A Barrister’s Perspective - Changing Lives Through Pro Bono

By Elf

In the latest installment of our Pro Bono Week series, we delve into a compelling account of legal stewardship where the scales of justice were tipped towards environmental integrity and community rights. This blog, featuring a detailed narrative of the case by a barrister involved, underscores the crucial role of pro bono work in leveling the playing field against formidable opposition.

Guest Contribution

By Lucy McCann, Barrister, 1 Crown Office Row

This summer, Rajkiran Barhey and I, instructed by Emma Montlake of the Environmental Law Foundation acted for the Isleworth Society in a planning inquiry, resisting the Northumberland Estate’s attempt to develop blocks of flats on the Park Road allotment site, in the heart of the Isleworth Riverside Conservation Area. For more about the appeal, see: https://www.leappp.org/past-cases/isleworth-allotments-community-fight/

Although pro bono work cannot undo years of underfunding of the legal system, it does make an enormous difference. In this case, the inequality of arms between the Northumberland Estates on the one hand, and a local authority, an allotment society and a local charity on the other, could not have been starker. Being able to assist the Isleworth Society navigate the complexities of the planning inquiry process, the extensive disclosure, and the knotty legal arguments, was incredibly rewarding. Importantly, we could not have made contribution that we did without the dedication of ELF, those we represented, and the wider community, in mobilising to resist the development. The issues in the appeal clearly resonated far beyond the local community in Isleworth, which made our contribution all the more fulfilling.

Representing the Isleworth Society pro bono gave me the opportunity to dip my toes into the unfamiliar waters of a planning inquiry and all its quirks. Acting pro-bono in my first year of tenancy, fitting it around other professional commitments, was demanding and a steep learning curve. However, it also meant that I could work alongside Rajkiran Barhey, whose expertise and guidance throughout the case was invaluable.

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