Yarm School: Plans to let local community use Yorkshire private school's playing fields to be considered

The Yarm School playing field at Aislaby Road, Eaglescliffe, has had approval since 1979 for pitches to be used by the school only and not to be hired or let out to others. But the school’s new proposal will allow partners, community groups and wider community use for playing sports at the site.

Stockton Council’s planning committee is to decide whether or not to approve the plans next Wednesday (July 5). The plans, to remove some of the existing planning conditions from the 1970s, have attracted 34 letters of support and 11 in objection.

The school uses the eight-acre site for football, rugby, cricket and other sports. According to the plans, the school is in negotiations with Yarm Rugby Club to take a lease on the pitches, with likely use in the evenings, opening it up for greater community use.

The council’s report says the rugby club had used the field on an ad hoc basis, with no intended breach by the school. But this stopped after the “historic” restrictions came to light as the lease agreement was being developed.

Supporters highlighted the health and wellbeing of children and adults in an area with “very little or no leisure facilities and sporting options” and “no other local viable alternative playing fields or land”. Objectors raised issues with traffic, on-street and indiscriminate parking, noise in a rural area, littering and use of the fields which was described as unsafe and unapproved.

Egglescliffe and Eaglescliffe Parish Council expressed concerns about extra traffic and parking, flooding or contamination risk from nearby Nelly Burdon’s Beck and toilets, changing room and shower facilities. Sport England supported the proposals but recommended community use of the playing fields be carefully managed.

A 97-space extended car park was proposed to overcome parking concerns. Planning officers at the council have recommended approval of the scheme, but with conditions including a community use agreement to be drawn up with details of pricing, hours and access to ensure good management and sporting benefit.

Under the conditions, the use of non-Yarm School organisations would be capped at 125 uses and a maximum of 10 senior league matches per year, “to ensure the protection of nearby residential properties”. Hours would be restricted to 9am to 8.30pm and no floodlights would be used without the council’s consent.

Officers concluded: “With these conditions in place it is considered that the use can be suitably controlled to ensure the residents are not adversely affected by the additional community use of the facility. There are capacity issues for cricket, rugby union and football in the Yarm/Eaglescliffe area, and as such it is consider that these proposals have the potential to increase the supply of publicly accessible playing pitches.

“Overall, it is considered that additional community use in the manner proposed will bring a number of benefits to both sports provision and access to sport for the local community with associated health and wellbeing benefits and there are no policy reasons not to support the development.”

It will be up to councillors on the committee whether or not to follow their officers’ recommendations.