Werrington Fields residents group to issue formal complaint against academy trust amid legal dispute

A dispute between Werrington residents and the Four Cs Academy Trust. which runs the Ken Stimpson school, has been ongoing for several years with both sides unable to reach a compromise on the land, which the trust claims is for educational use while residents claim it is mixed use open space.

On October 14, Peterborough City Council’s ruling cabinet decided it would seek to settle a legal claim made by the academy trust against the council.

The legal claim came after Peterborough councillors agreed earlier this year to lease a section of Werrington Fields (Area C1) to the Ken Stimpson Academy, which was a smaller section than the school’s academy trust said it would accept.

Residents of the Save Werrington Fields campaign group, who were disappointed with the council’s decision to try and settle the claim, have vowed to keep fighting back against the academy trust and drafted a letter of complaint to the Secretary of State for Education.

The letter takes aim at the Four Cs Academy Trust, claiming that the trust had previously agreed to fencing off just 50 per cent of the playing fields but was now demanding more.

It states: “In the face of fierce opposition from local residents, 4Cs MAT has chosen to dedicate potentially a very large amount of its funds to the legal costs of pursuing its inflated demands via a judicial review.

“Educational academies receive funding directly from the government, so that as taxpayers we fund them, which makes us similar to shareholders in a limited company.

“However, whilst a limited company’s shareholders have a voice (and a vote) on how things are run, it seems that 4Cs MAT is hell-bent on denying the taxpaying residents of Werrington our rightful voice, which to date has been met with utter contempt by our local school.”

The letter also accuses the academy trust of mismanaging its funds by pursuing a judicial review which could cost the trust and taxpayers a significant sum of money.

It is understood that the academy trust may be prepared to accept a lease of all of Area C with the exception of a 15m wide space on three sides, meaning there is a possibility that a settlement could be reached on these terms despite residents’ disapproval.

A report put before council cabinet members in October stated that defending the claim would be expected to cost the council £100,000, as well as paying the academy trust’s costs of between £100,000 and £200,000 if the authority were to lose.

Council leader Shabina Qayyum said it was important to “balance the views” of all involved and ultimately “put the children first”.

“We have always been an administration that is going to bat for the children and that was at the centre and forefront of our decision,” she said.

Werrington Fields has been used by both the public and the school for decades, but the school wishes to fence off the area due to concerns over safeguarding risks to pupils.

The Save Werrington Fields group claimed that the safeguarding argument was “questionable”.

Jenna Maryniak of the Save Werrington Fields group previously told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “[The academy trust] has refused to agree to the compromise that was supported in a vote by the full council, and is what the 800 plus members of Save Werrington Fields, the local councillors and the MP has been fighting for for over five years.

“It was a compromise that even the academy agreed was sufficient to deliver their curriculum. It is a show of utter contempt for democracy and the community of Werrington by the academy.”

The Four Cs Academy Trust has been approached for comment.