INVEST TO PROTECT STOKE LODGE VILLAGE GREEN

What's happened? In June 2023 a committee of Bristol City Council voted 6:1 to register Stoke Lodge Playing Fields as a Village Green. Village Green status protects land from development, such as housing or anything that isn’t for the better enjoyment of the green, in perpetuity. Granting Stoke Lodge Village Green status means that we ALL have open access to this beautiful parkland forever.

This decision is now being challenged in the High Court in an attempt to REMOVE Village Green status from Stoke Lodge - we need your help to defend this legal challenge.

Who is challenging Village Green status in the High Court? Stoke Lodge is owned by Bristol City Council and was leased to Cotham School, an academy school 3+ miles away from Stoke Lodge, in 2011 for a peppercorn rent. The school's lease means that it can use Stoke Lodge for extra space for physical education, subject to community use.

Despite many requests over many years, Cotham School refuses to talk about sharing Stoke Lodge or to accept, as Ofsted has confirmed, that it doesn't need a perimeter fence. Instead, the school has spent spent hundreds of thousands of pounds fighting the Council and the local community through lawyers. It is now spending even more money - huge sums of its education budget - taking the matter to court.

Cotham School has launched High Court action in an attempt to strip away Village Green status so that it can reinstall a huge fence around the 23 acre entire site, have total control of access and be able to develop the land. The school has only ever used a very small part of Stoke Lodge for a few hours a week during term time, subject to weather conditions.

This is what access to Stoke Lodge Village Green looked like during winter when the land was under Cotham School’s control

Cotham School, other schools and sports clubs can still use the village green, many sports clubs do today. Lots of schools across Bristol and the UK use open access public land for PE, and that’s what Cotham School signed up for in their lease - but they now want to lock us out, install hardstanding, floodlights and more, and they can't do that on a village green. So, they have launched High Court action to try to get the decision reversed.

So, what happens next? In January 2025 a Judge in the Bristol High Court will hold a week-long hearing to decide the fate of Stoke Lodge once and for all.

How can you help ? We need your help with legal costs. Our legal case is ready and strong - we know the law is on our side, but defending litigation is expensive and we need your help.

100% of donations received by us will go directly to our Barrister for legal fees.

Every single penny we receive will go towards the legal fees to ensure we defend open access to this wonderful and historic parkland today and for generations to come.

We look forward to this matter being settled once and for all so that we can move forwards together and make this rare and important open space an amazing, shared asset for the city with great facilities for schools, sports clubs and the community.

If you would prefer to make a donation by cheque or BACs, just email We Love Stoke Lodge for details.

Thank you!