The Bath Recreation Ground Trust has decided to apply for leave to appeal last month’s Charity Tribunal decision, which ordered it to replace its board with independent trustees, saying it is “financially unhelpful”.

Liz Bloor, the new chair of the Rec Trust, said: “After thorough discussion by the trustees, it is really clear that we are all disappointed with this decision by the Tribunal. It is financially unhelpful to the Trust and we believe there are some errors in the law which the Tribunal have applied.

“We wish to have sufficient flexibility to effectively take forward the management of the Recreation Ground. The new boundary put forward by the Tribunal artificially restricting the scope of any future arrangements with Bath Rugby simply prevents us from having this flexibility and, in turn, limiting the Trust’s access to resources to invest in recreation for the whole community. In light of this we will be applying for leave to appeal the decision.”

Following the Tribunal’s decision Councillor David Dixon stepped down as chair but remains a member of the Trust. Councillor Tim Ball has stepped down as a trustee to satisfy the requirement that there only be one council representative on the board.

In a statement the Charity Commission said: “We note the trustees’ published intention to appeal the Tribunal’s decision.  The tribunal has a procedure for considering whether to give permission to appeal. The permission stage does not involve the Commission.  The Commission is actively reviewing developments but must await the Tribunal’s decision to find out whether the trustees have permission to appeal, and if so, what issues will be considered on appeal.”

Bath Recreation Ground has been the centre of a dispute dating back nearly 15 years.

The long-running battle saw the trustees of Bath Recreation Ground, the local authority, put under pressure to decide whether to allow Bath Rugby Club, which rented land from the charity for its grounds, to expand further into the land.

Following the division between locals and concerns about the loss of usable land, the trustees were unable to make a decision, which led to the Charity Commission conducting an investigation. It published a statutory inquiry report in 2008.