Following on from the successful summer holiday use of the playing field, the Parish Council have been considering how best to move forward towards an agreement that will allow continued use. Below is clarification of the Parish Council’s position having regard to the legal advice it has received.
Ownership of the Field
The Parish Council has at all times acknowledged that Warwickshire County Council is the registered freehold proprietor of the field. Likewise, it acknowledges that to the extent that the field forms part of school premises, the Welford on Avon Primary School has delegated power to oversee and manage the field. However, the Parish Council does not agree or accept that those powers extend to “all users, at all times, day and night”. Equally, they do not agree that there is no right for members of the general public to use the field.
The Parish Council and its advisers have extensively investigated the history of the field. There was a very clear intention for the field to have combined use; as a playing field for the school, and out of school hours and during the school holidays, for the children of Welford on Avon. The Parish Council, in conjunction with the Children’s Playing Field Trust had been in negotiations with the Bidstone Trust in the late 1950’s to purchase the field for the provision of a small playing field for the village. However, they stepped aside and allowed WCC to purchase the same.
A Heads of Terms for a licence was circulated by WCC to the Parish Council in 1962, but no licence ever appears to have been formally completed. Despite this, WCC and the Parish Council have for the past 60 years acted as if a licence was granted. In reliance on this, and the sharing arrangement which WCC agreed to, the Parish Council purchased and thereafter maintained play equipment on the field. The Parish Council has been advised that this in itself would give rise in law to a licence to use/manage the Field with the only real debate being what the precise terms of that licence were. The existence of a licence is something which appears to have been acknowledged by WCC in our recent exchanges.
On the basis that a licence does exist, and having taken legal advice, it is the Parish Council’s position that the licence is not one which can be brought to an end by WCC in circumstances where the Parish Council gave up the option to purchase the field because of reassurances given by WCC. Not only that, they also spent thousands of pounds on installing and maintaining play equipment, as well as insurance for the field, including third party use of the same. Even if no licence exists, the fact that the Parish Council gave up its intended purchase of the field to enable WCC to buy on the strict basis that the sharing arrangement agreed would be implemented and maintained, gives the Parish Council the ability to argue that it acquired an interest in the field when it was purchased by WCC.
Safeguarding & Agreement for Summer 2024
The Parish Council has adopted a safeguarding policy. Parish Councillors have also undertaken safeguarding training. The field remains the safest and most appropriate place in the village for the public to congregate, socialise and play.
The Parish Council do not believe that there is any valid reason why changes to safeguarding have to, or indeed should, impact the sharing arrangement which has been in place for the past 60 years, particularly when it comes to the use of the field outside school hours and during school holidays. The Parish Council has historically managed and maintained the field, and provided third party public liability insurance in relation to the use of the field.
Without a formal arrangement in place, WCC claim they would find themselves liable for any incidents that occur on the field. It is the Parish Council’s position that as a licence already exists (going as far back as 1962), there was no need for a further licence to be entered into during the school summer holiday period. It is for that reason that the Parish Council declined to sign the draft licence which was presented by WCC and the school on the afternoon before the school was due to break up. The Parish Council nevertheless offered to clarify those duties and obligations by way of a side letter if this was deemed necessary. That offer was declined by WCC and has suggested that despite the Parish Council “taking on” the task of locking the gate to the field during the summer holiday period, that liability for any incidents would still have remained with the WCC. Based on the advice the Parish Council has received, that is not correct.
From the above, it is the Parish Council’s position that outside school hours and during school holidays, the sharing arrangement which was put in place in the 1960’s provides that the field should be available for use by the children of Welford on Avon. Further, the school does not have any entitlement to prohibit access to the field during those times. It is the Parish Council’s belief that the licence already in place should provide the school and WCC with sufficient comfort that they will not be liable for any incidents which occur while the Parish Council is in control of the field.
Moving Forward
The Parish Council is very conscious that this dispute is causing an unwelcome rift in the community. They continue to work hard to try and find a solution which will provide the school with the apparent comfort it requires, while at the same time ensuring that a valuable area of green space is not lost for the current and future generations. The Parish Council wait to receive written terms of a new agreement and a detailed response to an earlier letter sent setting out the Parish Council’s legal position, following a meeting between WCC, the school and the Parish Council on 10th September 2024.
