Nikita advises on all aspects of planning and compulsory purchase law. Since joining Town Legal in September 2019 from Howard Kennedy, Nikita has worked for a wide range of clients on large-scale and complex mixed-use planning applications, office, retail and leisure projects as well as new infrastructure. Nikita has experience drafting and negotiating planning and highways agreements, regularly advises clients on environmental impact and habitats regulations assessments, and frequently acts on a variety of contentious matters including planning appeal proceedings, judicial review and compulsory purchase compensation claims. Nikita was promoted to Senior Associate in April 2023.

Recent work highlights include:

• Advising HB Reavis on the office-led redevelopment of Elizabeth House adjacent to Waterloo Station in Lambeth.
• Advising Hines on the major redevelopment of 18 Blackfriars Road in Southwark.
• Advising St William Homes (part of Berkeley Group) on the residential-led development at the former Poplar Gasworks in Tower Hamlets.
• Acting for Park Plaza Hotels on a hotel development in Park Royal (OPDC) for which planning permission was granted following a public inquiry.
• Acting for VCI Property Holdings Limited on the mixed-use redevelopment of Vauxhall Cross in Lambeth for which planning permission was granted following a call-in by the Secretary of State.
• Securing a settlement in excess of £25m for a West Midlands property company whose land had been compulsorily purchased for HS2.
• Advising The Crown Estate on regulatory aspects of Offshore Wind Leasing Round 4 (https://www.thecrownestate.co.uk/our-business/marine/Round4) and their Floating Offshore Wind Leasing Round 5 (https://www.thecrownestate.co.uk/our-business/marine/round-5Wind).

Nikita is a regular host of Town Legal’s “Planning Law (with Chickens)” podcast (https://open.spotify.com/show/3pMN3bQe9CPdCw1gbpnMyC / https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/planning-law-with-chickens/id1517510574).