A controversial fence around school playing fields could soon be taken down after a decades-long row over public access. Councillors decided that two small signs put up in the 1980s were not sufficient to mean an inner city high school could fence off the popular fields.
Students at Cotham High School have used the 23-acre Stoke Lodge playing fields since 2011 and a large fence was put up in 2019. But locals living nearby applied in 2018 to protect the fields as a “town green”, legally keeping it open to the public.
Five years later, councillors at Bristol City Council has finally decided to accept that application and register the fields as a town green. The high school warned that the decision would have major consequences for their ability to safely use the playing fields for sports.
