South Buckinghamshire District Council has failed in a bid to block the building of a first-floor extension onto the home of a Slough couple.
The council claimed that an environment inspector who gave the green light for the extension to the property, which is in the green belt, failed to apply local and national planning policies correctly. They argued that the development would set a damaging precedent for the future.
However, Deputy High Court Judge Michael Rich QC dismissed the councils challenge in a ruling earlier this month. He said the local development plan stated that consent for house extensions would normally be granted if the proposals were “small-scale”, when compared with the original size of the dwelling, and would not adversely affect the landscape, nearby properties or the locality in general.
The inspector had taken the view that although the extension would more or less double the original floor area of the house, it would not increase the “footprint” of the building and it complied with the local development plan criteria in all other respects.
The judge said that although the extension could not be described as “small-scale”, it was not a “disproportionate addition” within the meaning of national green belt policy.
South Buckinghamshire District Council v Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions and others Queens Bench Division (Deputy Judge Rich) 7 September 2000
