Cotham School was able to bring back some games lessons to Stoke Lodge last month – but the battle over the playing fields is nowhere near an end.
Pupils returned to the site, which the school leases from Bristol City Council, on Friday January 16, for the first time in several years. This was after the school had locked all the gates, claiming that it was suspending “all permissive public access” following damage to the re-erected fence and threatening behaviour towards staff by local residents.
The We Love Stoke Lodge group, which has campaigned for continued public access to the 23-acre site, accused the school of “behaving in a hostile and aggressive manner”.
The two sides have been in conflict since the school, which does not have playing fields on its site, first installed a fence in the interests of safeguarding pupils. This had to be removed when the Stoke Lodge fields were declared a village green but was put back up last autumn after the High Court ruled against that decision.
The school brought in mobile security cameras and applied to the council for eight permanent cameras, but that request has been refused.
The war of words is likely to continue until at least October, when a public inquiry will look into a council decision to confirm four public rights of way across the playing fields.
In a statement released in the evening of January 16, Cotham School said: “The safety of our students and staff and the security of our playing fields at Stoke Lodge are Cotham School’s top priorities. In response to yesterday’s and today’s disruption by adult individuals seeking to prevent our lawful use of the site, the school has been left with no choice but to lock the gates and suspend all permissive public access. This suspension will remain in place until the school can be confident that the public and campaign groups will respect the school’s use of the fields and maintain the security of the fencing.
“This action comes in response to more criminal damage overnight and significant disturbances that occurred yesterday and today. Yesterday this prevented the lawful use of the site and the delivery of physical education to our students.
Today the premises staff attending the site in the morning had to repair the fence and at 1pm after lessons ended they experienced verbal abuse and threatening behaviour from members of the public. This is completely unacceptable.
“Until now, Cotham School has always provided the public with access to the fields when not in use by the school, which is typically every afternoon and at weekends. Dogs have not been permitted on the fields.
“The public is reminded that the claimed Public Rights of Way over the Stoke Lodge playing fields have no legal standing at this time. These rights are only claimed and are not formally registered in law. The school will continue to take all necessary steps to protect our use of our site.”
In response, WLSL issued a statement, saying: “We are disappointed, yet again, that Cotham School is behaving in such a hostile and aggressive manner.
“It should surprise no one that when school representatives arrived at the field to lock the gates yesterday, there were people walking on the public rights of way, but they made it clear that there was no intention to disrupt any lessons…
“The school has now declared that it will lock all the gates, all the time. This is what many people believe they intended to do all along. It is completely unacceptable conduct.
“Many other schools in Bristol and across the UK have public rights of way across playing fields (or use open access land) and do not treat members of the public in the way that Cotham School does.
“The whole episode demonstrates the problems that the school has failed to plan for, when erecting a fence all around the perimeter in full knowledge that four public rights of way lie within the fenced area.
“The school only uses the field for PE lessons of 45 minutes, once or twice a day. It could easily have resolved the whole situation by fencing a smaller area of the field.
“Under section 137 of the Highways Act, it is a criminal offence to wilfully obstruct free passage along a public right of way. The school keeps repeating that the public rights of way have no current status, but that is not correct. The High Court judge noted that the school’s use under the lease is subject to ‘rights that the local community might have already acquired, such as a public right of way (which does not require registration to come into existence)’.
“The school’s failure to respect the law impacts young children, who cannot now walk a safe route to Stoke Bishop School across the field, elderly people who could manage a short cut across the field but cannot walk a longer route, and thousands of others including those with mobility and other issues.
“It shows an absolute lack of good faith towards the council (which has said that these rights of way exist) and to the wider public.”