Top barrister thwarts hedge fund tycoon’s move into walls

Chris Rokos, a hedge fund manager at Brevan Howard, has had his plans to build a wall around his Grade II listed home thwarted by a top barrister in the High Court. Jonathan Sumption QC, who lives opposite Rokos’ Hillside House in Crooms Hill, Greenwich, succeeded in arguing that a grant of a “certificate of lawful use” for the wall by Greenwich council to Rokos was unlawful and must be quashed. In 2005 and 2006, Rokos made applications for planning permission to demolish an existing fence and replace it with a 125m brick wall around the house, which is within the Greenwich conservation area and forms part of a UNESCO world heritage site. Objections were made to those applications, based upon the need to protect the setting of the listed buildings in the conservation area, and the conservation area itself. However, the council granted permission and a certificate of lawfulness of the proposed development. Jonathan and Teresa Sumption challenged that decision and contended that the certificate was unlawful on the ground that the wall would constitute development “within the curtilage” of Hillside House, which was not permitted by law. Allowing the challenge, Collins J held that the grant of the certificate was not lawful and Rokos “must apply for planning permission to enable him to construct a means of enclosure that does not adversely affect the setting of Hillside House.” Sumption and another v Greenwich London Borough Council Administrative Court (Collins J) 30 November 2007 The claimants appeared in person; James Strachan (instructed by the legal department of Greenwich London Borough Council) appeared for the defendant; Matthew Horton QC and Richard Wald (instructed by Bates Wells & Braithwaite LLP) appeared for the interested party.