Peterborough Council defers decision on Werrington Fields after ‘new information comes to light’

Peterborough City Council has deferred a much-anticipated decision on land at Werrington Fields after “new information” came to light.

The council was due to make a decision on whether or not to offer a lease of land at Werrington Fields to The Four Cs Academy Trust, which runs Ken Stimpson Academy, at a full council meeting on Wednesday, January 22.

However, council leader Dennis Jones began the meeting by proposing a deferral.

Peterborough mayor Marco Cereste agreed to the deferral and told the meeting: “New information has come to light and a letter has been sent to us which all councillors need to read and digest before they make any kind of decision.

“I would look to deferring Item 9a [Werrington Fields] until the next council meeting.”

No further explanation was given at the meeting and many members of the public gallery left the room following the decision to defer.

In July last year, the city council’s cabinet decided to lease all the land at Werrington Fields to the school on Staniland Way and contribute financially to fencing the land.

However, that decision was called in following protests from residents, who strongly opposed the plans and were concerned about the loss of public access to the land, and it was later decided that the matter should be brought to full council for consideration.

The land was used as school playing fields until around 2021 due to documented safeguarding concerns related to the risks of contact between pupils and members of the public, who continue to use the land both during and outside of school hours.

Headteacher Damian Whales previously told the residents seeking to keep the fields as shared use that a compromise was off the table as the land is solely for educational use.

The Department for Education (DfE) expects the city council to lease school land to the academy.

Councillor Katy Cole, cabinet member for children’s services, previously said: “We have listened to the residents and the academy trust on a number of occasions in relation to this issue, and both arguments are compelling.

“We are faced with an impossible situation where we cannot please everyone, as much as we would like to.

“It is for this reason, I suspect, that previous administrations have ‘kicked the can down the road’ for as long as they have.

“What is paramount for me is that this matter has been allowed to rumble on for much too long and it is the students of the academy who continue to be most affected. We must also take into account government guidance.”

The next full council meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, February 19.