A farmer must demolish three buildings on his Barkham land which are too high and are ‘harmful to the character and appearance of the area’.

Roy Maslin lost his High Court fight to overturn orders that he must demolish the buildings at Barkham Manor Farm.

Mr Maslin had sought permission to bring a full High Court challenge to a Government planning inspector’s decision upholding Wokingham Borough Council’s decision to issue enforcement notices demanding the demolition of the three buildings.

However, Judge Alan Gore QC ruled on Monday that Mr Maslin’s case was not arguable and said the court would not lightly interfere with an inspector’s exercise of planning judgment.

Mr Maslin was granted planning permission for the three units in 2006, but the actual buildings differed from the approved plans.

The borough issued enforcement notices demanding the alteration of all three units in line with the plans, or their demolition.

Mr Maslin launched an appeal over two of the buildings, Unit A which he built as a toilet and rest room for staff and was found to be 2.1 metres too high, and Unit B, a store for hay, straw and feed, which was 1.8 metres too high.

However, the inspector found the increased bulk of the buildings was ‘significant’ and they ‘represented excessive encroachment in the countryside that would be materially harmful to the character and appearance of the area’.

Mr Maslin claimed the inspector had failed to carry out an appropriate balancing exercise in concluding that demolition was not an excessive requirement. He claimed the inspector’s approach was materially flawed and procedurally unfair.

However, the judge ruled none of his grounds of challenge were sufficiently arguable to justify granting permission for a full hearing.

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