Satnam Choongh was called to the Bar in 1994 and is a member of Lincoln’s Inn, where he was a Hardwicke Scholar and held the Sir Thomas More Bursary. He specialises in planning and environmental law, acting for developers, local authorities and government agencies. He has worked as in-house counsel, and has a thorough knowledge of all aspects of the planning process, as well as experience of advising upon the commercial aspects of land development (to include negotiating and drafting s.106 agreements, option agreements, overage agreements and allied contracts). 

He has considerable depth and breadth of experience: he appears at planning and associated inquiries, prosecutes and defends environmental and planning offences in the criminal courts, and acts for developers, planning authorities and third parties in applications for judicial review and statutory challenges in the High Court. He has dealt with the whole range of issues which arise in this area of law, including matters related to listed buildings, Conservation Areas, Green Belt, Sites of Special Scientific Interest, major infrastructure projects under the Transport and Works Act 2000, out of and edge of centre retail stores, Enforcement, Stop, Breach of Condition and Completion Notices, Compulsory Purchase Orders, Advertisement Control, minerals, and matters related to waste disposal and management. 

Satnam has appeared in a host of large scale, complex and varied planning cases, including promoting a 3.5 million square feet rail-freight interchange in the Green Belt; opposing an application for a 58 hectare resource recovery park and 95MW RDF Incinerator under the Electricity Act; representing an LPA at the first ever LDF examination; opposing the expansion of Coventry Airport in a 6 month enforcement inquiry followed by a 3 month s.76 Inquiry; appearing at Waste Local Plan inquiries; representing the Highways Agency at a six month multi-party planning inquiry for MSA development; representing the HSE in an inquiry into de-commissioning a nuclear power station in the Snowdonia National Park, and drafting and seeing through to public inquiry a Side Roads Order and CPO to provide a town centre ring road. 

In the recent past he has advised and represented at inquiry clients such as Persimmon Homes, KFC, ASDA, Gallagher Developments, Richborough Estates, the Rosconn Group, St. Modwen Developments and Gladman Developments. Inquiries have included promoting edge of centre retail development in Bridgnorth, opposing open cast coalmining in Derbyshire and Windfarms in Warwickshire, and appearing at a whole host of large scale residential and mixed-use inquiries in support of developer clients. In addition he has represented clients in the High Court and Court of Appeal in cases interpreting key provisions of the NPPF, as well as cases relevant to other important concepts in the administration of the planning system. 

Satnam features regularly in the Chambers UK Directory, which has described him as “very sharp”, “extraordinarily bright” and someone “who gets the answers he needs from cross-examination”. Planning Magazine has placed him amongst the top planning juniors in the country.