School playing field sales hit record high
A RECORD number of school playing fields were sold this summer as cash-strapped councils try to raise funds.
The Government gave the go-ahead for 11 sales in August – more than in any other month this decade.
It is equal to the yearly total for 2011, according to an analysis of Department for Education data by the Times Educational Supplement.
The TES report shows that the number of sell- offs is climbing steadily, with 17 approvals so far in 2016 and the annual total projected to exceed 25.
Campaigners say the sell-offs are ‘scandalous’ while headteachers warn that funding pressures within councils could be fuelling the surge.
Since figures were first recorded in 2010, the Government has approved 138 sales.
The DFE began releasing detailed information on playing field sales a year ago. Since then, none has been refused permission by the Government, with only eight refused in total since 2010, according to the TES.
The merging or rebuilding of schools is one of the most commonly stated reasons for sales.
But critics point out that in some cases new schools contain less space for playing fields than those they have replaced.
DFE data shows approval was given in May for the sale of surplus land at King Alfred’s Academy in Wantage, Oxfordshire, following the closure of one of its three sites after an earlier school amalgamation. The document said that although the new site would not meet guidelines for size of outside space, pupils would have the use of a new synthetic football pitch.
Playing fields at four closed primary schools in Shropshire were approved for sale in August, to ‘contribute towards repaying the capital borrowing used to fund the amalgamation of two schools’.
One playground, at the former Ifton Heath Primary School, has been earmarked by the council as a travellers’ site until it is sold.
Knowsley Council in Merseyside plans to sell part of Roby Park Primary School’s playing field to fund improvements. Malcolm Trobe, interim general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said there was a need to ensure sufficient play space for pupils not just for sport, but also to allow ‘general running around’.
Tim Gill, former director of the Children’s Play Council, said: ‘It’s completely scandalous that at a time when you have rising childhood obesity, we’re disposing of the very assets that are one of the best ways of helping with children’s physical and emotional health.’
Juno Hollyhock, of Learning Through Landscapes, a charity for improving children’s outdoor play, believes more schools are banning children from running because playgrounds are too cramped.
A Local Government Association spokesman said: ‘Councils do not support the selling off of school playing fields except when a school is closed or merged or in exceptional circumstances, and then applica-
‘We have rising childhood obesity’
tions have to meet strict agreed criteria to be approved by the Secretary of State for Education.’
Local authorities must obtain the Secretary of State’s approval before they can dispose of land.
DFE guidance states that the first priority for reinvesting the proceeds from playing field sales should be sports facilities.
The DFE said: ‘ These school playing-field figures represent a tiny proportion of the total playing-field land across the country and consent has only been granted where schools have demonstrated there is no impact on their sports curriculum.’