AN APPLICATION to protect Harbourside Park in Poole from unwanted development will finally be decided by the council – even though the applicants wanted to withdraw it six years ago.

In December, it was brought to the attention of cabinet members that proposals to convert Baiter Park’s public toilet into a café could be put at risk unless an “urgent determination” on the application to register Baiter Park and Whitecliff Recreation Ground – known as Harbourside Park – as a Town or Village Green (TVG) was made.

A public inquiry was held in January during which an independent inspector considered the application made by David Howard on behalf of Parkstone Bay Association (PBA) in 2011.

Poole council is judge, jury and executioner over TVG applications, in this case being the landowner, an objector and registration authority. A decision to hold the inquiry was made at a hearing in 2011 for impartiality reasons.

However, the application to protect Harbourside Park from possible development was deemed to be no longer relevant by Parkstone Bay Association after the council entered into an arrangement with Fields in Trust to ensure Harbourside Park would be protected indefinitely against unwanted development.

A report by William Webster, of 3PB Barristers, will be considered by the licensing sub-committee next week.

He has recommended that the council should reject the application as the public had a statutory right to use Harbourside Park for lawful sports and pastimes (LSP) “which, as a matter of law, will preclude the registration of such land as TVG”.

He said: “Even though PBA had wanted to withdraw the application, the commons registration authority (i.e. Borough of Poole) had, quite properly, taken the view that it should be determined on its merits in view of the public interest which this application has attracted and the support which it has received from local residents.

“It is also clearly important that the status of the application land should be determined once and for all. This was also the view of BoP (in its capacity as objecting landowner).”

Five objections to the application had been received, one of which was from the council’s leisure services, now referred to as culture and community.