News / Stoke Lodge Playing Fields
Petition to remove ‘illegal’ fence on much-loved green
More than 1,500 people have signed a petition to remove a controversial fence around former school playing fields.
It was decided by councillors in June after a decades-long row that Stoke Lodge Playing Fields should be protected as a “town green” – legally opening it up for public use.
The fields in Stoke Bishop had been used by Cotham High School since 2011, but were fenced off in 2019 due to safety concerns.
is needed now More than ever
Residents of homes around Stoke Lodge claim the fence deprives them of vital green space, although there is access to the field via five gates.
Campaigners have now launched a petition calling on Cotham to remove the fence and for Bristol City Council to force the school to do so.
Cotham, which said it would use Shine Sports Ground in Horfield for its PE lessons, was asked to comment on the fence and the petition but it declined.
We Love Stoke Lodge is a campaign group fighting to keep public access to the playing fields.
Speaking in a video posted on YouTube, a young member said: “For the past 15 years, my community has been working hard to ensure that we and future generations can enjoy this beautiful, rare and amazing green space.
“Twenty three acres of this land was finally registered as a village green in August of 2023.
“Now this land is a village green, it means it is a criminal offence to enclose, fence or interrupt our enjoyment and use of this land.
“So what is this?
“This is the fence that Cotham School has built.
“There is over 1,400m of fencing that enclose and sit on our village green – over a mile of illegal fencing.”
When a green has village green status, it is illegal for anyone to encroach on, enclose or erect anything on it that “interferes with that green or ground otherwise than for its better enjoyment for its proper purpose”.
Cotham appears to be preparing to legally challenge the decision to register the fields as a village green – which might mean the fence stays up until a judicial review has finished.
A letter to We Love Stoke Lodge from Cotham’s solicitors stated: “The fencing sits on private land, which is leased to the School but outside the land registered as a village green.
“Moreover, and in any event, the School has left the gates unlocked since the registration of land as a village green.
“Accordingly, it is baseless to suggest the use or enjoyment of the green is interrupted by the fencing or that there has been an encroachment or inclosure of a village green.”
Main photo: We Love Stoke Lodge
Read next:
- School must share playing field with community after decades-long row
- Stand-off at Stoke Lodge
- Fish and chip shop celebrates 35th anniversary
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