School launches legal action over playing fields

A school trust has launched legal action against a council after it was blocked from fencing off part of a field used by both students and the public.

In March Peterborough City Council agreed to lease a section of Werrington Fields to the Ken Stimpson Academy for use as self-contained playing fields.

But it was a smaller section than the Four Cs Academy, which runs the school, said it would accept.

The academy trust has now applied to the High Court for a judicial review over the council's decision.

The decision came after the Four Cs Academy Trust proposed fencing off 77% of the fields to safeguard its pupils.

On a map the council labelled part of the fields "Area C" and then split the space into two.

One part of the divided fields has been named "Area C1", which the council has agreed to lease to the school.

The academy claimed the authority's decision to split the area into C1 and C2 was "unlawful".

The trust stated it now wants to use the entire area of the fields labelled Area C for its lessons and school activities, and has called for the council's decision made in March to be quashed.

It was previously agreed that the academy trust and council would split the cost of the fencing, which was thought to be about £80,000.

According to Local Democracy Reporting Service the trust has now said that it "does not accept" it must pay a contribution towards the fencing and argued that it was the council's responsibility as the freeholder.

The trust also said the council should pay its costs for any court proceedings.

Save Werrington Fields, a residents' campaign group, is involved in the legal proceedings as an interested party.

A spokesperson for the group said it felt the judicial review application showed a "level of contempt" for the community and councillors.

They added the organisation hoped the council would "stand up to the bullying tactics" of the academy trust.

Nyree Ambarchian, one of the group's members, said: "From our point of view it just seems like a real smack in the face for local democracy."

She added: "Everybody's got to a place where they agree, and the academy trust are the ones delaying the process."

A spokesperson for Peterborough City Council said: "Following the decision of full council in March, we remain committed to reaching a conclusion on this matter as quickly as possible in the best interests of everyone involved."

In a letter written by the city council to the academy trust's solicitor, the council argued that the academy's claims were "no more than generalised assertions".

It added that the council does not agree to paying the trust's costs of threatened legal proceedings, does not agree to lease the entirety of Area C to the trust and does not agree that it would bear the entire cost of erecting the fences.

The Four Cs Academy Trust was approached for comment.

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