An urgent meeting is being held by campaigners fighting to save a valuable school site from the clutches of housing developers.

The newly formed Why This Field? (WTF?) group is staging the public meeting at Totnes Civic Hall on Friday June 17 at 6.30pm.

Resident Lisa Smallridge formed the group in response to King Edward VI Community College’s plans to sell 14-acres of its site to raise much-needed funds for the school.

This includes part of the Lower Field site consisting of the Elmhirst Building and playing fields.

WTF? fear the land will be sold to a housing developer, resulting in the ‘green lung’ being lost to the community.

The group supports Totnes Town Council’s £2.5 million bid to buy the Lower Field and retain it for community use.

Lisa organised the public meeting in a bid to inform residents about the school’s plans, and has invited KEVICC headteacher, Alan Salt, school governors, Anthony Mangnall MP, Totnes Town Council and the local district and county councillors.

She said: “It is vital that Lower Field is saved for the community and we hope the school governors will be receptive to the bid made by the town council.

“Totnes has few green spaces and taking this away to be used for housing development would be a tragedy.

“We implore the school governors to do the right thing for the common good.

“Once it is gone it is gone forever.”

Stephen Corline, KEVICC business director said: “Representatives from the governing board and Alan Salt are looking forward to attending the meeting.”

A petition to save the Lower Field from being sold to developers has amassed more than 1,500 signatures, and a public consultation over the plans – launched by WTF? - has received more than 200 responses so far.

Totnes district councillor Jacqi Hodgson said KEVICC could “have their cake and eat it,” if it accepted the town council’s multi-million pound offer for the Lower Field.

“They would shed the liability and management of these assets and get a good receipt towards their school maintenance and upgrade programme,” she said.

“While the students, along with the wider community, would retain the wonderful green space for leisure and recreational benefit, and the Elmhirst Building could be upgraded to become a community asset.

“It’s a win-win situation that Anthony Magnall our MP has said he supports. 

“All we need is for Devon County Council and The Secretary of State for Education to stand alongside Totnes Town Council and keep these wonderful community assets in public ownership.”

Totnes district councillor John Birch is concerned the school is marketing the land as “potential for residential development and/or commerical/mixed use.”

He said: “Such a statement appears to be encouraging a form of development that goes well beyond that set out in the district council’s local plan for the school. This provides that land at KEVICC is allocated for circa 130 new homes.

“The local plan makes no reference to any commercial development.

“From previous plans produced by KEVICC, this latest move seems to suggest that it is encouraging potential developers to go far beyond the local plan allocation of 130 homes.

“Such overdevelopment raises major concerns when it comes to the loss of school facilities and community space and this needs to be brought to the community’s attention at the meeting in order that action can be taken.”

The Lower Field site was listed an Asset of Community Value in November 2021, which reflects its significance to the social life and wellbeing of local people.

Town council clerk, Catherine Marlton said: “With the bid in place the town council is now in commercial negotiations with KEVICC for the site so should not comment much further at the present time.

“We are still striving to purchase the site for community use, albeit we are now being asked to resubmit our bid in an open market against others and not within the Asset of Community Value process.”