Edward Long

Edward Long is a Legal Director in our planning environmental team. He qualified in 2015 at an international firm in London and joined Birketts in Cambridge in 2017. He has a broad practice encompassing environmental, planning and highways law. 

Edward’s planning practice covers all aspects of town and country planning law, both contentious and non-contentious and he has significant experience advising both private sector and local authority clients in respect of the environment-linked elements of town and country planning law. Recent experience in this area includes advising predominantly local authority clients in connection with the obligations under the Habitats Regulations relating to the assessment of plans and projects that may have an impact on protected sites. This advice has included advising in respect of Section 106 Agreements advised to secure mitigation measures to allow the grant of planning permission in compliance with the Habitats Regulations and advising both local authorities and providers in connection with the establishment of nutrient pollution mitigation schemes and the creation of “nutrient credits” using Section 106 Agreements. Edward has also provided advice in connection with water neutrality requirements in the Sussex area, including acting for an interested party in a judicial review of the grant of planning permission, brought on water neutrality grounds. Edward’s planning practice also extends to supporting property and corporate transactions through due diligence on complex sites and inputting into transactional documents. 

Edward has been advising clients in respect of Biodiversity Net Gain obligations since these were introduced as part of the Environment Act 2021. This advice has included advising developers as to the requirement to deliver biodiversity net gain in connection with their developments and related exemptions, as well as acting for both landowner and local authority clients in connection with the establishment of habitat bank schemes. His work for landowners has included the negotiation of both Section 106 Agreements and Conservation Covenant Agreements under Part 7 of the Environment Act 2021. 

Edward’s environmental law practice is predominantly (but not exclusively) non-contentious. He regularly advises clients, both on a standalone basis, and as part of wider transactions on waste management obligations, the environmental permitting regime and the contaminated land regime. His transactional environmental work includes the negotiation of warranties and indemnities for inclusion in transactional documents as well as negotiating agreements on liabilities for the purposes of the contaminated land regime. Edward has extensive experience of tree protection matters, both under planning legislation and forestry legislation. This has included advising clients in respect of alleged breach of notices issued under the Forestry Act as well as advising a local authority client in connection with “high hedge” legislation under Part 8 of the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003.    

Experience & education

2025 – Present Legal Director, Birketts LLP

2017 Joined Birketts LLP

2015 – 2016  Associate, Hogan Lovells International  

2015 Qualified as a Solicitor

2010 – 2011 Graduate Diploma in Law, College of Law Bloomsbury 

2011 – 2012 Legal Practice Course, BPP Law School, London 

2007 – 2010 BA (Hons) in Philosophy, Politics and Economics, Trevelyan College, The University of Durham