School's green space not to be shared, court rules

A highly-contested 23-acre green space leased to a school to use as a playing field does not have to be shared with the local community, a judge has ruled.

Cotham School in Bristol has been in dispute with residents living close to land it leases at Stoke Lodge since 2019 when it erected a 6ft (2m) high fence around it.

Bristol City Council, which leased the land to the school, voted to give the site town green status in June 2023, but this status has now been revoked following a High Court trial.

Judge Paul Matthews ruled that the fact local residents had ignored signs warning against trespass did not mean they had use of it "as of right" and Bristol City Council was wrong to change it status.

The Redland school, which said it was "thrilled" with the legal ruling, was granted an 125-year lease on the land in 2011 due to lack of space on its inner city site three miles away.

It said it was forced to fence the site for safeguarding purposes and due to issues caused by out-of-control dogs and dog fouling on the sports pitches.

The school argued that signs put up in the mid 1980s by the now-defunct Avon County Council warning against trespass showed the public never had the right to access the site

Campaign group We Love Stoke Lodge argued few people were aware of the signs and locals used the land "as of right", meaning they did not need permission to use it for recreation.

In an 110-page judgment, Judge Matthews found that in addition to the two earlier signs, Bristol City Council had erected a similar one by the car park in 2009.

He noted that originally there had been six signs installed by Avon County Council, three of which disappeared after 2002, and that Cotham School had installed some when it took on the lease.

"I am satisfied that the various owners of the land in erecting the signs had done sufficient to make clear, during the relevant 20-year period, that unrestricted access to the land by the public was contested," he said.

The judge added that by granting Cotham School the lease, Bristol City Council had "transferred its right to possession, and to sue for trespass, to the claimant".

"Thereafter it was a matter for the claimant, rather than the City Council, as to whether or not to give permission for others to use the land," he said.

He ruled that the land should never have been registered as a town or village green, and ordered that the entry relating to the site must be deleted from the registry of such land.

Between 2014 and 2019, when the fencing was installed, the school did not use the site at all following a risk assessment.

It concluded that a single teacher handling 30 pupils on a site away from the school could not manage the risks of open access to the land, dogs and of pupils absconding.

In a statement following the judgment, the school said: "We're absolutely thrilled that justice has prevailed!

"The rights and opportunities of our 1,700 students will finally be restored."

The We Love Stoke Lodge group said it was "incredibly disappointed" with the decision.

"Green space is a finite and highly valued shared resource and many thousands of school children enjoy learning to exercise on public land today, both within and outside school time," it said.

It said it was considering its grounds for appeal.

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