Stoke Lodge Playing Fields campaigners celebrate footpath victory

Campaigners are celebrating after Bristol city councillors unanimously agreed that four walking routes across a school’s playing fields should be registered as public footpaths. The public rights of way and greens committee’s decision at an extraordinary meeting on Wednesday, November 27, marks the latest twist in the saga of Stoke Lodge Playing Fields that has rumbled on for over a decade into the green open space, which is used by Cotham School for PE.

A total of 99 public statements of support were submitted to the meeting, with just one against, from the school. A report by independent consultant Robin Carr said there had been 155 claims from people saying they had used the four paths as far back as 1946 and that this arguably met the criteria for establishing formal public rights of way.

But it also said there was evidence that the owners, Bristol City Council, which leases the land to Cotham School, were merely giving permission for people to walk on the fields, which meant the use would not be ‘as of right’. The report said it could be argued that the fields being used by various schools over many years ‘implies’ that they are not accessible to the public.

However, the committee unanimously agreed there was “overwhelming” evidence that public rights of way existed, having been accrued over two distinct time periods between the 1940s and the 1980s totalling 40 years. Campaign group We Love Stoke Lodge and Cotham School have been at loggerheads over the fields for years, which came to a head when the school fenced them off.

The campaigners successfully applied for the land to be established as a ‘town green’ to maintain public access to it – a decision that the school, which says it needs to restrict access for students’ safety, is challenging in the courts in a case to be heard in January. We Love Stoke Lodge said the decision on Wednesday now made that challenge ‘pointless’ and that the fence must come down.

Alan Preece, who submitted the rights of way application, said after the meeting: “I and my family had been privileged to be able to cross Stoke Lodge to various destinations around Stoke Bishop for 45 years until Cotham decided they no longer wanted to share the space with the community and built a fence costing a small fortune with public money to control access. With the help of the community willing to give witness, and help from many friends, and support from an independent legal expert, we have been able to petition the council to restore the rights of way that were taken from us, and for that I am immensely grateful.”

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A spokesperson for We Love Stoke Lodge said: “We are delighted that Professor Preece’s application has been successful. Members of the community spoke from the heart about the critical importance of these footpaths, and how deeply the loss of them was felt when Cotham School locked everyone out.

“The four routes cross the field east-west and north-south, plus two diagonal paths in the lower field. Their existence, now formally recognised, means that Cotham School cannot fence them off or restrict access to them.

“This also means that the school’s ongoing High Court litigation, in which it seeks to strip Stoke Lodge of its village green status in order to control access to the field, is pointless. Now more than ever, Cotham’s court case is an appalling waste of both school funds and council resources.

“We call on Cotham School’s governing body to call a halt to this ridiculous waste of scarce education funds.” The school has not responded to a request for a comment following the meeting, but in a written statement to the committee, chair of governors Sandra Fryer and headteacher Joanne Butler said councillors were facing “community pressure to take action which renders the use of Cotham School Playing Fields impossible”.

They said the public rights of way decision should be deferred until the High Court challenge against town green status had been concluded. The pair said: “Cotham School operates from a relatively small urban site in the inner city, we do not have alternative long-term arrangements to provide the physical education for our students’ needs and hence we seek to resolve the matter of our playing fields for the long term.

“Cotham School has the residue of a 125-year lease of the fields at Stoke Lodge, it is vital we protect these playing fields for future generations of students.” Committee chairman Cllr John Goulandris (Conservative, Stoke Bishop) told the meeting on Wednesday: “The recommendation is clear that the footpaths should be added to the map of rights of way.

“What I find particularly powerful is the number of people who've supported these rights of way. Having read those statements, they’re very passionate and a lot of them go back a long way.”

Cllr Abi Finch (Green, St George Central) said: “I was convinced by the evidence in the report that there is access.” Cllr Tim Kent (Lib Dem, Hengrove & Whitchurch Park) said: “The evidence was overwhelming that clearly there was a footpath and people had accrued those rights over the time period.”

He said the rights of way had effectively already been established before signs warning people not to trespass were installed in 1985. Cllr Ed Fraser (Green, Eastville) said: “I would agree with Cllr Kent that on the balance of probabilities the rights of way subsist.

“The fact there are two distinct time periods totalling nearly 40 years leaves me without the vaguest doubt whatsoever.” Cllr Ellie King (Labour, Hillfields) said: “I can see where this could become a future point of conflict in other areas of the city and I do worry about the precedent this would set elsewhere.

“Green space in the city is such a finite thing and restricting access to that is something we have to be really mindful of because it’s a precious thing and it’s so important to our health and wellbeing. I’m also in agreement that we’ve seen enough evidence here to go ahead with this and that the time periods have been demonstrated that it has been in use for a significant amount of time.”

Cllr Kaz Self (Labour, Southmead) said: “I’ve looked at the things that Cotham School has said in its objections and I’m happy that all those can be dismissed. I would be happy to accept these public rights of way.”

But she said: “The catchment area for Cotham School does include children from deprived areas, and access to physical activity is really important to them. I’m concerned about what might happen with these public rights of way in terms of where schoolchildren may end up playing.”

There will now be six weeks of formal consultation to seek additional evidence. If there are objections to the order, it would be submitted to the secretary of state to make the final decision.

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