A POPULAR holiday park has successfully appealed a decision to allow chalet and caravan owners to have access to their properties for all months of the year.

Guests at Hoburne Naish on Christchurch Road, which is part of Hoburne Ltd, will now be able to stay on the site between November 10 and December 10, and January 10 and February 10.

The Barton-on-Sea site must still only be occupied for holiday purposes, but there is no restriction on what times of the year this can take place.

The restriction on use for certain times of the year was set out by New Forest District Council from an application dating back to 1998.

In seeking to redevelop and reorganise the site, Hoburne Ltd applied to NFDC to adapt the condition.

The council rejected this proposal on the grounds that the new wording of the condition would be administratively onerous and difficult to

enforce.

However, a planning inspector has sided with the holiday park and overturned the local authority's decision.

In a report outlining the reasons for their decision, the inspector says: "The permanent use of a unit would in my mind result in a physical change in the character of that unit with regards to residential paraphernalia, intensification of use, postal issues, and registering for the purposes of the electoral register.

"A number of these matters could be identified and investigated, if necessary, through the council’s enforcement powers by using methods such as Planning Contravention Notices."

Following the successful appeal, the new terms for the site are:

n Caravans and chalets on the holiday park shall be occupied for holiday purposes only.

n The caravans shall not be occupied as a person’s sole or main place of residence.

n The owners/operators of the site shall maintain an up-to-date register of the names of all owners/occupiers of individual caravans on the site and of their main home addresses and shall make this information available at all reasonable times to the local planning authority.

The decision also means Hoburne Ltd can reorganise the site, resulting in an increase of 22 units.