Community denied access to the primary school playing field out of hours
For the past 6 months, the Parish Council has been seeking a solution to the issue of out-of-hours community access to the primary school playing field.
In the late 1980s when the school and village hall were built, following extensive negotiations between the village hall committee, Devon County Council and school governors, an agreement was put in place whereby the community was able to use the school field outside of school hours and the school had access to village hall land for a playground, and use of the car park. This mutually beneficial agreement worked well until two years ago when locked gates were fitted to prevent residents from gaining access to the school field. Councillors thought that this went against the spirit of the longstanding agreement and embarked on a campaign to try and persuade the owners of the school - the Smile Learning Trust - to reconsider.
The school field, with which visitors to the annual summer fete will doubtless be familiar, is the only large, flat and open area in what is an otherwise hilly and densely-wooded village. Councillors felt that children would benefit greatly from being able to use this space outside school hours and during holidays. Despite signalling to the Smile Learning Trust that the Parish Council would work in partnership to seek solutions to concerns about antisocial behaviour, and security around the school buildings, the latest letter from the Learning Trust is not encouraging and, in fact, makes clear that it does not wish to pursue the matter of community access any further.
Here is the letter from the Smile Learning Trust.
Councillors were greatly disappointed and frustrated by this response, and responded robustly - here is the Parish Council's response which details the measures it was considering to address the Trust's concerns.
Whilst this is disappointing, Councillors are not willing to give up as they believe it is a matter of importance to the whole community. We will keep residents updated of further developments on our website.
Residents who wish to do so, can send any comments to the Parish Clerk - clerk@westhillparishcouncil.gov.uk
