Campaigner pays school £85k after green space battle

Kathy Welham's costs have been paid by herself and members of the community

A campaigner who fought for community access to a playing field has paid more than £85,000 in legal bills to the school that leases it.

Cotham School in Bristol put up a 6ft high (2m) fence around Stoke Lodge playing field in 2019, which it said was for safeguarding reasons and due to out-of-control dogs and dog fouling.

But We Love Stoke Lodge member Kathy Welham, and Bristol City Council which leases the site to the school, wanted the local community to "go on sharing the land".

Following multiple legal actions, the High Court ruled in June that the playing field did not have to be shared and later ordered Mrs Welham and the council pay the school's legal fees.

In a statement, Mrs Welham thanked the local community for its "unwavering and generous support".

"We are, as always, standing together and standing by our commitment and obligations. Recent events have only strengthened the community's determination to protect shared use of this precious green space for future generations," she added.

The school was granted a 125 year lease to the field in 2011 due to lack of space at its inner city site three miles away.

The council had fought alongside Ms Welham after in 2023 it voted to give the field 'town green' status to make it into a shared area.

But following the high court ruling, Mrs Welham and her supporters have now paid the full £85,203, while the council was ordered to pay legal bills of £9,467.

Judge Paul Matthews ruled Bristol City Council and Ms Welham were liable to pay Cotham School's court costs

Mrs Welham said the Village Green application was made with "the objective of ensuring that all parties, including the school, could go on sharing the land as they have done for decades".

But she added she hopes the money paid will "mitigate any detriment to Cotham School pupils" due to the legal actions that were paid for out of the school's reserves.

In a statement following the decision on legal bills, Cotham School said: "We welcome the recovery of public funds that were necessarily expended in protecting the school's playing field."

We Love Stoke Lodge said it now intends to apply to the Court of Appeal for permission to appeal the recent High Court decision and that it has until mid-September to do this.

Bristol City Council has previously declined to comment on the legal bills but said it would be complying with the court order.