Richard Banwell

Richard is a specialist in public, environmental and regulatory law. He conducts cases on behalf of industry and regulators in the High Court and Court of Appeal, at Public Inquiries and in the criminal courts.

He practices in the areas of renewable energy and waste management schemes, including cases concerning hazardous landfill sites and material recycling facilities, as well as the transfrontier shipment of waste. Richard has particular expertise in the area of Producer Responsibility and Extended Producer Responsibility.

In the area of water industry regulation, he has appeared at draft Water Resources Management Plan Inquiries and water discharge and abstraction permitting appeal Hearings. In 2025, he was part of the team that presented an application for a Drought Order to the Secretary of State. He prosecutes and defends water companies in cases involving waste water assets and the supply of drinking water, as well prosecuting cases on behalf of water companies for trade effluent offences.

He specialises in common law and statutory nuisance, appearing for claimants against EDF (windfarm amplitude modulation), for Walleys Quarry Limited (mediation by Lord Carnwath) and Thames Water (nuisance at waste water assets).

Other recent clients include Anglian Water, Southern Water, Veolia, Viridor, Nestlé Purina, Fever-Tree, Biffa Waste Services Limited, the Environment Agency and the Drinking Water Inspectorate.

Richard joined Six Pump Court as a pupil following a career as an in-house legal adviser at the National Rivers Authority and Environment Agency’s Head Office legal team, including a nine month secondment as a regional prosecutor.