Well that went well!
Organised a meeting with Mizzy Marshall at South Staffs planning & she decided she also wanted Valerie Davies to attend so I invited friends of mine, David Haston & Ian Reynolds to join in who just happen to be rural planning specialists www.hastonreynolds.co.uk (I built their website)
When Mizzy saw them there, she said "oh, you've brought in the big guns!" - which was nice.
The initial view was that they wouldn't allow an extension on the barn but after David ran through a few details of a barn extension in Brewood that was won at appeal, there seemed to be a big turnaround so all is looking much rosier.
Hopefully the application will be lodged in the next few days.