ePetition details
Civil Service Ground Pocket Park
.Friends of The Field Community Association was set up nearly 20 years ago and in that time all the political parties have been extremely supportive of our campaign to protect the 8acres of open space that was the former civil service ground and open it up for local people to use.
The land was acquired by the council in 2012 and half a million
pounds was invested in the
site by SCC. Since then it has been enjoyed by families and dog
walkers. Benches and bins have been supplied. Testlands have run
sports events on the field and of course St Marks School have used
the site. Three really successful huge free community festivals
have also been run in years past.
Earlier this month the council gave planning permission for a
new all through St Marks
School to be built, with the former civil service sports ground to
be incorporated into the site as playing fields.
FOTF support the new school. We recognise it will bring
challenges with regards to
congestion and parking but we understand that there are no other
sites for a new secondary school. So we want it to work, and want
the new school to be a great success and neighbour for the local
community.
But.... we don't want the Community to lose open access to The Field entirely.
Over the years councillors have been very clear that the field
should be for BOTH schools AND the community. Indeed 10 years ago
there was a plan to relocate Regents Park School to the site and
our MP, Alan Whitehead, campaigned extensively for the community
not to be left out if that were to happen.
We would like the council to provide a Pocket Park alongside the
new school playing fields.
The best place would be along the Malmesbury Place side. A strip
of land could be accommodated.
This was discussed at the recent planning panel. Cllr Shields and
Cllr Leggett spoke
supportively. As did the Chairman of the panel Cllr Savage.
But the job of the panel was to judge the application in front of
them and not to create policy.
That is the job of Full Council and the job of the Administration.
Hence our deputation in Feb. Some reasons have been suggested in
the past as to why it’s not possible.
Let us address these...
- There isn't space.
There is plenty of space for this. Indeed during the recent
planning consultation architects working on behalf of the council
said to residents that they were just filling the space on the
plans with extra things as they had run out of sports pitches to
put there.- it’s not legal, not allowed under planning rules
or not possible under the terms of the council's acquisition.
It is allowed. We have copies of detailed correspondence with
Sarita Riley of the council's legal team making it very clear.
It’s designated as playing fields and this explicitly in the
legislation says that includes local authority parkland.
- there would be a safeguarding issue.
No, we would expect a pocket park to be separately fenced off from
the school playing fields.
The park could be used by both the school and non school Children
of course.
- we can't have dogs making a mess on playing fields that the
school children will use.
A pocket park would be separate to the schools playing fields, so
this would not be an issue.
- the developers won't let us.
The developers work for you. You are paying the bills and you set
the policy.
- there will be a community access agreement so a pocket park
isn't needed.
All schools have community access agreements whereby they allow
clubs to use their facilities out of hours. This isn't the same as
open access to the field. It means no play park, no space for dog
walkers. It means local people would most likely have to pay to use
facilities and most likely be part of a sports club. There is very
little open space close by for families. We have more and more
flats being built and houses split up into HMOs and no space for
the children.
This ePetition ran from 26/05/2020 to 15/07/2020 and has now finished.
368 people signed this ePetition.
Council response
The Legal status of the land
The land was acquired by way of Compulsory Purchase Order for use
as education playing fields. The reasons for CPO envisaged some
element of community use as wholly ancillary to the use as playing
fields (both in planning and land use law terms) but does not
require provision for such. The reasons for CPO are a guide to what
is and is not acceptable in planning terms for the site (but are
subject to actual planning decisions for the site which may vary
and / or change over time).
The land is held under the Education Acts. Under those Acts the holding powers dictate that land can only be used in accordance with the provisions applying under those Acts. The Education Acts require land acquired as playing fields to be set out and used in accordance with the School Premises Regulations and the statutory guidance on use, change of use and disposal of playing fields and land used as playing fields.
The legal definition of playing fields encompasses not just sports pitches, but also allows for areas of recreational play (green and hard surface, MUGA’s, play areas, environmental spaces etc. It therefor allows for the creation of informal recreations spaces, parks and social areas within the overall playing field space, subject to the caveats below regarding the Premises Regulations.
The Premises Regulations set out the MINIMUM areas that must be set out for outdoor play and recreation on school sites with priority given to a minimum standard of provision for sports pitches, then outdoor PE space (soft and hard) and then informal recreation spaces. The requirements of the Regulations differ depending on the age ranges of the school. As a primary school ST Marks was subject to a lesser requirement for sports pitches etc, but as an all through school with secondary provision there will be a need for both small and full size team pitches and a higher space allocation than previously required.
It is for the technical design team and the Local Education Authority to ensure the provision on the site meets the minimum requirements of the School Premises Regulations for a school of the size and age range proposed before providing for / incorporating other community spaces.
If the site meets minimum standards then, legally, a park exclusively for the use of the community could be provided. If it does not meet the minimum requirements, then a designated space exclusively for the use of the public / community could not legally be provided without an application for change of use to the DfE (which would not be granted if playing fields fall below minimum thresholds on site or in the area). The school could however include provision for community use when not required to deliver the school curriculum and at evenings and weekends when not in school use by way of a community use agreement / arrangement. That would not be contrary to the legislation as long as educational use during school hours took priority.
In terms of the reference in the petition to recreation grounds being capable of being playing fields – this is partially correct, but not in the way suggested by the petitioners. Where a school does not have sufficient playing fields or playing fields that do not meet the minimum standards, a school can use designated local authority parkland for school use with the consent and permission of the Local Authority (but not as of right). Once permission is given and school use becomes regular and sustained for a period of at least 8 years, then that land has a dual designation as playing field in the event that a local authority wishes to subsequently change the use or dispose of the recreation ground or build on it. In those circumstances, both appropriation and disposal consent under the Local Government Acts for disposal of open space would need to be followed AND – as an added protection – disposal consent under the statutory playing fields legislation would also have to be followed (which