David Whiting has been appointed as the new chief executive of the Environmental Law Foundation (ELF).

He will be taking over as CEO from Paul Stookes who is returning to private practice.

Whiting has been co-ordinating ELF’s Community Outreach Programme for over two years, where he met with community groups and “addressed their environmental concerns using the law and a network of legal support.”

He commented: “Community groups often find the system is weighted against them as they don’t have legal resources. Cost is a major barrier as third parties e.g. developers usually have a strong legal team to argue their case. We try and clarify issues and offer pro bono advice where we can.”

Whiting added: “Paul has made a tremendous contribution to ELF and I am looking forward to building on his achievements at a time when the demand for ELF’s services has never been greater.”

Having qualified as a barrister, Whiting worked for five years as a general legal counsel prior to joingin ELF in 2002.