News / Stoke Lodge Playing Fields
The argument so far as Stoke Lodge case goes to court
Can Bristol City Council exist as more than one entity?
This was essentially the question being argued at length in courtroom seven at Bristol Civil Justice Centre on Wednesday morning.
The case regards Stoke Lodge playing fields and the attempt by Cotham School to get the classification of the land as a village green revoked, a move that would allow it to fence off the site to use for PE lessons and limit public access.
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To complicate matters, Bristol City Council wears more than one hat in this case – one as the landowner that is seeking to switch sides from defendant to claimant alongside Cotham.
The other as the Commons Regulatory Authority (CRA) that granted village green status last June via the delegated powers of the cross-party Public Rights of Way and Greens Committee.
Judge Paul Matthews was asked to define the council’s status in the case and determine whether it can be listed as two separate parties.
Representing Bristol City Council as landowner, barrister Paul Wilmshurst argued that in this case there is a “huge conflict of interest” between the council as a landowner and the council as CRA, in which as the latter it is adopting a neutral stance.
Bristol City Council wears more than one hat in the case of Stoke Lodge playing fields – photo: Betty Woolerton
Wilmshurst stated there is precedent for bodies such as the council to be separately represented, saying “Bristol City Council has lawfully had separate representation since 2011”, and that the council has a separate legal existence from the CRA.
As it stands, if the council is allowed to side with Cotham School, it could be said to effectively be trying to sue itself.
Judge Matthews was unconvinced that the council could be classed as separate entities, saying it was not like an amoeba that could split in two.
“General law says it’s a single corporate body, end of,” said the judge, sitting in the court in Redcliffe.
He continued: “Bristol City Council is entitled to be a party and entitled to be represented and what it does with its representation is up to it.
“There is only one Bristol City Council. It has a lot of different duties and powers but it’s only one entity.”
After all of that then, the scene is now set for a case in which so far very little has so far been clarified, with the case resuming on Wednesday afternoon to discuss costs.
Judge Matthews is expected to make a written ruling that will determine how the case proceeds.
All photos: Betty Woolerton
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