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Portrait ofAshley Damiral

Ashley Damiral

Partner
Head of Planning

CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang LLP
Cannon Place
78 Cannon Street
London
EC4N 6AF
United Kingdom
Languages English

Ashley Damiral is the Head of the CMS UK Planning Team and practices in all areas of planning, compulsory purchase and related law. Ashley advises developers, promoters and funders of complex regeneration and infrastructure projects throughout the development lifecycle, from initial strategy to implementation. He also acts for corporates, occupiers, utilities and other third parties to major project proposals.

Ashley has particular expertise in the residential, retail, hotels & leisure and energy and climate change sectors.

He specialises in advising on environmental assessment, consultation, affordable housing and viability, CIL, s106 planning obligations and other statutory agreements, planning inquiries and compulsory purchase and s237 powers and compensation. Ashley also has significant judicial review experience up to the Supreme Court.

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"Ashley is diligent and well informed. He is good at setting strategy and thinking through the legal implications of
actions. Most importantly Ashley Is commercial in his outlook. While Ashley will highlight the legal pitfalls, he will
always find ways to avoid them."

“Excellent client care and a good understanding of the commercial reality of what the client is trying to achieve.”

Chambers, 2016

“Ashley is excellent – he knows every aspect of his subject inside out. He is clear in his opinions but also very considered, and he gives consistently good advice.”

Chambers, 2015

“Understands clients’ commercial objectives.”

Legal 500, 2016

Relevant experience

  • Residential: Berkeley Homes, Taylor Wimpey, Crest Nicholson and other housebuilders on many complex developments across London and the South East.
  • Retail: Sainsbury’s on various London mixed-use regeneration projects and 50 different foodstore developments across the UK; and Value Retail on Phases 3 and 4 of Bicester Village.
  • Hotels: citizenM on four new London hotel developments, including in a public inquiry into heritage issues associated with the Tower of London World Heritage Site.
  • Transmission and Distribution: London Power Networks on the new deep cable tunnel project under the River Thames; and National Grid and Scottish Power on the Western HVDC Link project.
  • Offshore Wind: Statkraft, Statoil, EDPR and other developers of various Rounds 2 and 3 projects; and various bidders in the OFTO tender regime, on all aspects of the UK land and marine consents regimes, including Development Consent Orders.
  • Solar and Onshore Wind: Wirsol, Wircon, Balfour Beatty Infrastructure Fund, Aviva and Low Carbon Solar on various solar and onshore wind developments.
  • Regeneration and surplus land: BT on the mixed-use redevelopment of Keybridge House, as well as five other major developments in the Vauxhall Nine Elms Battersea Opportunity Area; Imperial College London on the development of the Imperial West campus in the White City Opportunity Area.
  • Third party compulsory purchase, s237 and compensation: M&G Real Estate, the Whitgift Trust, ECP Holdings and other third parties in CPO, TWAO and other proceedings for road, rail and other infrastructure and regeneration projects.
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Memberships & Roles

  • Member of Planning Working Group, BCSC
  • Associate of Planning Committee, BPF
  • Member, Compulsory Purchase Association 
  • Member, The City of London Law Society Planning & Environmental Law Committee
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Education

  • 2000 - Legal Practice Course, College of Law, London
  • 1999 - Diploma in Law, College of Law, London
  • 1998 - BEng (Hons) Civil Engineering, University of Leeds
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Feed

05/02/2024
Government consultation on requirement for information about contractual...
Summary The Government has launched a consultation on new regulations which will require the provision of certain information about agreements used to control registered land in England and Wales, intended...
05/02/2024
Seeing the wood for the trees: Government updates Consultation Direction...
On 26 January, the Government introduced a new duty requiring local planning authorities to consult the Secretary of State regarding developments that impact ancient woodland. For many years, a direction...
30/11/2023
Woodlands Data Centre Refusal: key observations
On 30 October 2023, the Secretary of State (“SoS”) on a recovered appeal refused to grant planning permission for a ‘hyperscale’ data centre within the Buckinghamshire Green Belt on the outskirts...
30/10/2023
LURB becomes LURA – The Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill becomes law
On Thursday 26 October, the final day before Parliament was prorogued ahead of its state opening on 7 November, the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill was given Royal Assent, becoming the Levelling-up...
03/10/2023
Business Rates Avoidance and Evasion Consultation
The Government Consultation into Business Rates Avoidance and Evasion closed on 28 September.The Consultation, which was launched in the 2023 Spring Budget, aimed to explore the causes of and solutions...
02/08/2023
Planning for all – call for evidence for the Older People’s Housing Taskforce
The Older People's Housing Taskforce, a joint initiative of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and the Department of Health and Social Care, has launched a call for evidence[1]...
26/07/2023
Gove refuses planning permission for redevelopment of M&S’ flagship store...
The Secretary of State (“SoS”), Michael Gove, has refused Marks and Spencer's application for planning permission for the redevelopment of their Oxford Street department store.M&S submitted a planning...
12/06/2023
Fit for relief: Supreme Court rules that a private members’ fitness centre...
In the recent case of London Borough of Merton Council v Nuffield Health, the UK Supreme Court concluded that whilst an individual Nuffield Health gym might be ‘for the rich but not the poor’, Nuffield...
04/04/2023
High street rental auctions: the Government launches a consultation
SummaryThe Government has launched a consultation on its proposals for High Street Rental Auctions in England. The proposals will give local authorities the power to auction the rental rights of commercial...
08/03/2023
The Tate Modern Viewing Gallery Case: Implications for Planning
On 1 February 2023, the Supreme Court handed down their much-awaited judgment in Fearn and others v Board of Trustees of the Tate Gallery,[1] finding that the impacts of the Tate Modern’s viewing gallery...
30/11/2022
Business Rates: The effect of the Autumn Statement 2022
Summary On 17 November 2022 the Chancellor presented the Autumn Statement, which revealed a package of support to help with business rates worth a projected £13.6 billion over the next 5 years. The...
09/11/2022
Hillside Revisited 4: Physical differences must be material?
1. Introduction This is the fourth Law-Now in a series on the Supreme Court’s judgment in Hillside Parks Ltd v Snowdonia National Park Authority. The first Law-Now is available here, the second here...