"Ecological vandalism": plans for artificial grass football pitch at Whitefoot Lane, Downham

Lewisham council's mayor and cabinet will seal the future of Whitefoot Lane playing fields at the meeting on 22 October. 

The council plan to transfer the lease for the fields to Bonus Pastor Catholic College, which is part of St Benedict Catholic Academy Trust.

The trust runs one other secondary school, based in Southwark, and six primary schools across south London.

Tim Oshodi, who leads Downham Community Land Trust (CLT), says that the council's plan fails Downham’s local schools and fails to address Lewisham's health inequalities, by doubling down on the exclusion of  the local community from the green space.

Downham CLT, along with Sevenfields group of local GP practices, had an alternative vision for the site with interest from the Heritage Lottery Fund and the support of Lewisham's previous mayor, Damian Egan.

Now their hopes of public access to the site and restoration of nature are slipping away.

"Ecological vandalism"

The council, in partnership with Bonus Pastor school, has put together a bid to the Football Foundation to install a “third generation” (3G) artificial grass football pitch on the playing fields.

They plan to jointly submit the planning application for the artificial pitch within a few weeks. Then, if the lease has been transferred, the council will withdraw from the application.

The new pitch has been presented as a benefit to the school and the wider community, but Oshodi says the council have ignored the environmental impacts.

“It’s ecological vandalism, dumping 3 tonnes of microplastics into a nature reserve. 

"Microplastics have carcinogenic impacts, 3G pitches are totally unsuitable for installation next to the water supply, which flows throughout the ancient woodland.”

UK lags behind as EU phase out 3G football pitches

As concerns about the pollution from microplastics grow, artificial grass football pitches have come under scrutiny.

Across the EU, the sale of microplastics is being phased out. The "rubber crumb" underlay for artificial turf will be withdrawn from sale in 2031, preventing future sales of 3G pitches and making maintenance of existing ones difficult.

In the UK, we are lagging behind.

DEFRA published a report in May 2025 which reviewed emissions of “intentionally added” microplastics in the UK - it found that 3G pitches are the highest source of microplastics found in the environment.  

Sport England reports that it is "researching alternatives", but in the meantime recommends "containment measures" such as perimeter boards and boot brushes. It has not yet been able to demonstrate whether these measures are effective.

The Green Woman Oasis

At the centre of the Whitefoot playing fields is an ancient pond which Downham CLT have named “The Green Woman Oasis”, referencing the Celtic term for mother nature.

Oshodi points to its long history of being used for the health and wellbeing of the community, dating from the 15^th century when farmers would drive their cows to drink from the waters.

More recently, it would be visited by herons, Canada Geese and other migrating birds. But this year they stopped coming. The pond dried out for four months with catastrophic effects on its wildlife.

Oshodi explains that the pond is fed from a spring, but the water has been shut off. The tap for the spring is locked away and local residents have been told that the combination for the lock has been lost.

A spokesperson for the council denied the existence of the spring: "The pond is not topped up artificially and there has been exceptionally dry weather this summer, which has contributed to it drying out."

It is clear that the pond has been neglected. Local residents are locked out of the site.

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Local schools not permitted to use sports fields

Downham CLT and Sevenfields Primary Care Network (PCN) had ambitious plans for the site, which included improving the sports fields. The changing rooms would be modernised and the playing fields opened to local schools, most of which are not permitted to use them.

Bonus Pastor secondary school has been using the playing fields for the last decade.  A council spokesperson confirmed that it is the only school which uses the site on a regular basis.

Now Lewisham council plans to transfer the lease for the site to Bonus Pastor and it will continue to be the only school permitted to use the site as its playing fields.

A council spokesperson said: "This site is a school playing field and our priority is to provide facilities for pupils to take part in sport. It’s used daily during school term time by Bonus Pastor.

"The school playing fields are not open to the public although we welcome approaches from community sports groups for bookings, subject to availability.

The site is currently reserved at weekends by Bromley Archery Club and Lewisham Tigers Football Club. There is limited availability around these commitments."

Bromley Archery Club use of fields at risk

Bromley archery club have been using the playing fields for over 20 years. It is the only archery club in Lewisham and has a growing membership aged from 11 to over 80 years' old. About half the members come from Lewisham and others live locally.

The club was told in November 2024 that plans for the site, including the artificial grass football pitch and possible transfer of the lease to Bonus Pastor school, would not affect their use of the fields.

But council officers have now warned the club that its licence to use the field may be terminated.

A spokesperson for the club said: "Unless we are able to reach agreement with the school to continue use of the field, at an affordable rate, the club is likely to have to close, depriving local residents of the opportunity to participate in this inclusive
sport."

The club has asked the council to include its requirements in discussions with Bonus Pastor school.

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