The fencing off of the Ken Stimpson Fields has been ongoing since Autumn 2019. Peterborough City Council’s Briefing Note August 2022 has provided the opportunity for the Neighbourhood Council to respond without compromising it’s independent representation and planning mandate. The following statement updates the Neighbourhood Council’s position.
Ken Stimpson Fields Position Statement October 2022
Werrington Neighbourhood Council welcomes the Briefing Note dated August 2022 from Peterborough City Council giving the current position of the fencing of Ken Stimpson Fields.
Werrington Neighbourhood Council’s position remains unchanged to that submitted as part of the 2018/2019 fence application.
- Werrington Neighbourhood Council believes that the ethos of Ken Stimpson Community School as a community school has been very important since it was built and the shared field has been an important part of this. However we recognise that times change and the Local Authority and the school have identified problems with this arrangement have arisen recently, particularly with regard to the issues of student protection and animal fouling on school playing fields. Not having safeguarding expertise, we cannot disagree nor challenge these safeguarding views being expressed.
- We did not oppose the original planning application but did raise several concerns about the original proposals. These concerns continue especially given the changes to the original plans being outlined in the PCC Briefing Note.
- The original proposals to fence off just two and a half football pitches in one corner minimised the impacts. One of the benefits of the fields enjoyed by residents are the long views and long stretches for exercise giving a feeling of open space. As demonstrated during the Covid pandemic, access to such open space is critical for resident’s physical mental health. Given the drastic increase in size being fenced, the school must demonstrate why this many pitches are required for lessons. Creating space for ‘one off’ events is not a sufficient justification for fencing off so much land
- Option B fragments the remaining open space into two smaller parcels creating narrow enclosed pathways and corners lending themselves to antisocial behaviour. As stated above, having one larger area is more beneficial to two smaller areas.
- The height of the fence seems excessive given the level of risk, especially as lower fences are used by primary schools elsewhere in the City. The style of the fence is wholly out of keeping with the area. Some form of natural mitigation of the fencing would be desirable and make the whole project more acceptable to residents, especially those living nearby. The possibility of the use of blackthorn hedging instead of the wire fencing proposed would be preferable., although we recognise that there would be long term cost implications for the school with such options.
- WNC was disappointed that, following the last application, that the ‘public access’ to the fenced area was originally only deemed to apply to prebooked teams. We support a Community Use Agreement which assures access to the fenced pitches to all residents outside of school use.
Werrington Neighbourhood Council cannot give support to the ‘Save Werrington Fields’ group given its community representational role and planning remit. But it is clear that on reading the ‘Save Werrington Fields’ position statement of 1st October 2022 that there is alignment with many of the views.
Peterborough City Council August 2022 Briefing Note – Ken Stimpson playing fields Werrington
Position Statement Save Werrington Fields Sept 2022
