Alexander Booth QC

Barrister, Francis Taylor Building


Alex Booth has a practice which encompasses all aspects of planning, infrastructure and compulsory purchase law. He regularly appears on behalf of private and public bodies in Public Inquiries, the High Court and the Lands Tribunal; he has also appeared in the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court. Overseas he advises clients in Commonwealth jurisdictions where his experience includes having successfully brought judicial review proceedings in the Turks and Caicos Islands and acting for the Government of Bermuda in both compensation and constitutional litigation.

He is regularly instructed in connection with nationally significant infrastructure development, in which context he promoted the Covanta Resource Recovery Facility at Rookery South and appeared on behalf of Associated British Ports to oppose the Able Marine Energy Park on the Humber Estuary. He promoted The Thames Tideway Tunnel on behalf of Thames Water, together with others in Chambers, and is part of the team promoting the new nuclear power station at Moorside, Cumbria.

He is also instructed in respect of a broad spectrum of development promoted pursuant to the TCPA 1990 including residential, commercial and energy related schemes. In this regard he regularly appears in Section 78 and Local Plan proceedings, on behalf of a range of developer and planning authority clients.

As regards compulsory purchase, he has extensive experience and has successfully sought CPO powers in various different contexts; these include infrastructure (pipe lines and power stations) and regeneration (both commercial and residential). In addition, he regularly appears for landowners (both corporate and individuals) resisting compulsory purchase orders.

He also specialises in valuation/compensation proceedings arising out of compulsory purchase. In this regard he has recently acted for the GLA in a series of references to the Tribunal concerning the compulsory acquisition of land for the London 2012 Olympics, and acted for claimants in a number of references relating to the acquisition of land for Crossrail. He is currently advising claimants in respect of proceedings related to HS2, and acting for the acquiring authority in connection with the Northern Line Extension.

Parliamentary work includes acting for parties petitioning against HS2, both in the Commons and in the Lords, and bringing proceedings pursuant to Special Parliamentary Procedure in respect of a contested Development Consent Order.

He is a member of the Planning & Environmental Bar, the Compulsory Purchase and National Infrastructure Planning Associations. He is an author of the National Infrastructure Planning Service.