Rokeby Field protest set for Monday evening

The school summer holidays may still be in full flow but there's no letting up in the fight by Rokeby residents against plans to put two new schools in their area, with a protest lined up for Monday.
A previous protest on Rokeby Field NNL-161208-095110001A previous protest on Rokeby Field NNL-161208-095110001
A previous protest on Rokeby Field NNL-161208-095110001

While not denying the need for new school places in Rugby they are alarmed that plans have raced ahead for the free secondary and free special schools which will see the already overcrowded roads in the area overrun and their precious green space swallowed up.

Put simply, they say the schools are being put in the wrong place, with the demand for secondary places being in the north of the town.

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Protests have been led by the group SHARE, Sustainable Hillside and Rokeby Education, which is also part of the new umbrella group formed to fight developments in the latest version of Rugby Borough Council’s Local Plan, About Turn.

The next step in the fight will be on Monday evening, August 15, at Rokeby Field at 7pm, when residents are being urged to gather to protest againt the threat of the county council handing over the much-valued recreational space to the Education Funding Agency for the building of the new schools.

The event has been planned by Long Furlong resident Michelle Lines who said: “Rugby’s new secondary school needs to be in the north of town where all the new development is. Rokeby Fields are the heart of our community and hold Rokeby and Hillside together. We have nowhere else in the area for informal recreation and games.”

A spokesman for About Turn said they were backing Mrs Lines’ call for the new secondary school to be built north of the railway line.

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