NO ONE can claim that New Forest tycoon Jim Ratcliffe is anything but persistent.

The founder of the INEOS chemical company with a fortune estimated to run into hundreds of millions of pounds – perhaps even as much as £3bn – has just seen his fourth attempt to create a luxurious mansion near Beaulieu sunk by planners.

Mr Ratcliffe, who also funded the luxury five-star Lime Wood Hotel in the New Forest near Lyndhurst, has been at loggerheads with planners, this time the New Forest National Park Authority, for several years.

So far, despite the fact he has the services of Prince Charles’ architect who transformed Highgrove for him, the people in power in the New Forest have turned him down.

He plans to appeal. We must wait and see whether he is successful.

Whatever the merits of the design and whether or not Mr Ratcliffe should get the go-ahead to create his palatial home, there is no denying this is a fine example of how the British planning system works.

The message? Money cannot buy you everything.

It is a fact we should cherish about our way of life, even if we must also express the hope Mr Ratcliffe and the National Park’s planners eventually find an acceptable compromise.