Campaigner hit with £85,000 costs order after playing fields village green dispute

A local campaigner has been handed an £85,203 costs order over a lengthy dispute about whether playing fields used by a Bristol school could be designated as a village green.

Details: 31.Jul.2025

The school won the case in June and said it had successfully put to HHJ Matthews that campaigner Katharine Welham - who led the case on behalf of We Love Stoke Lodge - should pay 90% of its costs and Bristol City Council only 10%.

A statement issued by We Love Stoke Lodge said Cotham School “deliberately excluded us from its £20k [costs] deal with the council and then argued for the community to bear 90% of the costs of the litigation”.

The group said that normally when a public body unsuccessfully defends a decision - in this case to designate the fields as a village green - it would pay the successful party’s costs.

“But in this case, Cotham School argued.... for our representative, Kathy Welham, to be allocated 90% of the costs and the council only 10% – and the court gave Cotham what it wanted,” the statement said.

“Our community has been landed with a large bill to pay in a short time.”

A statement issued by the school said:”His Honour Judge Matthews issued a judgment on 16 July 2025 confirming that both defendants are liable to pay Cotham School’s costs, with Ms. Welham ordered to pay 90% and Bristol City Council 10%.

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“This order requires Ms. Welham and Bristol City Council to make interim payments of £85,203 and £9,467 to Cotham School by 28 July 2025.”

Bristol City Council did not comment on the case but said it entered into an agreement with Cotham School that limited the costs liability of each toward the other to £20,000, and therefore the assessed total of costs incurred by the school to be paid by the council will not exceed this.

The school added: “We welcome the recovery of public funds that were necessarily expended in protecting the school’s playing fields, which are required for our delivery of PE lessons. We now look forward to resuming use of our playing fields as soon as possible.”

HHJ Matthews remarked in his June judgment that local feelings ran so high over the public’s right to use of the playing fields that “I am under no illusion that the dispute between the parties will stop here.”

He found village green registration was incompatible with educational use and so the doctrine of statutory incompatibility meant the land could not be registered.

Mark Smulian