THE owners of a caravan park in Christchurch say they will appeal the latest refusal of permission for its residents to be able to live there permanently.

In one of its last planning decisions before being abolished at the end of March, Christchurch council rejected RoyaleLife’s bid for the right to live at Tall Trees round-the-year for a second time.

Now the firm, which bought Tall Trees two years ago, has said it will challenge the decision through the planning inspectorate.

Residents of the park off Matchams Lane had been paying council tax for a number of years, despite planning rules forbidding its use as a main home.

RoyaleLife has managed to secure permission for most of the residents of its 80 homes to live on the site but the council has rejected its attempts for the remaining pocket of 10 homes.

This comes despite it saying no enforcement action would be taken against people breaching the restriction.

Refusing the latest application, the council’s 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.”

RoyaleLife bought the site two years ago – after the issues first came to light.

Company director Robert Bull described the latest decision as “disappointing” but said they would appeal it through the planning inspectorate.

“Once permanent resident status has been secured for everyone, people can treat their homes as their primary residence,” he said.

“We take the view that we will be giving residents peace of mind and stability, arguably the biggest gift of all.

“From the local authority’s perspective, they would be able to charge council tax and so derive income from the development.

“In our view it would be the best possible outcome for everyone concerned.”

He added that all Tall Trees residents would be sent a letter in the coming days explaining the situation.

Once lodged, the appeal will be considered by an inspector appointed by the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, James Brokenshire.