Terra Firma Chambers will once again provide sponsorship for The Scottish Planning & Environmental Law (SPEL) conference which will be held on Wednesday 24th September 2014 at The Teacher Building, St Enoch Square, Glasgow.

Sir Menzies Campbell CBE, QC, MP of Terra Firma Chambers will chair the event which will also feature talks by fellow Terra Firma Members James Findlay QC (England & Wales) and Alasdair Burnet.

This year’s Conference will centre on the theme of “meeting ambitious targets”. Scotland has some of the most ambitious targets in Europe – if not the world – when it comes to addressing climate change issues. This particularly applies to the generation of electricity and reducing carbon emissions and waste. There is also a continuing and pressing need to increase housing output to deliver enough homes for Scotland and affordable housing for all.

Alasdair Burnet will present a case law update providing an overview of significant recent decisions in the field of planning law related to the main conference theme.  James Findlay’s talk, entitled Tesco v Dundee - a Retrospective and Implications for SPP and LDPs, focuses on a case which put the spotlight on circumstances in which sequentially preferable sites can be overlooked on the

grounds of 'suitability' and which has wider implications for the interpretation of development plan policy.

The SPEL Conference is widely regarded as the foremost annual planning law event in Scotland, affording participants the opportunity to engage in high level discussion and debate.

For further information or to register for this event, please visit the seminar section of our website.