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Cotham’s new fence blocks Public Rights of Way

Public Rights of Way were agreed by the PROWG committee in November 2024. Before they could get put on the definitive map (which recognised as being far from definitive) Cotham School challenged the registration and it is currently with the planning inspectorate. At the meeting, the school was the only objector and the committee voted unanimously to recognise that this land had the necessary historic use for registration. Now the school has seen fit to erect a new fence, this time allowing for no public access around the perimeter, again, no badger gates and yet again, fencing well within the root zones of protected and other trees. It is the statutory duty of Bristol City Council to enforce Highways Act 1980 which prevents public rights of way being blocked.

You can’t even have a gate across them whether it’s lockable or not. They need to be 2 metres wide and the law does not allow ‘de minimis’ or partial obstruction. When no action was forthcoming one member of the community issued statutory notices, this means that the council must perform its statutory duty and bring its tenant into line, or face possible action in the magistrates courts. Jo Butler’s insistence that the school cannot use Stoke Lodge if the fence is not totally secure means that unless the committee or the planning Inspectorate can be convinced that these Public Footpaths should go, they cannot have the whole space for their own private use There is a meeting on Thursday 23 October ay City Hall where the Public Rights of Way and Greens committee will make their decision. Please come and support us.

City Hall – where the meeting will be held on Thursday 23 October 2025 at 2pm

New Blog post!

Following the press statement below, made last week (details on the We Love Stoke Lodge page), Cotham School published a rather sharp response claiming that the statement that Joe Butler, the Head, had given evidence under oath in court that perimeter fences are not a safeguarding requirement is “categorically false”.

If you were there, you will undoubtedly remember the surprise as the gasps rippled around the room.

if you weren’t there, or if you want to revisit the moment, take a look at the latest blog entry to see what actually happened!

As ever, it makes interesting reading.

There will be no appeal

We Love Stoke Lodge shared some unfortunate news a couple of days ago. The court of appeal responded unexpectedly quickly – we had thought we would have to wait months rather than get a response in the middle of October.

They’ve decided that while the main argument of statutory incompatibility is definitely appealable, they’ve decided not to open the case even though they admit that some of judges factual findings might be wrong. They also recognise that another judge may well have made a different decision about this which if anything, makes it even more disappointing.

More detail on the We love Stoke Lodge page.

Fury at Fence No 2

Tensions have risen once again at Stoke Lodge, where fencing contractors and security staff have moved onto the much-loved green space this week. Despite widespread community concern, and ongoing legal appeals, work has begun to reinstall fencing around the site. We believe the works are damaging protected trees and restricting access, while the school maintains that the new fence will meet all legal and environmental standards. We Love Stoke Lodge has vowed to continue fighting for fair access, transparency, and proper protection for the land, wildlife, and heritage that make Stoke Lodge unique.

Read more about what’s happening and how you can help here.

Costs paid in full – and early!

We love Stoke Lodge have now issued a statement confirming that the costs awarded against the second defendant and TVG applicant has been paid in full.

Due to the intensity of feeling and overwhelming generosity from the community, the funds were received very quickly enabling the costs order to be paid days early – hopefully to sooner benefit the pupils.

For the full statement, please visit the We Love Stoke Lodge page.

More shocks in staggering costs decision

The appalling & virtually unprecedented decision by the judge in the Stoke Lodge TVG case to apportion costs 10% to the council 90% to 2nd defendant and TVG  applicant as requested by Cotham School left a pensioner with an £85k bill because she was excluded from cost-capping talks.

The second defendant was questioned regarding the talks but being unable to recall every detail months later and under pressure of being on the stand and under oath she stated only that she had strong feelings on this and with the advice and help from legal representation had written to the other parties. So she and WLSL set out what actually happened in the rounds of submissions after the judgment but the judge apparently paid no attention at all to that. Cotham put forward a very misleading version in their closing submissions which he completely accepted. 

So what’s the real story behind why an unfunded, volunteer group trying to fight for shared access to their green space was left with just two weeks to pay £85k?

Check out the latest WLSL blog post for the details – it’s truly astonishing.

“Costs capping – What really happened.”

This is now paid thanks to the unhesitatingly kind and generous donations received. More on the We Love Stoke Lodge page.

Surprise and disappointment as High Court decision goes against TVG

We have had incredibly disappointing news this morning, 10th June. 

The Judge in the High Court case has ruled against Bristol City Council and We Love Stoke Lodge and in favour of Cotham School’s bid to have the Village Green (TVG) status overturned. 

Stoke Lodge is still a registered Village Green and will be until the outcome of any further litigation is known. Please continue to enjoy the precious parkland, with all its wildlife and beauty, for recreation, sports, family time, space for contemplation and relaxation. WLSL is taking advice on next steps and grounds for appeal.

The judge said in his final paragraph, “l am under no illusion that the dispute between the parties will stop here”. He’s not wrong!

As ever there’s a great blog post from WLSL with more detail – you can read it here.

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Observations from the public gallery

At the end of January Cotham School took Bristol City Council to court, at huge expense to the taxpayer, to try to get the decision made by the Public Rights of Way and Greens committee to grant TVG status to Stoke Lodge overturned. With all the experience they have gained We Love Stoke Lodge entered as a second defendant.

The entire week-long trial was extremely well attended by Stoke Lodge Village Green supporters, and a few supporters for Cotham School came on some days as well.

Updates were put on our Facebook page but for those who are not part of our community, we have a page coming soon dedicated to the reflections on that week by a local lay-person.

If you want to know how it felt to be observing everything the centre of the action, and for a summary of the arguments, the link to the page detailing the musings of one of our longest-standing supporters will soon be live.

We are not expecting a decision from the judge until early July.

In other news, legal bills continue to come in so if you feel you can support us, please visit our Donations page and take some pressure off those who regularly give in order to secure our beautiful village green for the future.

Thank you.

To celebrate the six years work by Alan Preece culminating in the successful application of four footpaths across Stoke Lodge we are now offering special limited edition certificates of the squares that fall on the rights of way which are due to be registered next year.

These really are limited and have been in great demand even before launching.

Just as for the other squares on our map, the donation is at your discretion, if you want a square that falls on one of the footpaths simply make that request when you email We Love Stoke Lodge. Your certificate will be similar to that pictured here rather than the original one, printed for collection or delivered electronically.

See our Invest to Protect page for more information.

UNANIMOUS VOTE!

On Wednesday 27th November the Public Rights of Way and Greens Committee met to discuss footpaths across Stoke Lodge.

In fencing the parkland and blocking these long-established ways, Cotham School triggered the move of this case to the top of the list. This was an extraordinary meeting because the committee felt that a case with such a long history of hard fought battles would take up too much time in a regular meeting. The next meeting in the cycle would be in January, and before the upcoming court case where the school tries to overturn the TVG status granted by this committee last summer. In order that business for that meeting would not be pushed on to the next, these pathways were discussed separately. It was made clear at the beginning of the meeting that wants, needs and desires are irrelevant to this process and that the only thing that matters is whether or not the legal tests are met. Side issues were discussed and there was a debate around these and various points of law before the committee decided that in the face of such overwhelming evidence the legal tests were indeed met to the highest standard. Thank you to all the councillors who took the time to read the 800+ pages and digest the information. We are grateful for your service.

Thank you as well to everyone who wrote public forum statements and/or came along to City Hall to witness and be involved in this historical event – it’s wonderful to be able to say that the Committee voted unanimously that the evidence establishes, on the balance of probabilities, that the rights of way should be recorded! This may not be the end of the story but it’s a great step forward along our PROWs! Councillors commented on how moved they were by the statements made by community members and how important the paths obviously are to local residents.

We Love Stoke Lodge have a popular way to support your village green AND solve some of those tricky gift dilemmas.

You can Invest to Protect Stoke Lodge and be allocated a square on our map based on What3Words. Certificates are sent to acknowledge the donation or a Gift Certificate can be gifted to someone as a little extra or a generous gift for that someone who has everything!

The Invest to Protect page has more details. Please support us!

Latest on the legal fight

Cotham School leadership are still trying to overturn the Village Green registration in order to fence off the space for future development. There were some pleadings and witness statements in June and a brief respite over the summer then the We Love Stoke Lodge machine whirred into action with volunteers delivering leaflets about the public meeting on Monday 16th September. The meeting was a huge success, well attended with standing room only and some interesting questions at the end answered by Helen and Emma of We Love Stoke Lodge. Each one spoke giving details of the legal fight and why it’s happening.

David Mayer who applied for the first TVG back in 2011 talked about the history of the legal battle up to 2018 and Kathy Welham, the applicant of the successful TVG application in 2023 spoke eloquently and poignantly about what Stoke Lodge means to her and to all of us, and the importance of this beautiful space for the whole community. A transcript can be found here. A summary of the meeting can be found here.

Our thanks to a wonderful volunteer who provided this stunning video.

The trial (if it happens) will be at the end of January next year.