Just one year after announcing the appointment of Alex Madden as Partner and Head of Planning and Environmental, we are proud to mark a significant milestone in the evolution of its planning practice.
Since Alex’s appointment in July 2024, the planning team has grown in both size and scope, rapidly establishing itself as a dynamic and highly sought-after area of the firm’s full-service offering. With new clients, complex projects, and key hires under its belt, the department is now helping to shape the planning landscape across Wales and beyond.
Alex said:
“It’s been an action-packed 12 months. We’ve supported the firm’s commercial property team on standout deals like Rockwool’s new manufacturing base at Peddimore and Pobl’s land acquisition at Cardiff’s Plas Dŵr. We’ve also facilitated critical conversations around housing delivery in Wales, including a roundtable with Lee Waters MS focused on unlocking social housing.”
The team now boasts, Senior Associate, Hannah Mannion, who specialises in energy and renewables, and soon to be assistant solicitor Ben Bowen (qualifying in September 2025).
The team’s growth over the past year has significantly boosted their capacity to support the firm’s national housebuilder client base across both contentious and non-contentious work.
This momentum is being matched by changes in the planning sector itself. The introduction of mandatory Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) for certain developments, updates to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) – including the new ‘grey belt’ classification – and proposed legislative reforms via the Planning and Infrastructure Bill all signal an increasing demand for commercial planning advice.
Further changes are afoot – only this week the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has published a working paper, proposing reforms to site thresholds in the planning system to better support housing delivery across different types of sites and has launched a consultation on proposed reforms to planning committees. Defra is also consulting on BNG implementation for NSIPs and minor, medium and brownfield developments.
Alex believes these developments only underscore the importance of having a strong, agile legal team in place.
Alex explains:
“Our expansion means we’re not just meeting our clients’ needs – we’re anticipating them. We’re now able to offer a cradle-to-grave service that ensures continuity, clarity and strategic input at every stage of a project. That’s a win-win for clients new and old.”
The team is already making a significant impact, advising on significant residential schemes in the South West. These include the landmark Selwood Garden Community comprising 1700 homes, a major mixed-use development of around 400 units at Nailsea within the Green Belt, and a residential-led scheme at Trull delivering 125 new homes. Recent client wins such as Wain Estates, Wain Homes, and Land Value Alliances underscore the team’s growing reputation and the breadth of planning expertise now on offer.
This strategic growth reflects our wider vision for its planning and environmental team, and delivers on the ambitions set out when Alex was first appointed.
Alex said:
“We knew that planning and environmental law was becoming a bigger priority for our clients. That’s why we invested in building a market-leading team, and now we’re delivering on that promise.”
As new opportunities and policy shifts continue to emerge, our planning team is poised to keep growing, led by a clear sense of purpose and understanding of what their clients need next.
