Bernard Ralph—Moore Blatch

Moore Blatch has appointed Bernard Ralph as a new partner specialising in planning and licensing.

Based primarily in Southampton, Bernard brings specific legal experience in all aspects of the planning process including applications, objections, complex agreements, appeals, enforcement, policy and judicial reviews. He also has detailed knowledge of advising on licensing applications on behalf of many different types of premises including cafes, restaurants, hotels, nightclubs and sports clubs.

A dual Australian and UK citizen, Bernard has practised in Queensland, Australia and England since 2005, working in private practice, in-house at NATS (formerly National Air Traffic Services) and with several London Councils including Kensington & Chelsea, Camden and Harrow. His clients include air traffic control, gaming and national house building companies. For the last seven years, he has been closely involved with renewable energy projects advising and acting for statutory consultees and developers. He has also engaged with regulators and Government departments on the formation of planning policy relating to aviation and wind farms.   

Bernard joins from a leading property boutique where he was a partner responsible for advising house builders, developers and promoters on the planning process from initial strategy to construction.

Martin Duck, partner and head of land development at Moore Blatch, says: “With a team of over 30 property lawyers Moore Blatch is one of the leading specialists in the South of England and Bernard brings a wealth of experience to complement this practice. He has detailed insight in planning and licensing from different ends of the spectrum and is also an expert in all types of licencing applications and enforcement.”