Council U-turn after Charterhouse Fields 'land grab' protest

[dutchman]

Council leaders have sensationally U-turned on a bitterly-contested decision to hand over green belt land enjoyed as a public park to a school.



Leading Labour councillors this morning reversed their decision last month to lease for 125 years a large section of Charterhouse Fields near the city centre to neighbouring Blue Coat C of E school.

The surprise announcement, from cabinet member Lynnette Kelly to scrutiny committee, came as campaigners descended on the Council House in an increasingly hard-fought Save Our Fields protest.

The Telegraph has learned leading Labour councillors have for days discussed how to respond to public pressure - with local elections to be held next Thursday.

Protesters - who today delivered a petition with hundreds of names - have accused the school of "land-grabbing". They fear decades of use of the land as a public park will be lost.

Cabinet members coun Kelly (children and young people), and councillor Joe Clifford (education) formally agreed on March 29 to grant a 125-year lease, at a peppercorn rent, a large part of the council-owned fields already being used as school playing fields, which is maintained by the school.

They were acting on council officers’ advice that the government would give them no choice - under the new Academies Act 2010 - with ministers encouraging schools to become academies, with more freedom from council control.

Blue Coat school is set to become an academy, while several other city schools have expressed an interest - raising the prospect of similar future battles at other city sites.

But Labour cabinet members today announced they will now seek further legal advice from an independent barrister.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE OF THIS STORY