Local residents and Shanklin Town Councillors discussed the issue of a disputed piece of land adjacent to St Blasius Academy at a heated public meeting last night (Thursday).
As exclusively reported by Island Echo, the land was given in the 19th century by Francis White-Popham ‘for the purpose of providing a playing field for the Shanklin Church of England School’.
However, a covenant – a copy of which has been seen by Island Echo – permitted ‘any children of junior school age whether or not scholars at the Shanklin Church of England School to use the land conveyed as a recreation ground at all times except during normal school hours’.
This was upheld in the decades that followed until a few years ago when a fence was erected by the academy which took over Shanklin Church of England Primary School.
When questioned by Island Echo, the Diocese of Chichester Academy Trust (DCAT) – which runs the academy – then offered to allow access to organised groups, but not to all children of primary school age.
Subsequently – and after repeated requests – the Isle of Wight Council confirmed that it owned the land and that it was on a 125-year lease to the academy. It took a month to get this response.
However, neither organisation have responded to repeated requests to comment as to whether they have an obligation to uphold the original covenant.
Last night’s meeting opened with a public forum and members of the public spoke passionately about the fencing off of the playing field.
David Moorse, the former headteacher of what was then Shanklin Church of England Primary School said:
“As Headteacher, I was of the view that, as a school, we were lucky to enjoy joint access to this community amenity, and we ensured our children’s safety through safeguarding procedures that were described as ‘exemplary’ by specialists.
“It is perfectly possible to run school activities safely without denying access out of school hours to other children of the town.
“It is alarming that, unilaterally, the academy has decided to exclude those children specifically included by the covenant.
“I would welcome the public support of Shanklin Town Council to raise this issue with the Isle of Wight Council for a speedy resolution to restore access for all the children of Shanklin.”
Local resident Stephanie Welch added:
“Primary school children have lost enough in recent years.”
Prior to the erection of the fence, a stile had been installed but another resident said how this was already challenging in itself when it came to ensuring access for children. She described that in a group she was leading, 2 girls in wheelchairs had to be physically hoisted over the stile.
Later, Councillors had their say on the issue…
“We do support the youth of Shanklin and they should have the land back.”
Another added:
“It is a land grab on the part of the school.”
Another supportive town councillor said that they ‘would be failing our children’ if they didn’t raise the issue with the Isle of Wight Council.
But with key Councillors absent, there was a roundabout discussion about what was the best way to proceed and it was eventually decided that Councillors Barry and Beston would discuss the issue with the academy and report back ahead of the next Council meeting in October.
However, it was also said that the academy would need permission from the Diocese before discussing the matter with Shanklin Town Council, so it is unclear when this meeting might take place.
Following last night’s meeting, David Moorse added:
“There has been overwhelming support locally for restoring access for children, from childminders and local youth groups, to grandparents who fondly remember playing there and families new to the area who simply had no idea that it wasn’t anything other than an inaccessible playing field (which it now is).”
Island Echo has again asked the Isle of Wight Council and DCAT for further comment.
Until the argument has been resolved, take it down, or at least remove the padlock and the gates to allow access. It should not be there.
What the school have done is legally questionable. Perhaps some nice person over a weekend should just cut a great big section of the fence out to let access be restored to the young people again . Problem solved.
Rather like Chine hollow still being blocked of the engineers said it could reopen neatly two weeks ago but Island Roads will not take that ridiculous fence down until they have written confirmation really who is running The Island and especially Shanklin at moment.. By cutters in bag for Chine Hollow tomorrow.
I see the ” Christian Spirit” is the same as always from the grabbing church. Fence for safety but no padlocks needed.
Where’s the allotments. Why school stealing public land? Money grabbing bar starts. Life is shit enough as it is for the kids.
maybe to put houses on this site at a latter stage
The IOW council have obviously lawyer’ed up which is why it takes a month to get a reply and only some of the question gets answered.
To get back to the status quo the school needs to run a fence right across the back of the school with a gate in it, then on school days the public gate can be locked and the school gate opened then at the end of the school day the school gate locked and the public gate opened ensuring the school stays secure and the children of Shanklin get to use the field.
The council would need a consultation and a manager pluse half dozen staff to lock and unlock the gate.
So we can all ignore covenants on our properties now? Absolutely disgraceful. Fence should be removed immediately.
The most interesting part of this is ‘Who has the benefit of the covenant on the land’, possible the owner but not necessary so,.
Agree with Baz. If a covenant exists but is challenged for its legality, determine the outcome before putting up the fence. As that hasn’t been done, take it down.