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00:00The Warrington Fields issue has been going on for the past six years and it revolves around the school playing fields at Ken Simpson School in Warrington.
00:09Ken Simpson School, which is now under the umbrella of the Four Seas Academy Trust, is seeking to fence off an area of the fields equivalent to the size of eight football pitches to use as school playing fields.
00:23Currently, there is no fence around the fields and they are currently used by members of the public for dog walking and other such recreational activities, which the school says raises serious safeguarding concerns.
00:35The school says that it has authorisation from the Department for Education to fully fence off the requested area of the fields and that the final decision will ultimately rest with the government department.
00:47Headteacher Damien Wells has said that he is confused that the issue is still ongoing as ultimately the council has the responsibility to transfer the land over to the school and the academy trust as part of the academy conversion.
01:00Many local residents, however, have taken issue with the school and have said that the land is not for educational use, that it is designated as mixed use and can be shared between both members of the public and the school.
01:12They say there is no reason that the academy needs such a large amount of the fields or if they should be fenced off altogether.
01:20Residents will now have a final chance to submit their objections as the conversion of the land to school use will be advertised, which will give the chance to submit objections, which will then be discussed at the full council meeting, which will take place in November.
01:35It is hoped that at this meeting a final decision will be made over the future of Warrington Fields and whether or not they will be fully fenced off or not.
01:44The Peter Botello graph will keep you up to date on all the decisions at Warrington Fields as they happen.