News / Stoke Lodge Playing Fields
Outrage and ‘disgust’ at attempt to overturn Stoke Lodge decision
Accusations of “secrecy” and “antidemocratic actions from unelected officers” hover over the case of Stoke Lodge playing fields, which is going before the courts on Wednesday.
A relatively obscure Bristol City Council committee meeting received record attendance on Monday as members of the public gathered to express their outrage and “disgust” at an attempt to overturn the decision to grant the land in Stoke Bishop town or village green (TVG) status.
Almost 90 people submitted statements calling on the Public Rights of Way and Greens Committee (PROWG) to uphold its decision to register the playing fields with the protected status in June of last year.
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It follows an appeal by Cotham School, which has been granted long-term rights to use the fields for PE, challenging the classification of the land as a village green, a status that means the school would be unable to fence off the site.
A bid by Bristol City Council – as the landowner – to switch from defendant to claimant in the case has been blasted as a “disgrace” by many campaigners and residents, including Kathy Welham, who successfully applied for the village green status.
In a statement to the committee on Monday, Welham said: “It is shameful to have a council performing politically motivated contortions to try and justify unlawful policies and actions.”
Accusations of “secrecy” and “antidemocratic actions from unelected officials” hover over the case of Stoke Lodge playing fields that is going before the courts on Wednesday – photo: Betty Woolerton
Questions have also been raised as to why the council – as the Commons Registration Authority – is now adopting a ‘neutral stance’ rather than defending the decision made by its democratically elected councillors.
Helen Powell, a resident and member of We Love Stoke Lodge campaign group, told the committee “decisions about village greens are, by law and by constitution, not a matter for the executive and are not supposed to be subject to political interference”.
Powell continued: “I believe the council’s approach to be unprecedented, fundamentally unconstitutional, anti-democratic and a completely unnecessary waste of taxpayer funds.
“It sets a terrible precedent if officers are going to start trying to overthrow fully-delegated decision-making by this committee or by planning committees.”
It was a sentiment echoed by the cross-party group of councillors who sit on the PROWG committee, and who demanded answers.
A member of the public appeals to the PROWG committee to defend its decision to grant Stoke Lodge playing fields village green status – photo: Rob Browne
Chris Jackson, a Labour councillor for Filwood, said: “If this is allowed to go ahead, if the legal officers can overturn a decision by a democratically elected committee, we will be forever worrying about whatever decision we take.
“This is a precedent. I’m absolutely disgusted we are even talking about this.”
His stance was backed by others, including John Goulandris, a Tory councillor for Stoke Bishop, who said: “This is a regulatory committee, we have made a decision and we expect support. We are not on the fence here, we are against any decision that is against our decision.”
Tim Rippington, a Labour councillor for Brislington East, questioned why committee members only heard about the actions of the council “through the back door”.
Christine Townsend, a Green councillor for Southville, demanded answers from council lawyers, saying: “I’m particularly interested to understand how it is that this committee could have made a decision and then these legal officers who are employed to support this committee in their decision making then choose to take a neutral stance.
“Taking a neutral stance is not in itself neutral. It’s a choice not to challenge, it’s a choice not to uphold the democratic vote that this committee took back in the summer, so I need to understand how those lawyers got to a place where that was their decision.”
Questions were put to Anne Nugent, a legal officer for the council, who said it was inappropriate to comment on litigation in a public forum.
As a result, the meeting went into a closed session, meaning the public and press are not allowed in for a section of the proceedings.
The outcome of this was a short statement read by the chair of the committee, Green councillor Tessa Fitzjohn. It said: “We note the CRA has registered the land at Stoke Lodge as TVG. We express our concern that the council, as landowner, is seeking to become the claimant alongside Cotham School and have instructed Ms Nugent to investigate the decision making and report back to us as soon as possible.”
Bristol24/7 understands that the committee wants to know if there has been a political sign-off on the decision by the council to switch sides, as this is currently unknown. Political sign-off – as opposed to just sign-off from unelected officers – would be needed for the bid to have any weight.
The case is due to go to Bristol Civil Justice Centre on Wednesday.
Main photo: Rob Browne
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