent requirements for state authority development
• Shell E&P Ireland in relation to all aspects of the planning and environmental consents for the Corrib Gas Project including  the successful defence of several judicial review challenges
• Transport Infrastructure Ireland in relation to planning and environmental aspects on a number of significant infrastructure projects
• Wind energy projects acting both for developers, purchasers and funders on a number of wind energy projects which included advice on all planning and environmental aspects of projects including section 5 referrals, proposed legislative changes for grid connection and the wind farm planning guidelines