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Recognised in Legal 500 as an "up and coming superstar", Caroline Stares is quickly establishing herself as a leading expert in the development planning industry. Caroline is a Senior Associate in our planning team, having joined the team in 2024 after a nine-year tenure at one of the top global law firms. Renowned for her legal insights in industry publications, she serves on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Planning and Environmental Law and has authored numerous articles in Estates Gazette and Planning Resource.
Caroline has a breadth of experience across the entire development and procurement lifecycle, from securing flexible, futureproofed planning permissions and advising on implementation strategies to assessing planning issues and areas of risk on sales, acquisitions, and financings. Caroline’s expertise spans a diverse array of schemes across England and Wales, including living and residential, mixed-use, visitor destinations and leisure, industrial and logistics, retail, offices, and hotels. Altogether, this enables Caroline to offer strategic advice to clients regardless of their portfolio and role within the industry.
Caroline frequently negotiates complex section 106 agreements (including those with affordable housing and viability review provisions) and conducts legal audits of planning applications to ensure robustness. She is also adept at contentious work, having successfully defeated four High Court and Court of Appeal challenges since joining CMS. Caroline thrives at navigating and advising on knotty regimes such as CIL, compulsory purchase, Section 203, open space, and green belt. She is a member of the CPA Future Steering Committee, has spoken at the CPA National Conference, and helped devise and is one of the main presenters for the CPA Upskilling Professional Development Programme, which aims to provide essential training for those in the compulsory purchase sector.
