Graham Machin

Year called:

1965

Email:

grahammachin@ropewalk.co.uk

Qualifications:

BCL, MA (Oxon): LARTPI, Lincoln College, Oxford.

Practice areas:

Regulatory, Business and Property, Planning and Environmental, Local Government

Graham Machin was called to the Bar in 1965.

His specialist areas are planning, environmental law, local government, business and property, regulatory, administrative law and real property; including professional negligence and criminal work related to these fields.

The law relating to biodiversity and nature conservation is a particular interest of his.

Advocacy experience includes public inquiries (most commonly planning appeals and call-ins, enforcement appeals, local plans and compulsory purchase inquiries), Administrative Court work (judicial review and statutory appeals), civil trials, criminal trials relating to breaches of planning and environmental legislation, references to the Lands Tribunal and arbitration.

Instructions are accepted through the Licensed Access Scheme.

Planning and Environmental

His planning practice is wide, covering forward planning, development control and enforcement and civil and criminal proceedings arising in all of these spheres.

His major planning public inquiries have included mineral planning (opencast coal, sand and gravel, peat extraction), the protection of nature conservation sites of national and international importance, coastal development and coast protection.

He has particular expertise in the interaction of nature conservation and land-use planning, and his public sector clients include Natural England (formerly English Nature).

His environmental work includes, amongst other subjects, biodiversity, land drainage, waste, pollution and statutory nuisance.

Major Public Inquiries

Opencast coal inquiries at Slayley (1987) Smotherfly, Rainge and Rockingham (1988) and Kirk Revised and Shilo North (1989);

Barnsley Interchange CPO Inquiry (1993);

Red Moss (UDP proposal for waste disposal on SSSI [1993]);

Walney Island (waste disposal and coast protection scheme [1993]);

Budle Bay Nature Conservation Order Inquiry (1994);

Local Plan and UDP inquiries at East Staffordshire (1994-5), Lichfield (1995-6) and Barnsley (1996-7);

Dronfield Retail Inquiry (1998-9);

Birling Gap coast protection scheme (2000);

Purbeck Local Plan Inquiry re: Holton Heath New Settlement (2001-2);

Dibden Terminal Inquiry (2002);

South Downs Way Public Path Creation Orders Inquiry (2004);

Little Cheyne Court Wind Farm Inquiry (2004);

East Staffordshire Local Plan Review Inquiry (2005);

Weymouth Relief Road Inquiry (2007);

the Mottram/Tintwistle Bypass Inquiry (2007);

Forest Pines Golf Course Extension Inquiry (2009);

Rufford Incinerator Inquiry (2009-2010);

South East Water, Water Resources Management Plan Inquiry (2010);

Talbot Village/Heath Inquiry (2011).

Local Government

Much of his planning and environmental work is set in a local government context and has at times involved him working for extended periods embedded within departmental teams.

In addition to those areas (separately summarised above) he deals with issues of governance, business rating and regulatory regimes such as highways and village greens.

Regulatory

His regulatory work includes the whole range of highway law.  He has both promoted and opposed major highway schemes at public inquiries, most recently opposing Weymouth Relief Road and the Mottram and Tintwistle Bypass proposals on the instructions of Natural England.

His work relating to the registration, creation and extinguishment of bridleways and public footpaths has frequently involved the interpretation of inclosure awards and other historical material.

He is experienced in such areas as land drainage, commons and town and village greens.

His Lands Tribunal work includes compulsory purchase compensation and the extinguishment or modification of restrictive covenants.

Judicial review, arising in a wide variety of contexts, has formed a significant part of his work for many years.