Prime Minister backs campaign to save green fields

Campaigners fighting to save Werrington fields in Peterborough from being fenced off said they will "not give up"

An MP has asked the Prime Minister to support a residents' campaign that has been fighting to save green fields used by the public from being fenced off.

At Wednesday’s Prime Minister’s Questions, Peterborough MP Paul Bristow urged Rishi Sunak to back the Save Werrington Fields campaign, to which Mr Sunak said the fields should be protected.

This comes as a solution has been sought around fencing off the green fields in Peterborough, in a way that they could be used by both the public and the Ken Stimpson Academy in Werrington.

Earlier in the day, Andrew Pakes, the Labour Party’s parliamentary candidate for Peterborough, said Peterborough City Council's planning application to fence off the green fields has been put “on hold”.

Mr Pakes said the council would have a “fighting chance” to find a solution.

Previously, the council applied to the Secretary of State for Education for consent to reduce the area available for the school’s use.

The application was rejected, citing that this would make the site fall below the minimum area of soft landscaping required per pupil for a school of this size.

The council said it would have to fence off the entirety of the fields to allay the school’s safeguarding concerns and a planning application was due to be submitted this week.

It is believed that this has been paused to seek a compromise with the Department of Education.

'Compromise'

Campaigners have also liaised with Mr Bristow in the hope he could facilitate talks with the Secretary of State for Education, Gillian Keegan.

Campaigner Tony Forster said the council was “in theory, amenable to a compromise” between the schools and residents, but it believed it was “mandated” by government to install the fencing.

He added that the group was waiting to see what happened with regards to a possible planning application, but thought the group would launch a “massive campaign” if one was submitted.

Mohammed Farooq, a councillor from Peterborough First and leader of the council, said a “compromise” on Werrington fields was “exactly what the council has been fighting for”.

He added the council still hoped that a smaller section of the fields could be fenced off for use by the Ken Stimpson Academy, while leaving the rest to the public. 

He said: “I particularly want a compromise.”