AN APPEAL against the decision to refuse formal legal permission for the remaining residents of a mobile home site in Hurn to live their permanently has been dismissed.

RoyaleLife had hoped to overturn Christchurch council's decision on its Tall Trees park but a planning inspector sided with the authority over technical details.

The company's chief executive said he was "extremely disappointed" by the decision.

For a number of years, residents of Tall Trees in Matchams Lane had been paying council tax despite restrictions forbidding the site’s use for anyone’s main home.

In 2016, the council announced it was planning to take enforcement action and had set aside £600,000 for the process. The action was dropped in 2018.

It later announced it would take no enforcement action against anyone living on the site.

Since then legal rights for most of the site's residents to live their permanently have been secured but attempts for this to cover everyone have failed.

These efforts have been supported by Christchurch MP Sir Christopher Chope.

RoyaleLife, which bought the site three years ago, said having a certificate of lawfulness would allow it to grant formal agreements with its residents.

The latest bid was made last year but turned down by the council. It said the company had “fallen short” of putting forward a “proper analysis” of the legal position.

This decision was appealed but that has now been dismissed by a government planning inspector who raised doubts over whether planning permission was required for agreements to be made between residents and RoyaleLife.

Robert Bull, the company’s chief executive, said he was “very disappointed” by the ruling.

“I’m particularly disappointed for the residents who, I know, will be extremely frustrated at the outcome and rightly so,” he said.

“We have committed substantial resources in an attempt to resolve this legacy issue and will be exploring further avenues to hopefully secure a successful resolution for the residents.”

He said the company was “considering its next options”.