Peterborough recreation ground will continue to be used by school after being fenced off from public

A recreation ground in Peterborough will continue to be used by a local primary school rather than coming back into public use.

The Thorpe Gate Residents’ Association (TGRA) had hoped that the section of the recreation ground on Thorpe Lea Road currently used as a sports pitch by West Town Primary School might be made available to residents once again, as it had been before 2018.

But the school has been granted continued temporary planning permission for mobile changing facilities and toilets on the site, signalling its use as a football field and athletics track for P.E. lessons for at least another five years.

TGRA chair, Jill Murdoch, opposed the application brought by Peterborough City Council (PCC) on behalf of the school at a planning meeting this week.

She told the committee that the field is “almost completely unused”, while “family groups used to picnic there” and local people would organise informal sports tournaments before it was fenced off.

“West Town School has realised that the field is a white elephant for them,” she continued. "They have been trying to rent it out, which is specifically against the conditions of the original planning consent.”

William Nichols, speaking on behalf of PCC’s education department, agreed that the school has “inadvertently advertised the use of the sports facilities” in the past, but said that it’s no longer doing this after being advised that it's not allowed.

But, he said, the field “is in regular use and is required” and that refusing planning permission for the mobile changing rooms wouldn’t automatically mean the land was put back into public use anyway.

He continued that it would just create “significant logistical difficulties” for children as they wouldn’t have ready access to changing rooms and toilets during P.E. lessons at the site.

Councillors were also convinced to grant permission for the ongoing use of the school changing facilities on the field by the lack of apparent opposition from local people.

While Ms Murdoch said that residents living around it would like to see it come back into public use, just seven people responded to council consultation about the site aimed at more than 150. Of those seven, only four objected.

Hannah Quinn, Headteacher at West Town Primary Academy, said that the recreation ground is “an incredibly useful facility”.

“At West Town Primary Academy, we are committed to providing our pupils with plenty of opportunities to get their recommended amount of weekly exercise,” she said. “This sports field plays a large part in this and is an incredibly useful facility for the school particularly post Covid when we have put extra emphasise into outdoor activity.

“We are proud that in a recent inspection, Ofsted continues to rate West Town Primary Academy as a Good school. In this report, it highlighted the range of opportunities for pupils to pursue their talents and interests, such as sports competitions, with our ability to have access to this playing area integral to this offer.”

The agreement to grant ongoing planning permission for the temporary changing block was unanimous.