High Court gives guidance on the meaning of “an extension…of a building” in para 149(c) of the NPPF

In a judgment handed down on 12 August, Eyre J provided guidance on the meaning of “the extension…of a building” in the context of the list of exceptions to inappropriate development in the green belt in §149(c) of the NPPF. The claim concerned a proposed outbuilding to a Grade II listed dwellinghouse, which an inspector had found to be a “normal domestic adjunct” to the dwelling and therefore an “extension" of it for the purposes of green belt policy.  The claimant local planning authority alleged that the inspector had misinterpreted §149(c) and that an extension of a building in this context had to be physically attached to the host building. Having heard argument, Eyre J dismissed the claim, holding that an “extension” need not always be physically connected to the building being extended and that whether or not development amounts to an extension will be a matter of judgment for the decision maker. The claimant was represented by Ben Fullbrook.