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William is a barrister and a town planner. He studied Geography and Politics at the University of Sheffield before going on to complete an MSc in Town Planning at Cardiff. His interests moved towards law after he completed an LLM in Environmental Law at Aberdeen University where he taught for 19 years. He has published in the area of town planning and environmental policy. William has particular interests in the role of third parties in the planning process. Outside work he has appeared as an expert witness at planning inquiries for a large number of local community groups in Scotland. Since 2006 he has been the Chairman of a community group opposing the Aberdeen bypass and in 2012 he took the case to the Supreme Court (Walton v. Scottish Ministers). He teaches planning, environmental and energy law on the School’s LLM programmes and drafting and opinion writing to BPTC students.

William’s research focuses on planning, environmental law and native American law.

Experience

  • –present
    Senior Lecturer, Northumbria University

Education

  • 2010 
    Lincoln's Inn, Called to the Bar
  • 1995 
    Univ of Aberdeen, LLM
  • 1988 
    Univ of Wales, MSc Town Planning
  • 1985 
    Univ of Sheffield, BA Geography & Politics