Sarah Fitzpatrick

Practice Areas

Sarah Fitzpatrick is a planning barrister, partner and Head of Planning at Norton Rose Fulbright.

She has over 25 years extensive experience in all aspects of planning law and practice with a particular focus on London regeneration and redevelopment, compulsory purchase, high-rise development, infrastructure and energy infrastructure, road and rail, and large scale multi-use schemes.

Sarah has experience of acting for both promoters of, and objectors to, CPO's/TWAO's/DCOs, including retail-led and town centre regeneration CPOs, and has acted recently in objecting to an energy DCO, and a road DCO, and is currently acting against a rail TWAO, two regeneration CPOs, a CPO promoted by the Environment Agency, and a water company CPO. Sarah has also acted / is acting for claimants on compensation claims relating to a number of major road, rail, and infrastructure schemes as well as developer-led regeneration CPOs; claims currently relate to HS2, the A63 Castle Street DCO, Thames Tideway Tunnel, and the A27 Arundel Bypass DCO.

She has considerable experience of working on major London schemes, including high-rise development, residential and residential-led mixed-use schemes, sports stadia, student accommodation, office, hotel and retail schemes. Many of these projects have a complicated transport infrastructure interface and involve rail upgrades, new roads, bridges and other infrastructure. Sarah is currently advising on London schemes involving new offices; residential including build to rent; mixed-use retail and residential; cinema; apart-hotel; a football stadium ground; and a new hotel development.

Sarah also has experience of acting on large mixed-use / residential-led schemes outside London; she is currently acting on the residential-led redevelopment of four linked sites outside Norwich for 550 residential units; and schemes for builders’ merchants in Doncaster and Jersey.

She also has experience of energy infrastructure, having acted on new pylon and undergrounding projects, new jetty and on-shore facilities for LNG, a gas pipeline, as well as promoting an energy DCO. Sarah also has vast experience providing planning support for real estate, real estate finance, corporate and banking transactions including planning due diligence, planning warranties and disclosures, SPAs including planning CPs and CSs, works deeds and facility agreements. In recent years such support work has focussed on renewable energy projects.

Sarah has extensive experience of advising on the complex, cutting edge and quirkier aspects of planning law, such as CIL mitigation strategies; dark kitchens; defending enforcement and listed building enforcement cases; relevant demolition cases; technical implementation and CLEUD/CLOPUD applications to establish lawful use and development; utilising permitted development rights and creating fall back strategies.

A skilled negotiator, Sarah has negotiated many planning and highway agreements, and planning conditions ensuring planning permissions remain bankable, and preserve cash flow, as well as ensuring sufficient flexibility throughout build-out to accommodate market change.

Sarah is recognised in the Legal 500 2023 and 2024 as a leader in her field, is individually ranked in Chambers and Partners, and has been ranked globally as one of the top lawyers in Hospitality 2022 and 2023 by Who's Who Legal.

Sarah is a regular conference speaker and article contributor and is on the Lexis Nexis expert author panel for planning.