AN application for a temporary campsite at Ringstead next year has been turned down.

The Ringstead Farm Partnership wanted to use part of a field, off a private track close to the sea, from May until September 2025 equipped with a temporary toilet block and loos.

Natural England told Dorset Council they had concerns about the effects the proposed use of the site, adjacent to the Portland to Studland Cliffs Special Area of Conservation (SAC), could have, and said that without suitable mitigation measures the site use should not be allowed.

Said the Council summary: “The use of the site as a campsite cannot benefit from permitted development rights in the Town and Country Planning Order 2015 as the camping operation is likely to have a significant effect on a European site and no effective mitigation has been identified that would prevent harm.”

Other proposed camp sites, both last year and this year, have been rejected on similar grounds across the county, usually when close to a site of special nature importance, or because of the effect extra people might have on watercourses leading into Poole Harbour, and internationally protected area which suffers from excessive nutrients in the water.

Full details of the Ringstead application, together with two leisure-related similar proposals, which were both approved, can be viewed in full on the Dorset Council website, using the references provided, below.