In 2010 the local authority fenced off a large field adjacent to Castle Park (formerly St. Mary's) primary school on Church Road in Caldicot. This included a public right of way known as 'footpath 28' which in turn raised objections and ultimately the Planning Inspectorate rejected the local authority's application so the fence was partly dismantled to allow public access once again.

The local authority has now again fenced off the field to the north of 'footpath 28', but this time leaving free access to the footpath, so they have installed a locked gate either side of the footpath to allow the schoolchildren access across the footpath between school and field.

I am given to understand that this has been done for 'health and safety' reasons, and I can fully understand that parents and teachers would want to ensure that their children are safe at school, I would.

I can equally understand why there would be pressure on the local authority to make that happen, and why they would wish to facilitate this.

But the local authority has a responsibility to the wider community. It is after all there to deliver public services, services which can be more effectively delivered collectively rather than individually - that is the point of a local authority.

In terms of the field to the north of 'footpath 28' I have seen this being used recently by local footballers for training, scouts and air cadets playing baseball and other games in the evenings and local youngsters playing ball games at any time.

To fence off this area so that it is only available to the school on Church Road when it has been a public facility for as long as I can remember (I attended the school many years ago before it was demolished and rebuilt) means that the wider community is deprived of a valuable resource at a time when health professionals are emphasising the need for physical activity; this just does not make sense in my view.

To close off the field when it is being used by the schoolchildren would make more sense, but they do not use it during the long summer holidays, weekends, and evenings, and even during term time when the weather is inclement, so why can't others use it at these times rather than having an important local resource standing idle?

I understand that in part the reasoning is that when others are using this resource they do not clean up after themselves, leaving food waste, packaging, broken glass, and dog faeces behind, which in turn poses a hazard to other users, which is not limited to the schoolchildren, and that is entirely objectionable, but is that any reason to close off the resource to all except one group of users?

I further understand that there is now a proposal to enclose the playing fields in the town centre on the King George V park for similar reasons, making it available to the football club only, and no doubt if that is allowed to go ahead then the same will happen to the 'football field' in the castle grounds, depriving locals residents of yet more open green areas.

Why not follow up with the children's play area in the park behind Castroggi which is often littered with broken glass?

In short, where do we stop? Will Caldicot simply become a series of fenced off special interest enclaves?

It seems to me that the only winners here will be the fencing contractors who supply the local authority and which we as a community are having to fund through our taxes and rates.

Would we not be better off finding a solution to the problem of the mindless anti-social minority so that all the local resources can be once again enjoyed by the whole community?

– P Driscoll, Caldicot.