28/03/2026
We are proud to support the Friends of College Fields in their goal of ensuring that College Fields remains a community asset now and forever.
We will continue to give whatever support we can to help what is such a key issue to our community.
SPEECH FROM THE CHAIR
In case you missed the protest earlier, or couldn’t hear because of the pesky wind, here’s the speech delivered this morning by our chair, Steve Swann..
“Firstly, thank you to all who have come out to support our cause today, it is humbling to see so many people who care so deeply about our community. I am Steve Swann. Some of you know me as I’ve been a resident in the village and used this very field for just short of 30 years now. My children played here, my grandchildren play here, and you may be one of the many people I've made friends with on the field when walking my dog Biffy.
A month ago around 150 people turned out in the pouring rain to show their love of this fabulous village asset, which was phenomenal. At that point we were no more than a group of local people who felt strongly about this cause. Now, a month later, we have formed a fully functioning group called Friends of College Fields, which you'll notice on our social media pages and on the wonderful banners here today. I have been elected as Chair to lead the fight to save this area, and assist Madeley Parish Council's efforts to secure this as our Village Green. It is vital that we are able to secure Village Green status, and prevent future development - ensuring this land is protected for community use for generations to come, freely available as it has been to the generations which have gone before us.
The Village Green application has been in process for more than three years, submitted in December 2022. It has been ignored for much of that time. Now it has received objections from Staffordshire County Council, Shaw Education Trust and Madeley High School, who seek to discredit all of you as users of this field, and misinform you as residents of Madeley.
We have seen documentation dating back to 2021 from Staffordshire County Council regarding its potential desire to offer the land for development into housing. They now claim the documents and emails have been removed, and have even suggested the discussions never took place!
This fence that Madeley High School have erected, on the insistence of Shaw Education Trust and Staffordshire County Council is just the beginning, under the guise of ‘safeguarding’. The High School have told you that they don't use the field but, behind closed doors, they have objected to our Village Green application insisting that they DO use the field.
If we let them get away with these lies, and attempts to restrict our access to College Fields, we will lose access forever. Houses will stand where your feet are now. We must do something.
It is amazing that you have come here today and shown the strength of feeling in our community - we must maintain this physical demonstration. We also need to demonstrate this commitment in writing. We need to gather written evidence of your use of this field, unhindered over the years, to support the Village Green application. You will be able to obtain a paper form when we reach the Madeley Centre - just pop along to our stand, let the children have a go at hook-a-duck and we can assist you with the form and any more information you might be looking for. An online form is available on our linktree page which can be reached by scanning the QR code on any of our banners, or by visiting our website (collegefields.uk) or page. There is also a form that children can fill out, or you can fill out as their parents, clarifying whether the school use the field. In their objection Shaw Education Trust state the field is used by the High School which we understand is totally incorrect. Our children (and big children who previously attended Madeley High) can help us prove that fallacy and play their part in protecting an asset which is useless to them in school, but a safe place for them to play when they are out of school.
This form is not just for you - we need one from every person possible: anyone who lives or has lived in Madeley and used this site, no matter how long or how often, please encourage everyone with a connection to College Fields to complete this form - and it's not one per household, it's one per person. Every form makes a difference.
No more greed. No more deals. Get your hands off College Fields!”
It’s a shame you guys ignored our invitations to see it live Madeley School and Staffordshire County Council
