Stoke Lodge New war of words after fence damaged

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.

- Tristan CORK

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 Cotham School 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 cannot 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.