Werrington Fields: Council confirms partial fencing off

Peterborough City Council has confirmed part of Werrington Fields is going to be fenced off

Part of a "open access" green space is to be fenced off to protect local schoolchildren, planners confirmed.

Peterborough City Council said about third of Werrington Fields would have new barriers, despite objections from some local people that too much land would become unavailable to them.

It is already designated as educational land and used by pupils at Ken Stimpson Academy.

The council said some of the land would still be available to the public.

The decision followed a meeting of the authority and the Four Cs Multi Academy Trust - which runs the school.

It came after the Education Secretary, Gillian Keegan, confirmed the decision over the future of the land rested with the council.

'Frustration'

Council leader Mohammed Farooq, from the Peterborough First group, said the council had "taken a lot of time to understand the legacy of decision making" going back to 2019 when discussions started.

"We understand the frustration from some members of the local community who currently use this area, whilst at the same time fully appreciate the needs of the school.

"Our overriding concern must be the safety of children and for this reason the council supports the decision of the academy trust."

He said the academy would now have to submit a planning application to change the permitted use of the field from educational land with open access to educational land with restricted public use, which would include a Community Use Agreement "as the academy has always supported the best use of the fields outside of school hours".

Mike Sandeman, chief executive of Four Cs, said they needed to "offer a curriculum that stretches and challenges all young people... some of that learning also needs to occur outside".

"Being able to offer the essential balance of learning environments requires appropriate risk management," he said.

"As Ken Stimpson Academy is unable to safeguard the fields, the educational experiences of all students have been severely impacted and narrowed."