Highgate School and the Plastic Football Pitch
■ In early 2023 Highgate School produced its plans for their future. While we all realise Highgate can not remain unchanged, and the school is vital to the economy of the village, there is one plan that has caused so much concern.
■ A plastic football pitch on Hampstead Lane
The school plans to replace the Far Field football pitch with a plastic one. 'The Ham and High' reported the school had ‘applied to Haringey Council for planning permission for a synthetic pitch on its Far-Field Playing Field. The school says the field in Courtenay Avenue is regularly used for many sports but is often impossible to play on following bad weather.' Full article here
■ The paper further reported ‘more than a dozen objections have been lodged, saying the plastic grass is bad for wildlife, biodiversity, water management and made from fossil fuels.’ Among them, Catherine Burgett-Meakin, chair of the sustainable living group at the Highgate Society, wrote: "In every way it is ill-advised and unsustainable. It is made from material derived from fossil fuels. The school says it will preserve the margins of the field for biodiversity but this in no way compensates for the large area that will be covered with false grass, sealing in all the soil below, and thus damaging the biodiversity of the majority of the field.'
We want to know what you think about this issue.
Haringey Council have yet to make a decision on whether to grant planning permission. if you feel strongly about this issue please follow the link www.Haringey.team/PlasticPitch
Or scan the QR code into your Smart Phone
