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About
Provided by Constanze Bell
Practice Areas
Planning & Environment, Public Law, Local Government & Licensing
Career
Constanze practices in all areas of town and country planning law, including in the specialist areas of compulsory purchase and highways. Her clients include developers, local planning authorities and local action groups. She regularly appears in inquiries as an advocate and is instructed to both bring and defend statutory challenges in the High Court. She has a busy advisory practice and regularly assists with complex enforcement cases, submissions for local plan consultations and advice regarding prospects of success on appeal. Constanze is one of the 'Highest Rated Planning Juniors under 35' and a āTop-rated Planning Juniorā (2022 Planning Resource Planning Law survey).
She was appointed to the Attorney Generalās Regional Panel in April 2018 and to the Panel of Special Advocates for Health & Safety and Environmental Law in March 2019.
She is Assistant Editor of the third edition of Patterson and Karim on Judicial Review. She is a Specialist Contributor to the judicial review chapter to Bullen & Leake (First Supplement, 19th Edition). She is also a member of the Kings Chambers author team who write for and produce the quarterly bulletin for the Encyclopaedia of Local Government Law.
Constanze is a member of the Environmental Law Foundation and is willing to consider acting pro bono when instructed by ELF in appropriate cases.
Constanze is a founding member and committee member of the āWomen in Planningā networkās Yorkshire branch. She was recognised as a āWoman of Influenceā in The Planner magazineās 2022 survey.
Professional Memberships
PEBA (Planning & Environmental Bar Association)
ELF (Environmental Law Foundation)
Women in Planning
Northern Circuit/ North Eastern Circuit
Publications
Lowrison Bell, C. Judicial Review. In: Bullen & Leake & Jacobās Precedents of Pleadings. First Supplement, Nineteenth Editions, London: Sweet & Maxwell.
Lowrison Bell, C. Practice and Procedure. In: Karim KC, S. and Lowrison Bell, C. eds. Patterson & Karim on Judicial Review. Third Edition, London: Jordan Publishing.
āLocal Authoritiesā Investigative Powers in Trading Standardsā, (November 2019) Encyclopaedia of Local Government Law Bulletin, Sweet & Maxwell
āCivil Restraint Orders in Law and Practiceā, (August 2019) Encyclopaedia of Local Government Law Bulletin, Sweet & Maxwell
āR. (oao Hollow) v Surrey CC [2019] EWHC 618 (Admin): Case Commentā, (March 2019) Encyclopaedia of Local Government Law Bulletin, Sweet & Maxwell
Legal Landscape, āCommunities & Decision Makingā, (May 2019), The Planner magazine, (republished by The Consultation Institute in their digital newsletter, June 2019)
Bell, C., Sustainable Development in English Planning Policy: A Lawyerās Perspective, WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Volume 217, WIT Press, 2018, ISSN 1743-3541 (presented as a paper at the 10th International Conference on Sustainable Development & Planning at the University of Siena, Italy)
Work Highlights
Recent hearing and inquiry work includes:
A planning enforcement case concerning whether there was an MCU from a dwellinghouse to a care home and, if so, whether planning permission should be granted.
A s.78 appeal regarding a residential development next to a haulage yard and the āagent of changeā principle.
A s.78 appeal concerning human rights and the PSED where the proposals concerned would lead to the dissolution of a well-established community.
CPO inquiries regarding the acquisition of derelict and empty properties.
Residential planning appeals for major residential development in South Ribble and West Berkshire (junior to Christopher Katkowski KC).
Residential development of the last vacant plot on the Newcastle Quayside (junior to Paul G Tucker KC).
Recent court cases include: acting for the successful claimant in R (oao Rodwell) v St Albans City and District Council [2021] EWHC 2009 (Admin) concerning the adequacy of the reasoning to grant planning permission; appearing for Liverpool City Council (junior to Paul Tucker KC) in (R (LOGS) v Liverpool CC & Redrow Homes Ltd [2020] EWCA Civ 861 concerning the interpretation of Liverpoolās āgreen wedgeā policies; and R v Roderick Bloor [2020] EWCA Crim 402 concerning the amount of a fine imposed for failing to comply with an enforcement notice.
Experience
Before coming to the bar Constanze worked in the NGO sector. She was part of the legal team for āControl Armsā, a coalition of NGOs working to secure a human-rights orientated Arms Trade Treaty and attended the July 2012 Arms Trade Treaty Diplomatic Conference and negotiations at the UN in New York.
Constanze retains an active interest in human rights law and, in particular, in planning, regulatory and environmental cases involving human rights issues.
In 2022 Constanze was awarded a Pegasus Scholarship by Inner Temple and undertook a 3-month placement with Chapman Tripp, Wellington.
Awards
Awarded a Pegasus Scholarship (deferred because of the Covid-19 pandemic)
Pegasus Trust
2022
Woman of Influence
The Planner Magazine
2019
Awarded an International Professional & Legal Development Grant to present a paper at a paper at the 10th International Conference on Sustainable Development & Planning at the University of Siena, Italy
Bar Council
2018