Piers Riley-Smith

Practice Areas

Piers has a varied planning, environment, licensing and highways practice.

Piers is ranked in Chambers and Partners 2023 where Clients have said:

" Piers Riley-Smith is a strong planning junior”

“An enthusiastic and excellent communicator as an advocate, and within the professional team.”

Piers is ranked in the Legal 500 as a “Rising Star” and is noted as being “approachable and fully committed to the job in hand, providing good advice and giving a very positive impression to clients.’

Piers is ranked 9th in the Top Planning Juniors under 35 by Planning Law Survey 2023

Planning and Environment

He is regularly instructed by local authorities, developers and the wider public in planning inquiries. He has also been instructed by both local authorities and developers at local plan and neighborhood plan exams. He appears in the High Court and Court of Appeal on behalf of local authorities, and private companies or developers, and local resident groups. He also accepts pro bono briefs from the Environmental Law Foundation, and he has appeared successfully in the High Court for the ELF. He has also practiced on the Isle of Man on behalf of the Government.

He is instructed in enforcement proceedings which have ranged from defending Enforcement notices in front of Inspectors to justifying s.215 notices to the Magistrates. He has been involved in securing the relatively uncommon Planning Enforcement Order and litigation and prosecution arising from Tree Protection Orders. Piers has successfully appeared in both the County Court and High Court obtaining Planning Injunctions against unlawful development.

Piers has considerable expertise in statutory nuisance. He has appeared in the Magistrates Court obtaining Abatement Orders under the Environmental Protection Act and has successfully appeared in the High Court in precedent setting cases on noise nuisance, hypersensitivity and abatement notices.

Highways

His highway practice has ranged from resisting a s.37 complaint against the public adoption of a highway, to working on a case involving the operation of a s.56 notice relating to the inadequate drainage of the highway, and to appearing at public rights of way and highway CPO public inquiries. This has included appearing for the Order Making Authority on a s.118B Order Inquiry to extinguish a footpath running through school grounds. Piers has appeared at Transport and Work Act public inquiries. Piers often works with local resident groups seeking declarations as to the extent of a highway and has also worked for a local authority in obtaining a relatively rare highway injunction against trespass on the highway. Piers has considerable experience in dealing with Traffic Regulation Orders. This experience ranges from drafting TROs for local authorities, objecting to them for third parties, and challenging them successfully in the High Court. Piers also advises on issues arising out of village green applications. Piers is the assistant editor of the Encyclopedia of Highway Law and Practice – the leading practitioner text on highway law, and is the Highway Editor on the Lexis Nexis Consulting Editorial Board

Compulsory Purchase

Piers has worked for both local authorities and objectors on Compulsory Purchase Orders. This has included helping local authorities put in place proper systems for bringing forward CPOs (from preparing to make the Order all the way to implementing a confirmed Order) and also appearing at CPO inquires, and dealing with the resulting compensation and References to the Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) for both claimants and local authorities. This has included successfully confirming CPOs under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, Housing Act 1985 and Highway Act 1980. Piers has experience leading teams in compensation mediation including settling multi-million-pound compensation claims.

Piers is qualified to accept Public Access work.

Piers carries out a number of training sessions for local authorities and developers on planning, enforcement, CPOs, public sector equality and licensing.

He has also given talks at various conferences and RTPI events.

Prior to joining chambers, Piers spent a year with Richard Buxton Environment and Public Law Solicitors. This involved working on every part of the judicial review process from taking first inquiries to analysing judgments. Piers retains an active interest in working on planning cases involving environmental issues.

Career

Kings Chambers: 2017 onwards

Prior to joining chambers, Piers spent a year with Richard Buxton Environment and Public Law Solicitors. This involved working on every part of the judicial review process from taking first inquiries to analysing judgments. Piers retains an active interest in working on planning cases involving environmental issues.

Piers originally trained as an archaeologist which means he has a particular interest and experience in heritage issues.

Professional Memberships

PEBA

Compulsory Purchase Association

Environmental Law Foundation

Northern Circuit

Publications

Contributor to third edition of ‘Patterson & Karim on Judicial Review’

Contributor to the Journal of Licensing