A CARAVAN park has launched an appeal after a council rejected a bid to amend conditions amid concerns it could have seen year-round occupancy.

Eastland Meadows Country Park, in Bradwell on Sea, was given permission at appeal to be turned into a holiday park in 2011.

An inspector made the application subject to four conditions which said caravan owners could only occupy their unit for 28 days.

Last year, Eastland Meadows Country Park, which is run by CC Leisure Parks Ltd, applied to remove the 28-day limit condition and amend another condition.

Maldon District Council rejected the bid in September.

But CC Leisure Parks Ltd has now launched an appeal against the decision.

In its appeal statement it said the application was based on guidelines set out in Department for Communities and Local Government’s Good Practice Guide for Tourism 2006. The guide has since been discontinued.

The statement said: “It is not always possible to police whether an owner/occupier has stayed for 28 days, 27 days or 29 days.

“The owners have keys to their caravans and do not necessarily always tell the appellant if they leave early, even when they have provided dates of arrival and departure.

“The existing condition allows caravan owners/occupies to stay for 28 days in the caravan, vacate for one day, and then return for a further 28 days all year around.

“This does not follow the spirit of the Good Practice Guide which seeks to prevent holiday parks from being lived in residentially but accepts holiday makers may wish to stay in one place more than four weeks at a time.”

The park was purchased in 2002 and has been given a £1.5 million overhaul including replacing pitches and caravans.

CC Leisure Parks Ltd operates the site as a holiday park with the majority of income coming from sales of caravans to holiday makers.