As a partner in the firm, Floris Sebreghts and his
enthusiastic team focus their energies every day on administrative law, spatial
planning and urban development, which is now of course referred to as
environmental management law.
Floris is a hard worker who is driven by a desire
to work closely with his team and with his clients to ensure accurate, fast and
hands-on follow-up of procedures and formalities. In the course of his career
he has offered expert advice to many private clients, businesses, property
developers and public authorities at every level (municipal, provincial and
regional). During that time, he has specialised in following up all kinds of
planning and permit applications, from the largest to the smallest.
In addition to following up applications and
filing appeals, Floris has conducted key proceedings in the context of
administrative appeals (construction appeals lodged with the Provincial
Deputation and environmental appeals lodged with the competent Province or
Minister, appeals before municipal building commissions, hearings, provincial
or regional environmental permit commissions (PMVC & GMVC) now referred to
as the environmental management permit commissions, etc.). In addition, he has
a wide experience of every kind of appeal before the tribunals and appeal
courts (damage claims, suspension of work, planning damage, soil negotiations,
zoning offences, natural law, EIA obligation (environmental impact assessment),
maintenance/restoration claims, etc.) and the legal courts and councils (the
Council of State, the Council for Permit Disputes, the Environmental
Enforcement Commission, etc.). In addition to all these areas of expertise,
much of Floris's time is taken up with advising and assisting private clients,
companies, project developers and government agencies with the
construction-related and environment-related aspects that can affect their
projects.
As an expert on spatial planning, Floris has
published numerous specialised papers and is a regular speaker at seminars. As
if that were not enough, he is a regular contributor in key areas of policy
support and in the drafting of decrees or implementing decisions (e.g. soil
sector funds for petrol stations or the dry cleaning sector, the Deurganckdok
project, the temporary emergency bridges over De Singel in Antwerp, the Groeistrand project in Ostend, the coastal defence works, etc.). He
is on the editorial staff of the Tijdschrift voor Ruimtelijke Ordening en
Stedenbouw (TROS) and of the Tijdschrift voor Omgevingsrecht en
Omgevingsbeleid (TOO) and he is a member of the Flemish Association for
Spatial Management (VRP), the Environmental Lawyers' Forum and the Society of
Lawyers for Public Law (GAP). Last but not least, he is a member of the
Municipal Spatial Planning Commission (GECORO) of the municipality of Zoersel.
Since 2010, Floris has worked as an external independent
director at Emmaüs, a group that manages many care institutions including
hospitals, residential care centres, children’s day-care centres, facilities
for persons with disabilities, psychiatric units, etc. In this capacity, he is
responsible for the follow-up of legal negotiations concerning construction
projects.
Expertises
Teams