News / Stoke Lodge
Stoke Lodge fence being reinstalled to ‘return it to school and community use’
On a chilly Wednesday morning at Stoke Lodge, there was only one topic of conversation among dog walkers: the return of the fence.
“The nearest place for me is the Downs,” one woman said to her friend. “It’s just not on.”
A few hundred yards from where they stood, workmen were reinstalling the fence on the Cross Elms Lane corner of the site.
is needed now More than ever
Cotham School have wasted no time in beginning the work to get the mile-long fence back around Stoke Lodge which they lease off Bristol City Council for use as playing fields.
School bosses say they have “an agreed mobilisation plan in place” which includes reinstating the fence, “ensuring the site is safe and secure for student use”, and developing “a clear user policy”.
They hope to avoid muddy paths “and improve the local space outside the fence”, as well as setting up a stakeholder forum, adding they “intend to engage with local residents, youth sports clubs, the council and the police as we move forward”.
It comes after a high court judge threw out the granting of village green status for the land in Stoke Bishop, but local campaigners are pledging to continue their fight.
Away from the legal wrangling, two contrasting signs offer a glimpse of the continued impasse between the school and campaigners.
“The site is currently closed while returning it to school and community use” says a laminated Cotham School sign.
Underneath that, someone has placed their own typed note which reads: “Cotham’s school lease is subject to ‘all existing rights and use of the property, including use by the community’.
“The community are always here, we never left. It is only the school that can ‘return’ to using the site. And they need never have left. Ofsted do not require a fence for safeguarding.”
Cotham School’s sign makes it clear that CCTV is present, three years after secret cameras filmed members of the public – photo: Martin Booth
In a statement, a We Love Stoke Lodge spokesperson claimed that the fence was being reinstalled “without permission, consultation or regard for ongoing legal processes”.
“Contractors were seen digging into the root zones of protected trees to install fencing which will cross public rights of way, on land owned by the city which is subject to a lease that restricts any structures being built and ensures community access,” the statement says.
“These actions are taking place despite the absence of planning consent for works near many protected trees and in direct contradiction to the council’s recent appeals for cooperation and transparency.
“A formal letter has been sent to councillors… calling on Bristol City Council – as the planning authority, landowner and landlord – to urgently intervene and exercise its powers to halt this activity.”
Workers began reinstalling the fence around Stoke Lodge on Tuesday – photo: Martin Booth
The We Love Stoke Lodge spokesperson added: “It is deeply concerning that Cotham School continues to allocate valuable education funding to pursue fencing at all costs, the Village Green status is being considered by the Court Of Appeal and several public rights of way are being reviewed by the Planning Inspectorate.
“This relentless pursuit not only undermines democratic process and public access but also comes at a significant cost to the school’s pupils and wider community.
“Why would a school continue to spend huge sums of money erecting a fence that they may not be able to keep?
“Ofsted, the Department of Education and in court, Cotham School’s own head teacher, have confirmed that fencing is not a requirement.
“We urge immediate action by Bristol City Council to protect Stoke Lodge, uphold public rights and ensure accountability.”
Stoke Lodge playing fields in Stoke Bishop are owned by Bristol City Council and leased to Cotham School as their offsite playing fields for the delivery of PE lessons – photo: Cotham School
Speaking at a council meeting on Monday when Cotham School were given permission to put the controversial fence back up on the playing fields without applying for planning permission, chair of governors Sandra Fryer said: “When the judge found that these are school playing fields and these should be left to Cotham to manage as we see fit and appropriate, I thought we would have an opportunity to move forward.
“We’ve looked at the things that worked well when the fence was up before and things that didn’t work well.
“We have reached out in a subtle way to the campaigners but so far all we’ve heard is, ‘we’ll keep fighting’.
“Let the school get on with running its business properly.
“We will put the fence back up. We will do it properly and effectively.”
According to Cotham School’s website, the playing fields are “now closed pending work under way to enable the school to get back to using the playing fields in due course” – photo: Cotham School
At the meeting of the economy & skills policy committee, Bristol’s Labour group leader Tom Renhard said that both sides “need to get back in the room together and have a conversation, to try and have a further attempt to mediate a more positive solution that’s going to work for both the school and local residents”.
Renhard said: “The amount of time, resource and impact this is having is not a situation that anyone wants to find ourselves in.
“The council should play a role in perhaps appointing mediators to help facilitate those conversations.
“That would be a better use of time than us trying to pursue one side or the other and probably incur further legal costs.”
Cotham School put a fence up in 2019 to protect its pupils during PE lessons. This was later removed when the council’s public rights of way & greens committee said the fields had to be kept open for the public.
Then in June, a High Court judge said the committee was wrong and the primary purpose of the fields was for education which meant the fence could go back up.
Main photo: Martin Booth
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