Totnes Parents Stage Play Protests to Save School Field

Parents and residents in the historic Devon market town of Totnes are gathering on Saturday mornings for a "play protest" to oppose the sale of a school playing field for housing.

The field at the centre of the dispute is Lower Field, a 1.5-hectare plot beside the River Dart. King Edward VI Community College (KEVICC), the local comprehensive school, has been given approval by the UK government to sell the land, and houses are likely to be built there if the sale goes ahead, The Guardian.

School leaders say money from the sale is needed to repair neglected buildings. The school states that investment from the sale will support significant refurbishment and modernisation across its estate, including internal and external improvements to school buildings.

Throughout autumn, residents have met at Lower Field to play ball games, fly kites and sit on the grass. The gatherings are intended to assert continued community use of the land and to save the open space.

Those taking part include Becca Robinson, who uses the field for women's and girls' fitness classes, and Danielle McIlven, who has been organising games of rounders there. Anna Ali, an organiser of a women's football kickabout and a member of the campaign group Friends of Lower Field, is also involved, alongside Lewis Winks, a leading member of the Right to Roam campaign group.

Campaigners describe the proposed sell-off as a modern "enclosure" of public space used by the community for decades. They say Lower Field has been shared by the school and local people since it was gifted by the Elmhirst family about a century ago. Friends of Lower Field is now examining the terms of that gift and whether the land was legally given to the community or protected for community use.

Disagreement over school land in Totnes is not new. In 2002, a group called Save Our Playing Fields objected to plans by the local community college to sell its main playing space.