The school’s headteacher said the damage is ‘morally reprehensible’Images provided by Cotham School of damage to the fence around its Stoke Lodge playing fieldsImages provided by Cotham School of damage to the fence around its Stoke Lodge playing fields(Image: Cotham School)

Less than two months after a fence was erected around one of the most controversial pieces of land in Bristol, a secondary school has sparked a new war of words after reporting that the fence has been vandalised again.

The headteacher of Cotham School said she was ‘extremely upset and frustrated’ by the ‘constant’ attacks on the fence the school has erected around its sports playing fields.

But local campaigners said that, while they do not condone vandalism to the fence around the Stoke Lodge playing fields in Stoke Bishop, they accused headteacher Jo Butler of making ‘inflammatory and misleading claims’, which they said ‘only serve to increase division between the school and the community.

After Cotham School won a series of legal battles over the summer to establish that the Stoke Lodge playing fields it leases from Bristol City Council are school playing fields and can’t be a ‘town or village green’, the school moved to return its PE lessons to the land and in September erected a fence around much of the contested area, along with temporary CCTV cameras.

Late last week, the school said the fence had been vandalised, and released a dossier of more than 40 images taken of damage to various parts of the fence.

In a statement, Cotham School said it was appealing for information for what it described as a ‘significant act of vandalism’. It said the vandalism was concentrated around the Cheyne Road footpath access points, and happened overnight last week, after more damage the week before. “Panels have been cut using power tools, bent and totally removed,” a school spokesperson said.

“The school’s contractor discovered extensive damage to newly installed fencing on the morning of Thursday, November 13, with large sections deliberately destroyed in a manner that prevents repair or reuse,” they added.

Back in 2019 and into 2020, Cotham School erected a fence that sparked controversy – local people in the ‘We Love Stoke Lodge’ campaign group claim the field has always had open access to all, and shouldn’t be fenced off by the school. That fence had to be taken down after it was extensively and regularly vandalised, with panels cut out.

Headteacher Jo Butler said she was upset by the damage to the new fence, describing it as ‘morally reprehensible’.

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“I am extremely upset and frustrated by these constant attacks on Cotham School’s property,” she said. “This is not an isolated incident; our school field fence has been repeatedly targeted over a number of years now, and it is having a significant impact on our resources and our ability to provide the best facilities for our students,” she added.

“The fencing was only reinstated over the last few weeks to secure the site and enable our students and the local community sports groups to get back to using the fields safely with our permission. The damage will cost thousands of pounds to repair – money that should be spent on education and resources for our children,” she added.

(Image: Bristol Post / Paul Gillis)

“I want to be clear that this is private school land, not public open space. Access is controlled and subject to restrictions to ensure the safe use as school playing fields. The deliberate destruction of our property is unacceptable and morally reprehensible,” she added.

The We Love Stoke Lodge campaign group raised tens of thousands of pounds to be included in a court case which ended with a High Court judge agreeing with Cotham School that the fields are not a Town Green – and landing the campaigners with close to a £100,000 legal bill. In response to the reports of the damage, WLSL said it does not condone such acts, but attacked Cotham School too.

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“We Love Stoke Lodge does not condone criminal activity in any form, but neither do we condone inflammatory and misleading claims, which only serve to increase division between the school and the community,” a spokesperson said.

WLSL said the reports of damage to the fence were being exaggerated by Cotham School. “Members of the community inspected the area this morning and have confirmed that one fence panel appears to have been removed and can be seen in adjacent bushes,” a spokesperson said.

WLSL claimed the report of vandalism was linked to last week’s submission of a planning application for permanent CCTV cameras, which Bristol Live reported.

“Our understanding is that these fence panels cost approx £40. The school has previously stated that its fencing is being paid for by insurance. We note that the school has applied to install eight, 6m tall CCTV towers around the parkland; it has been suggested to us that the school may wish to publicise claims of this nature in a bid to justify that application,” she added.