Land at Beaver Green School, in Ashford, is to be sold

A pressure group has criticised the
sale of school playing fields by Kent County Council after the
government relaxed rules protecting games areas from
development.

Campaign group 38 Degrees has set up a petition to oppose the sale of 31 sites nationwide - including land owned by KCC at Beaver Green Primary School, in Ashford.

Land at the school, which was formed
from two former schools, is to be sold as it was deemed
unnecessary.

Campaign director David Babbs, pictured left, is
hoping to meet with education secretary Michael Gove to protest the
government decision.

He said: "Coming right after the
Olympics, we've all had a really powerful reminder of just how
important sports is in bringing people together, and school playing
fields are often where that starts.

"At one and the same time the
government are talking about the importance of sports in school and
they seem to be allowing more and more playing fields to be sold
off.

"The problem is once you’ve sold them,
they're gone forever.

"We're really urging the government to
protect playing fields, so that future generations of children can
enjoy them and benefit from the exercise and, in some cases, become
the athletes of tomorrow."

The group's petition had already
received more than 90,000 signatures.

In response to the criticisms over
Beaver Green school, a KCC spokesman
said: "Beaver Green Infants School and Hopewell School were
amalgamated into the Beaver Green Community Primary School
facility.

"The remaining area of the site,
comprising mainly the former Hopewell School facility, was
demolished and fenced off as this was not required for the new
facility.

"KCC intends to dispose of the site in
the future to support the investment that was made to remodel and
extend the new Beaver Green Community Primary School."