Planning & Environment

Expertise:

Planning and Environment Appeals, Planning Advice, Development Offences, Dispute Resolution

Qualifications:

LLB.  Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Queensland. 

Experience:

David has worked with the firm since 1979.  Initially an articled clerk, he was admitted as a solicitor in 1984 and became a partner in 1988.  Since 1980, he has worked principally in local government law and has concentrated on Planning and Environment Court work to the extent that conducting appeals, declaration/injunction applications and associated town planning/development advice work now accounts for most of his time.  David has run scores of planning cases over his career.  His experience entitles him to be considered a leading practitioner in planning law.

David is also very experienced and highly skilled in negotiating outcomes involving commercial planning disputes and is often involved in other informal dispute resolution processes.

More recently, David has been involved in matters relating to climate change and the legal implications of it in planning and tortious liability, as well as advising on projects involving new forms of sustainable energy such as solar farms and the extraction of biogas.

Lately, he has been involved in litigation under the Environmental Protection Act including reviews and appeals of department decisions for both private and public sector clients. These have invariably involved issues of environmental harm including the impact of PFAS and other man-made substances.

David holds a current practising certificate from the Queensland Law Society and is a member of the Queensland Environmental Law Association (“QELA”) and an associate member of the Planning Institute of Australia - Queensland Division (“PIA”).