Council hands over disputed fields to Blue Coat School

[dutchman]

A decision to hand over Charterhouse Fields to a neighbouring school has been passed by Coventry City Council.



Councillor Lynnette Kelly, portfolio holder for education, yesterday approved a revised 125-year lease that would transfer the land off London Road to Blue Coat School.

The latest twist in the decades old dispute over 60 per cent of the fields saw the lease rubber stamped. It will allow the Terry Road school to complete its bid for academy status.

Coun Kelly said: “Now it is actually written that residents are legally able to use the land in a way it wasn’t before. When the school hasn’t got pupils out there there’s no reason why the land should be restricted.”

Changes were made to ensure Charterhouse Residents Association was officially recognised as a third party in the lease. The school was also prevented from putting up signs unless jointly agreed.

Charterhouse Resident Association now plan to meet to discuss the response to their decision.

Dave Griffiths, residents association chairman, said: “We appreciate efforts have been made to try and bridge the gap. If the words ‘dual use’ were written through this document then we would be happy with that, but these rights are contradicted in the wording.

“We wanted a voluntary code, not a lease that allowed one party to ‘restrict’ access.”

Councillor Dave Nellist had submitted an application for the fields to be given full village green status.