News / Stoke Lodge
School criticises ‘targeted’ vandalism on playing fields
A school is appealing for information following what they have called a “targeted and destructive” act of vandalism on its playing fields, which has been central to a lengthy legal dispute.
Cotham School said its contractors found newly installed fencing on Stoke Lodge playing fields damaged when they arrived there on Thursday morning.
The school said the fence’s panels had been “cut using power tools, bent and totally removed” in a second instance of vandalism in two weeks.
The mile-long fence returned to Stoke Lodge in September, after Cotham School was granted permission to put it back in a Bristol City Council meeting – photo: Martin Booth
Headteacher of Cotham School, Jo Butler, said she was “extremely upset and frustrated” by these attacks and claimed this was “not an isolated incident”, with the school field’s fence being “repeatedly targeted over a number of years”.
She added: “The fencing was only reinstated recently to secure the site and enable our students and the local community sports groups to get back to using the fields safely with our permission.
“The damage will cost thousands of pounds to repair – money that should be spent on education and resources for our children.”
Butler further added that the playing fields were “private school land, not public open space” with “controlled access and subject to restrictions” so the school could ensure its safe use as school playing fields.
“The deliberate destruction of our property is unacceptable and morally reprehensible,” said Butler.
Bristol24/7 has contacted Avon and Somerset Police for information on the vandalism.
The Stoke Lodge playing fields have been a matter of dispute between the school’s authorities and We Love Stoke Lodge campaigners, who believe the space should be awarded a village green status and made available for public use.
Campaigners have been fighting to protect Stoke Lodge’s village green status – photo: Martin Booth
In a statement, members of We Love Stoke Lodge said: “In that statement, Cotham School appeals for information ‘following a significant act of vandalism at its school playing fields at Stoke Lodge’. The statement describes ‘extensive damage’ and says that ‘large sections’ have been deliberately destroyed.
“Members of the community inspected the area on Saturday and have confirmed that one fence panel appears to have been removed and can be seen in adjacent bushes. Our understanding is that these fence panels cost approx £40. The school has previously stated that its fencing is being paid for by insurance.
“We Love Stoke Lodge does not condone criminal activity in any form, but neither do we condone inflammatory and misleading claims, which only serve to increase division between the school and the community.
“We note that the school has applied to install eight, 6m tall CCTV towers around the parkland; it has been suggested to us that the school may wish to publicise claims of this nature in a bid to justify that application.
“Nevertheless, we believe the Nolan principles of honesty, objectivity and integrity should be applied.
“We also note that Cotham School chose to build a fence around the whole of this 22 acre open space (rather than a smaller area suitable for its own use for PE lessons), and that this fence obstructs four public rights of way across the field.
“The High Court made clear in its recent decision that the school’s lease is subject to any public rights of way, which do not require registration to come into existence. Access to public rights of way cannot be ‘controlled’ or ‘restricted’.
“It is a criminal offence to obstruct a public right of way and We Love Stoke Lodge does not condone that activity either. The law also makes clear that where a public right of way is obstructed, any individual director or obicer of a corporate entity may face personal liability if the obence was committed with their consent.”
Main photo: Cotham School
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