Delivering the news from Henley on Thames and South Oxfordshire for over 100 years
Sir, — It is somewhat surprising and shameful that South Oxfordshire district councillors voted seven to one against a 2.4m wire mesh fence to border the grounds of Gillotts School in Henley given that the purpose of such a fence is to prevent trespassers entering the grounds and endangering the lives of pupils and staff.
The headteacher Catharine Darnton gave examples of such incursions and mentioned parental concern about site safety.
These very real concerns appear to have been pushed aside in favour of some rather spurious comments about views and wildlife.
Most of the houses in Blandy Road which back on to the bridleway have high wooden fencing at the end of their gardens (presumably for security reasons) and thus no direct view.
The “wildlife corridors” seem mostly created by dog walkers trespassing on the school playing fields and, given this fence would only border the bridleway, the open fields and woodland beyond allow such animals total freedom.
I would also question Councillor Stefan Gawrysiak’s description of the footpath as being “narrow” since only recently Crest Nicholson widened and resurfaced the entire stretch to provide a cycleway to the station, marked by signs at both ends.
Ms Darnton is correct when she states that an open border of trees and bushes presents more of a danger to pedestrians than a chain link fence.
This accessible area is presently an open invitation to irresponsible dog owners, walkers and those with more malign intentions to trespass on school grounds, which is precisely what the headteacher seeks to address.
The wellbeing and safety of pupils and staff should be the councillors’ priority. — Yours faithfully,
Sir, — Richard Guy exposed the developing scandal of the Environment Agency’s management of the slipway at the bottom of Friday Street, Henley (Standard, January 20).
“Scandal” is too polite a word to describe what has been going on and I apologise in advance for having to explain this at length.
Mr Guy rightly points out that Sorbon Estates’ 2011 planning application sought permission for (among other things) an additional finger jetty and floating pontoon configuration over riverbed land that the company did not own in a position that would block public access to the slipway.
South Oxfordshire District Council’s planning department approved this.
The Environment Agency, as a statutory consultee to the planning authority, did not object and compounded this failure by then granting Sorbon Estates an accommodation licence for the pontoon configuration blocking the slipway.
So it is true that for the past 10 years Sorbon Estates has been enjoying the income from the extra mooring(s) wrongly allowed by the authorities.
The Environment Agency has the authority to have the Friday Street slipway unblocked by revoking or amending the accommodation licence wrongly granted to Sorbon Estates.
But in spite of years of public complaint, the agency cannot bring itself to take the necessary executive action to right this wrong.
Since last autumn it has had meetings and discussions with Sorbon Estates but has insisted that these must be secret. Why?
The agency refuses to set a deadline by which the slipway must be reopened. Why?
In December Sorbon Estates put out a self-serving press release, saying: “It has been agreed that Sorbon Estates will undertake serious works to remove the pontoon to reinstate the slipway for public access...”
But no date was given as to when these “serious works” might be completed.
And there was no public confirmation from the agency concerning its decision to have the slipway reopened. Why not?
The answers lie in a rare admission from the Environment Agency concerning conversations with Sorbon Estates where “We discussed different configurations that would mitigate the loss of the current pontoon but enhance river access for members of the public”.
Since the agency seems blithely unaware how disgraceful this is, one should unpick this statement.
Mitigating “the loss of the current pontoon” means that, when this pontoon blocking the slipway is removed, Sorbon Estates will lose an amount of future income (which it should never have gained in the first place).
Yet the agency seems to have been trying to do a secret deal to somehow compensate Sorbon Estates for this loss of income in return for the company agreeing to open up the slipway.
Enough is enough. It is time for the agency to put the public first by:
1. Providing complete transparency about the deal between the agency and Sorbon Estates behind closed doors.
2. Exerting its executive authority to fix a firm and early date when the Friday Street slipway must be reopened. — Yours faithfully,
20mph limit not worth it
Sir, — Nicholas Verge claims that there are compelling reasons for the introduction of a 20mph speed limit to avoid deaths on Oxfordshire’s urban and rural roads (Standard, January 20).
Rural roads? He does not indicate how many deaths in rural Oxfordshire over, say, the last five years have been caused by cars being driven at the legal speed of 30mph.
If this number is significant enough to justify a 20mph limit, so be it but no figures have been given.
The likely argument that even one such rural fatality is one too many is fatuous.
In all areas of modern life there are dangers and risk factors versus significant expense and inconvenience must always be considered in a balanced way.
Furthermore, what evidence is there that the 20mph rural speed limit will be generally respected, particularly as the police have indicated that they cannot enforce it?
If it is not respected, and my guess is that this will be the case, the rural programme will be a total waste of public money for this reason alone. — Yours faithfully,
As I said, it’s a waste
Sir, — Apart from being unnecessarily rude and aggressive, your correspondent Nicholas Verge (Standard, January 20) spectacularly misses the point in his reply to my letter of the previous week.
I made no mention of the relative risk to others when travelling at 20mph compared to 30mph, I simply raised two questions:
Firstly, what is the point of Oxfordshire County Council spending £8million on a 30mph-to-20mph cosmetic sign-changing exercise when the police object to the change in most cases and are unlikely to enforce it?
Secondly, what is the point of spending money on an uninformative, self-congratulatory advertising campaign in neighbouring Buckinghamshire that simply says “20mph, a safer pace for Oxfordshire”?
I have had a 20mph sign outside my house for more than six years and daily watch cars go by at twice this speed.
As far as I’m aware, the limit has never been enforced and no penalties have ever been issued.
Council taxpayers deserve better than having their money wasted on symbolic gestures; the £8million would be far better spent on repairs to roads, pavements and drains. — Yours faithfully,
Sonning Common division, Oxfordshire County Council
Quite right to query cost
Sir, — In his haste to educate Councillor David Bartholomew, Nicholas Verge appears to have misread his letter.
I believe Cllr Bartholomew was principally questioning the expenditure of £8million on new 20mph zones when the police are unlikely to enforce them and, data suggests, they have minimal effect on the actual speed of drivers.
Indeed, Mr Verge himself states, “If the driver is obeying the speed limit”.
Without the diligent scrutiny of councillors, such as Liam Walker and David Bartholomew, over the continuing “gesture expenditure” of Oxfordshire County Council over addressing real issues, then we would be none the wiser.
Next time Mr Verge’s car descends into a pothole, rather than considering the kinetic and potential energy involved, he may like to reflect on whether residents are better served by the council spending £151,676 on advertising the 20mph limits (revealed thanks to Councillor Walker) or using these funds to fill in potholes.
At a minimum, cyclists would feel this was a greater contribution to overall safety. — Yours faithfully,
Editor, — I am writing to inform women over the age of 71, who are registered at Sonning Common health centre, that the mobile breast screening service van, which used the health centre car park for a few weeks each year for many years, has been transferred to Townlands Memorial Hospital in Henley.
I only found out about this when I called the service in Reading to make an appointment.
I appreciate that surgery staff are working flat out and are very hard-pressed but I would urge the health centre managers to think about how they can communicate more effectively with patients in these difficult times.
Pre-covid, such a forthcoming change would have been outlined in the much-read health centre newsletter (the latest newsletter available online is for summer 2022).
How about having a regular slot in the village magazine for people uncomfortable with computers?
Perhaps there is a good patient-centred reason for the move but I can’t think what it might be.
The health centre car park has space for the van and it is within walking distance for villagers.
The decision to relocate takes no account of poor public transport connections between Sonning Common, the surrounding villages and Henley.
For people without cars or who can no longer drive, this journey involves catching two (unreliable) buses, with a journey time of well over one hour, 30 minutes (on a good day).
I wonder how many women will decide not to attempt this journey and how many cancers will go undetected as a result?
Lastly, there is also a wider environmental consideration. Think of all the extra car journeys to be made as a result of this decision, when we should be using cars less, not more.
Think of the extra pollution in Henley and unnecessary increase in carbon emissions. — Yours faithfully,
Practice manager Katie Williams responds: “The decision to move the screening centre was made by the screening service and is based on the lack of access to electricity near the building.
“In the past this was accessed where our new Portacabin “hot clinic” is based. That was set up to provide covid-positive patients a place to be examined without putting other waiting room patients at risk.
“This move is unlikely to be permanent and we are working with the screening service in order to facilitate a Sonning Common screening site in the future.”
So much for ‘good life’
Sir, — The tendency to promote self-sufficiency, “the good life” (remember?), as it were, has waned a lot from its high point at the turn of the century.
“It’s not easy being green” faded to a wistful memory after three years. Other attempts came and went but none as instructive, informative or keen.
The new cult is climate activism — bash anything that moves, smokes or makes too much noise; that eats meat, cuts down wood or mines natural resources.
And yet over the last three decades, at least in Europe, especially Germany, people have been incentivised to find alternatives, utilise or reuse materials and resources to prevent them entering landfill sites.
In Germany it is very popular to “cut” your car’s diesel with a substitute, most often vegetable oil. Volkswagen and Mercedes vehicles (especially older models) are renowned for their ability to cope with such mixtures even to the point of being used neat.
After all, early combustion engines ran on alcohol or peanut oil, whichever was to hand.
Yet Britain is so far behind the curve on this to the point of making it as difficult as possible to use alternatives.
A Guardian article of January 20, 2003 headlined “Fry and drive” had the amusing in-depth details. And it all boils down to money.
The Exchequer was going to lose out because people had found an alternaive (necessary at the time, as now).
Which is why Gordon Brown quickly cobbled together rules to make you pay for any type of liquid in your tank.
We have moved forward somewhat since then but only those wealthy enough to create a high volume turnover can sustain a business model. There are tinkerers still out there.
Look at solar, wind or water energy. Yes, the volumes are small for solar but you would think there would be encouragement to swap out the grid for a private supply.
But rip-off costs, bureaucracy and permissions at the official end are extremely discouraging. Why? Well, if you make your own, the Government doesn’t get its cut.
Another reason to force people into one energy stream — reduction of options for greater control.
Even in lacklustre, weather-beaten Britain there are those who power their workshops and sheds, tools and equipment with a couple of solar panels and a few batteries.
So it’s not impossible to reduce your reliance on the grid and save some money.
But you should still have those eco-friendly, green new deal candles ready.
Take care with those matches now. — Yours faithfully,
Sir, — In his letter headlined “BBC keeps blundering” (Standard, January 6) K B Atkinson writes: “Perhaps the director-general, Tim Davie, who lives in the circulation area of the Henley Standard, may also be concerned.”
So far there has been no response from Mr Davie, just like his predecessor Lord Hall, a Henley resident, who kept his own counsel in the face of correspondence critical of the corporation.
In this case, Mr Davie may have an alibi as he was preparing to appear a few days later in front of the Public Accounts Committee.
Deputy chairman Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, a Conservative, put it to him that every time he tuned into the Today programme it consisted of negative reports about this country and he pleaded for more cheerful ones.
Right on cue, Mr Davie replied that the BBC’s reputation for impartiality and independence was based on not being a state cheer- leader and recited the Reithian mantra of the BBC’s role: Inform, Educate, Entertain.
Compared to such weighty matters, Mr Atkinson’s concerns are a mere bagatelle.
I don’t know if Mr Davie takes the Henley Standard but in any case he could well take a leaf out of the paper’s balanced editorial line.
On November 18 it published a letter by Peter Woolsey headlined “Why we must defeat Putin” and on November 26 it published a letter by Mr N D Myer headlined “Avoid this proxy war.”
This contrasts with the BBC’s one-sided coverage of “the war in Ukraine” and Russia’s “invasion” of that country and its triumphalism over “the West” winning that war against Russia by sending more and more lethal weapons to Ukraine following President Zelenskiy’s requests, so that victory can be achieved for as long as it takes.
Meanwhile, president Joe Biden proclaims that the US and Britain are in lockstep towards this goal, ignoring the possibility of lemmings marching over the cliff.
Even the strikes afflicting this country have been brought into the Ukrainian conflict with inflammatory accusations that they are playing into Putin’s hands.
Following the execution of Alireza Akbari after his conviction for spying for Britain, Iran has also been targeted by the BBC in a blatantly propagandistic stream of broadcasts, giving platform only to the view that the execution was a callous and cowardly act carried out by a barbaric regime.
Even if true, in its avowed role of informing and educating the public, it might acknowledge that if it weren’t for the bloody Anglo-American coup against the democratically elected government of Iran with the BBC’s active involvement in 1953, there would have been no Shah and no ayatollahs.
Of course all this is pure fantasy given the BBC’s function of state propagandist.
There is as much chance of the BBC embodying “the impartiality of the truth” as the Australian tennis open winner in Melbourne using a wooden racquet. — Yours faithfully,
Buy local to save planet
Sir, — I read with interest the letter from Kate Oldridge (Standard, January 20).
I see she has taken the Oxfordshire County Council view on locally produced agricultural products.
As you know, the council has been dubbed by many national newspapers as the daftest and most woke council in the country.
Ms Oldridge says: “It is not widely known that transport is a relatively small part of the emissions.”
How selective is this in her argument? Local food, grass-fed lamb and beef, pork reared on the farm using home-grown cereals must be far more eco-friendly than imports from all over the globe, transported at great carbon costs to the environment, raised in ways we have no control over and harvested by modern day slaves.
It is abundantly clear that the core reason for our climate emergency is we have an overpopulated world and goodness knows what we do about that. Interestingly, the “eco brigade” make no mention of the vast increase in minerals needed to be mined to feed the electric revolution. No mention is made of the pollution it causes. Look at the Norra Karr in Sweden where they mine rare oxides and have polluted the local water supply with their mining.
The EU has said there are 11 potential viable lithium projects in Europe.
The eco warriors are fighting against the UK fracking to supply “local” gas, in preference to imported gas. What would they do if there was an application for mining lithium in UK?
The eco warriors appear happy to export pollution if it’s not on their doorstep but this does not really address the issue.
I’m with Laurence Morris, who runs the gentlemen’s outfitters in Henley, Laurence Menswear — buy local, support local trades, local farms and provide local jobs and in so doing cut down pollution and save the planet. — Yours faithfully,
Sir, — I write with reference to Kate Oldridge’s letter stating that people must change their diet and eat what she recommends.
Is she a dietician or a nutritional expert who has some knowledge of a well-balanced diet? She advocates eating avocados. Does she not realise the carbon involved in exporting these to our supermarkets?
The tractors, trucks from farm to airport, flights etc and then further transport to reach the shelves in our chosen supermarket.
I have not seen many cows on the farmland surrounding Henley. I live in Harpsden, where there were once 15 farms and now there are none.
I believe milk is still given to growing children in primary schools. — Yours faithfully,
Sir, — Councillor Kellie Hinton’s comments about the lack of a “Christmas feeling” in Henley (Standard, January 20) were absolutely correct.
Every effort was made in Marlow to help the shopkeepers, in a challenging trading period, and encourage people into the town.
This certainly was not the case in Henley where the town council seemingly completely failed to help shopkeepers and really made no visible effort.
Hoping lessons have been learnt for 2023. — Yours faithfully,
On behalf of Henley Lions Club, I would like to thank the residents of Henley for donating an amazing £5,377 when Santa came visiting.
This is the most money we have raised in the six years that the Lions have organised the sleigh tour.
Despite the coldest December for many years. people left their warm homes and cheered and waved to Santa as he travelled along their roads. This is a tradition that Henley has enjoyed for many decades and brings joy to children and adults alike.
The money collected is used to benefit Henley in many different ways. We have organised a Christmas party for Bishopswood School and Christmas celebrations for Mencap and the Meteor Club.
During the year the Lions work closely with Citizens Advice and Nomad to help local people in need.
I would like to thank the 49 helpers who gave up their time and braved the cold weather to walk the streets of Henley. Without them it could not happen.
I would also like to thank Invesco for giving Santa’s sleigh a safe resting place during its visit to Henley and to thank Johnnie Miles, of Wilkins removals for finding a cosy space for the sleigh in his warehouse for the nine months of recovery time.
Thank you Henley. — Yours faithfully,
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