COUNCIL planning officers have again ruled that permanent residential use of a caravan site in Hurn would be “unlawful”.

The decision is the latest in a long-running campaign by residents of Tall Trees in Matchams Lane to secure permission to be able to legally live on the site.

Last year the council decided not to pursue enforcement action against people living on the site but since then turned down to requests for the position to be changed under law – the latest being one of its last ever decisions.

For a number of years, its residents had been paying council tax despite planning restrictions forbidding the site’s use for anyone’s main home.

But in 2016, the council announced it was planning to take enforcement action and had set aside £600,000 for the process.

This was dropped last year following a decision on a similar case nearby.

Since then site owner Royale Parks has twice applied for certificates of lawfulness for permission to use the site in a residential capacity.

The first was refused at the end of last year while the second was rejected last week – one of the final decisions of the council before its abolition.

In a decision notice published on March 26, its head of planning, Jane Lynch, said: “The council is not satisfied that the application demonstrates in law that a decision of ‘no action’ to enforce planning conditions can apply.

“The application falls short of a proper analysis of this point in law.”

Earlier this year Christchurch MP Sir Christopher Chope said he sympathised with people living at Tall Trees.

“It’s all very complicated and people are still being charged ground rents,” he said. “The planning issue has not been addressed for everybody and it is a real problem for residents.”