News / Stoke Lodge
Stoke Lodge campaigners prevented from mounting further legal challenges
Cotham School leaders have welcomed the news that the Court of Appeal has ruled that campaigners cannot challenge the High Court decision that Stoke Lodge playing fields are not a town and village green.
A school statement called it “great news for Cotham” and that they will “continue the process to get back to using our fields”, with workers currently reinstating the mile-long fence around the site.
The school has also continued the war of words between them and We Love Stoke Lodge, accusing campaigners of “a significant and misleading misrepresentation… that they persist in claiming”.
We Love Stoke Lodge claim that Cotham headteacher, Jo Butler, has “admitted” there is no safeguarding requirement for fencing around Stoke Lodge.
But the school statement said this is “categorically false”.
Cotham’s statement said: “Our headteacher has never stated that a fence is not required to enable school use on this site, and the school stands firmly by the position that appropriate fencing is absolutely essential for the safeguarding of students.
“The safety and protection of children in our care is paramount and non-negotiable.
“The fencing is not optional; it is a fundamental safeguarding requirement that enables the school to use the land safely and responsibly.
“This basic principle of child protection should not be controversial.”
Workers began reinstalling the fence around Stoke Lodge in September – photo: Martin Booth
This is We Love Stoke Lodge’s statement in full:
“Following the High Court decision on village green status for Stoke Lodge last June, we applied for permission to take our case to the Court of Appeal.
“Our grounds for appeal included, first, that the High Court was wrong to find that the education purposes for which the land is held by Bristol City Council are incompatible with registration of the land as a town or village green.
“The High Court Judge himself conceded that he might be wrong on this issue. And of course, schools all over the UK do use public open space (such as parks) for PE.
“Cotham’s headteacher Jo Butler admitted in cross- examination during the trial that there is no safeguarding or other requirement for playing fields to be fenced off from the public, and yet the High Court ruling is based on the idea that there is such a requirement.
“The Court of Appeal has today said that this issue ‘raises an important point of principle with a real prospect of success’.
“However, the High Court decision went on to make certain findings of fact on other issues. In particular, the Judge based two key decisions on a finding that there were six Avon County Council signs on the land and that six signs ‘were sufficient to make clear, during the relevant 20-year period, that unrestricted access to the land by the public was contested’.
“All parties, including Cotham School, agreed that there were in fact only three signs on this 23-acre site. This was common ground on a critical factual issue.
“The Court of Appeal has said that it will not reopen the High Court’s factual findings even though it recognises that some of them may be wrong and that another judge might have reached a different decision.
“It has therefore denied us permission to appeal.
“Our community’s fight for village green status has always had a simple objective – to protect public access to this much-loved open space.
“Cotham School signed up to shared use in its lease, but in recent weeks has again erected perimeter fencing (despite Ms Butler admitting this is not a safeguarding requirement).
“The school has made public statements about ‘community collaboration’ and ‘improving local spaces’ but in fact has added extra bits of fencing to prevent anyone walking around the perimeter of the land outside the fence.
“Some of the perimeter fencing currently obstructs public rights of way.
“This is why our community’s fight has always been, and remains, necessary.
“We stand against the privatisation and development ambitions of Cotham School on this publicly- owned important open space.
“Stoke Lodge has always been and should remain accessible to all who want to enjoy it.
“We will continue to protect this precious open space, its trees and its wildlife, by all means available.”
Main photo: Google Earth
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