The row has been running for almost 15 years
12:22, 10 Jun 2025Updated 13:52, 10 Jun 2025
A Bristol school is celebrating after a judge ruled in its favour in an 11-year battle to confirm control of its playing fields.
Cotham School took Bristol City Council to court to overturn a decision to bestow ‘Village Green’ status on Stoke Lodge, an area of open space that the council had leased to the school to use as its playing fields.
And now a High Court judge has ruled in favour of Cotham School and against the council and local residents.
Cotham School said it was ‘absolutely delighted’ with the judgement, in which Judge Paul Matthews ruled in favour of the school on every aspect of the case.
A spokesperson for Bristol City Council said it was carefully considering the lengthy 118-page judgement, and would take time to consider its next steps.
A spokesperson for Cotham School said: “Cotham School is absolutely delighted that His Honour Judge Matthews has handed down his judgement, which confirms that our school playing fields are not and should not be a Town and Village Green.
“The judge has handed down a 110-page judgement which has found fully in Cotham School’s favour. We're absolutely thrilled that justice has prevailed.
“The rights and opportunities of our 1,700 students will finally be restored. We couldn't be more excited to be able to positively plan to get back onto our playing fields as soon as possible.
“This decision affirms our commitment and tireless endeavours to resolve this highly challenging issue in pursuit of delivering a high-quality educational experience within a safe, inclusive, and supportive environment for all our students.
“It supports the approach we have taken, and we remain dedicated to meeting all statutory obligations, including the provision of PE, in a way that best serves the needs of our students,” they said.
READ MORE: Row over Bristol school playing field goes to High CourtREAD MORE: Stoke Lodge Playing Fields campaigners celebrate footpath victory“Cotham School will now review how the site will be remobilised and will provide further updates on our plans in due course,” they added.
Cotham School said it had to stop using Stoke Lodge for PE lessons back in 2014 because of issues with dog walkers and health and safety as members of the public used the fields as a public park, and in an effort to secure the fields for its own use, the school erected a fence around most of the area, in a highly-controversial move that was vehemently opposed by local residents.
That sparked a renewed legal battle and a campaign group, called We Love Stoke Lodge, which formed earlier in the 2010s, began efforts to secure wider public use of the space.
Lengthy legal cases ensued, but local residents and campaigners had hoped they had secured permanent victory when Bristol City Council’s public rights of way committee bestowed Town or Village Green status on the land, which confirmed the public’s right to use all the land all the time.
Cotham School took Bristol City Council and the local resident to the High Court to appeal that decision and ask that the Town Green record be amended.
In his lengthy ruling, the judge said the case was not about the rights and wrongs of whether Stoke Lodge should be a school’s playing field or a public open space, but about a specific legal argument over whether the land was within the legal definition of a town or village green when that decision was made, and whether it is ‘just’ to amend the register.
In his ruling, the judge decided that - because of a long history of use by the council as grounds for the Stoke Lodge educational facility and later as Cotham School’s playing fields, along with historic signs warning against trespassing - that Stoke Lodge was not within the legal definition of a Town Green, and should be removed from the register.
"We are incredibly disappointed with the decision that has been handed down today," said a spokesperson for We Love Stoke Lodge. "We feel that aspects of the judgment could be highly problematic for schools across the country whose playing fields are, by their nature, open to public access. 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.
"We also note that the judge himself has said that 'I do not doubt that, given the strength of feeling on both sides in this case, the dispute will go further'," they added. "The judgment is lengthy and we are considering it in detail, including our grounds for appeal."