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My name is Mark Benham, I’m head of Real Estate at Lester Aldridge. I advise regional and national housebuilders (and the occasional landowner) on land promotion, acquisition and development, including advising providers of later living housing and housing with care. Outside of work, my passion is music – whether it’s watching a new live act at a small local venue, enjoying music new and old on BBC 6 Music or compiling a playlist on Spotify to share with friends and colleagues.

There is a clear synergy between community assets, including live music venues, and the creation of new housing. In July 2023, Joanna Averley, chief planner at The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, reminded planning authorities that they “have an important role in identifying and protecting local grassroots music venues in their area from the effects of new development”, referring them to the requirements in the NPPF regarding the provision of suitable mitigation measures. She also flagged how the Music Venue Trust (which describes itself as being like the National Trust of music venues) can offer support to planning authorities when consulting on applications.

Independent music venues are the lifeblood of the music industry here in the UK, breathing life into our towns and cities as part of the “night-time economy”. Sadly, 2023 was the UK’s worst year for music venue closures, according to the Music Venue Trust, with 125 grassroots music venues closing over 12 months. Without Government support, the sad reality is that the number of venues will continue to shrink.

Our next guest is planning specialist Reuben Taylor KC.

Reuben Taylor KC

By day, Reuben is one of the top planning barristers in the UK.  He was the joint head of Landmark Chambers for four years, until 2023, and has also edited the Sweet & Maxwell Planning Law Encyclopaedia and contributed to Atkin’s Court Forms and Butterworths’ Compulsory Purchase & Compensation Service.  Reuben has advised on a number of high profile London developments, including acting for the Mayor of London and Queens Park Rangers FC.

Proving that you should never judge a book by its cover, Reuben is the frontman and bassist for SNOG, a successful KISS tribute band, check them out (including forthcoming gigs) at www.snogthekisstributeband.com.

Interested in finding out the lessons Reuben learned at the Heathrow Terminal 5 Inquiry, and where do we go now with the housing crisis? Over to Reuben…

Mark: What is your favourite venue for live music?

Reuben: The Electric Ballroom in Camden.

Mark: What is the most entertaining and memorable inquiry or hearing you have taken part in?

Reuben: The Heathrow Terminal 5 Inquiry, all 525 sitting days over 3 years and 10 months. I was the youngest barrister on the BAA plc team promoting Terminal 5. It was like being at planning bar university. I learned so much from David Silsoe QC, Guy Roots QC and Michael Humphries. I got to see most of the rest of the planning bar operate as well: Michael FitzGerald, Lionel Reid, Keith Lindblom to name but a few.

The Inquiry went on so long, the Ramada Hotel actually threw a number of summer parties for all the participants. With the usual folly of youth, I partied particularly hard at one and was very hung over in the Inquiry the next morning. The Inspector Roy Vandermeer QC did not miss his chance and raised a difficult point of law with me as soon as the Inquiry started. Feeling like death I struggled to my feet and mumbled a response which seemed to satisfy him, but the experience was so terrifying that I have never been hungover on a working morning since!

 Mark: What was the first, and most recent, music gig/concert that you attended?

 Reuben: My first gig was Whitesnake, Brighton, in March 1984. My most recent gig was Elephant Tree at the Black Heart, Camden in December 2024.

 Mark: What one change would you like to see made to the planning application process?

Reuben: I would like a stronger focus on narrowing the scope of Environmental Statements so that they actually focus on likely significant effects. Too often a huge amount of time and money is spent on producing sections of an ES which are never referred to and which do not form any focus in the decision-making process.

 Mark: What housing policy or project from another jurisdiction would you like to see implemented in the UK?

 Reuben: Regional planning with a duty to deliver the infrastructure that is required to support growth. Without the requisite infrastructure, housing creates impacts which are resented in communities as access to healthcare, education and services all becomes constrained. That creates a culture of resistance to change in the local environment. The focus of the planning system must be on delivery of that which is needed. Too often the focus is on securing money which is never spent.

 Mark: What is the furthest you’ve travelled to see live music?

 Reuben: I saw Extreme in a little club in Boston, Massachusetts in the late 1980s. I don’t think they were even signed at the time. It was awesome.

 Mark: If you could require one landowner in the UK to do more to facilitate housing growth in the UK, which landowner would it be?

 Reuben: Public sector land owners.

 The government has a target of 1.5 million new homes this parliament i.e. 300,000 a year. If you examine the data on completions since the war around 150,000 new homes. 300,000 homes a year was only delivered in the 1960s for a short period and only because of a massive state-funded council housing programme.

 We will only hit the levels of housing growth required if we return to a significant programme of state funded construction of council housing for rent and an acceptance that society cannot afford for everyone to own their own home. In the absence of that, the government’s housing targets are simply unattainable.

 The public sector owns huge amounts of land: the MoD over 400,000ha, the Crown Estate over 270,000 ha and Homes England over 7,500 ha. If even a small proportion of these landholdings were used for the provision of council housing for rent, it would make a huge difference in meeting housing needs.

Mark: What band or artist is your dream headline act, who would be the support act and where would the gig be?

 Reuben: I play in a successful tribute band myself: SNOG the KISS Tribute Band. I am Gene Simmons. So, my dream would have to involve my band. I think it would have to be Jimi Hendrix, supported by SNOG at the Electric Ballroom in Camden. Can you imagine seeing Hendrix in that venue? It would be stunning, and with my band backstage I would get to meet him too. That would be perfect.

Mark: What housing scheme or project that you have been involved in are you the proudest of?

Reuben: It’s not really a housing scheme, but it has supported the release of a huge amount of housing across Greater London. My proudest project to have been involved in is the Elizabeth Line. I was part of a team of barristers acting for the promoter in Parliament during the Hybrid Bill process. It has simply been transformational for travel across London.

 Mark: What is the first step you would take to repair the planning system in England and Wales?

 Reuben: The re-introduction of surcharging of council members. The focus on local decision-making should be on the planning merits. There are countless examples of schemes on recently allocated sites being refused as a result of local political expediency only to be over-turned on appeal.

 It seems to me that where an inspector has awarded costs against a council in respect of a particular reason for refusal, the introduction of the ability to surcharge local members who supported that reason for refusal might bring some discipline and focus into the planning system at the local level. I do not see why councillors who unreasonably waste public funds should be able to do so without any personal liability.

 Mark: If you could sum up the state of housebuilding in the UK by reference to a song, what song would it be?

 Reuben: “Sweet Child O’ Mine” by Guns N’ Roses, particularly the breakdown section where Axl Rose sings “Where do we go? Where do we go now?”

 Mark: If you had one piece of advice to give to witnesses or advocates in an appeal, what would it be?

 Reuben: Answer the question.

Many thanks to Reuben for joining us. Our next episode will be landing next month – sign up to be notified when episodes are published here.

If you need further advice about any of your real estate requirements, please contact Mark via email at mark.benham@la-law.com.