Your letters

Rethink beds decision

How very disappointing that Oxfordshire County Council is proving so obtuse about its decision to close the step-down care beds at Chilterns Court (Standard, January 19).

Henley has the highest proportion of older residents of any constituency in Oxfordshire.

The 2020 census had the percentage of over-65s at 23.8 per cent, more than five per cent over the national average.

These are precisely the people most likely to benefit from the kind of intermediate care Chilterns Court provided so many of our residents.

Yet the council has decided to locate the care in the opposite side of the county, far from the emotional and practical support of friends and family.

The leaders of the council insist there was no need to open this decision to consultation but surely the most minimal due diligence would have led councillors to pick up the phone to our local GPs?

Had they been listening, they may have heard how valuable these beds were in helping people here get back home after hospital stays.

There’s still time to reverse course. — Yours faithfully,

Caroline Newton

Chairman, Friends of Townlands Hospital

Care first, not targets

Sir, — I am writing about the practicalities of the hub beds of Chiltern Court.

I am a retired nurse and worked at the Sue Ryder hospice in Nettlebed for 12 years.

Local patients need these hub beds to help them to go back to their homes with confidence, thereby not needing more care from the GP or the hospital as an emergency.

The acute care given in hospital is necessary and, when discharged, the patient may need the extra care in a less “busy” care environment and to be shown how to cope.

Meanwhile, care can be put in place at their home.

As Janet Waters, the representative of patient participant groups, said very succinctly last week, South Oxfordshire has no provision at all for hub beds, forcing elderly relatives to travel up to 45 miles to visit and putting them at risk of becoming ill themselves.

We are talking about care, not “national targets”.

Everyone is entitled to be cared for locally if we are ill or well. — Yours faithfully,

Anne Sandars

Henley

Meddling amateurs

Editor, — We used to be reasonably well governed until politicians got in on the act of decision-making.

If we only had the halcyon days of Yes Minister, where politicians are carefully shielded by civil servants from important matters of state.

It is the civil servant who is the trained professional for that is how career progression is achieved. On the other hand, politicians are well meaning amateurs who believe they have been born to rule.

By and large they have never managed anything of significance and, most importantly, have never been managed for that is where the practical skills of management are learned.

They move from department of state to department of state at ever-increasing speed, picking up attendance gongs on the way as opposed to accolades from the public for good service.

Every failure gains a credit for the next move.

There is no need to list the failures as we, the long-suffering public, are only too aware of them. — Yours faithfully,

Douglas Wright

Caversham

Misuse of our local

I would love to draw your attention to the Crown Inn in Pishill.

It is a 16th century brick and flint coaching inn with origins that may well date back to the 11th century with an adjacent 400-year-old barn that was used for functions and was licensed for civil ceremonies.

This rural and remotely placed free house struggled in the covid era and never reopened.

It was bought by comedian Russell Brand in late 2021 for a steal and he has absolutely no interest in reopening it as a pub.

He currently uses the barn to record his daily podcasts to a large global audience and runs his production office from the pub.

It is a disgrace that this historic building has been bought and had its use changed without permission by a public figure who frequently calls out this sort of behaviour.

As far as I am aware, the local council and parish are putting pressure on him to reopen the pub.

I got married in this pub seven years ago and would love to enjoy a pint in the beautiful garden with my children. — Yours faithfully,

Josh Robinson-Ward

Sycamore Close, Watlington

Give back this pub

On behalf of the Campaign for Pubs, I am urging South Oxfordshire District Council to throw out the application by Russell Brand’s company to convert — and by doing so permanently close — the Crown in Pishill.

We are a grassroots campaign group established to support, promote and protect pubs, bringing together publicans, pub campaigners, customers and brewers and all who value our pub culture.

We support locals in Pishill in their campaign to stop the attempt to seek change of use of the Crown Inn and, just as importantly, to see it re-open under new ownership that wants to run it successfully once again.

The Crown is a wonderful historic pub of considerable architectural merit and is Grade II listed as well as being vitally important to Pishill, as the only pub in the village.

The pub has been closed since the covid pandemic after which it was put up for sale and in 2021 was bought by Pablo Diablo's Legitimate Business Firm, a company owned by Mr Brand.

The pub has not reopened and the only reason it is no longer a pub is because Mr Brand and his company have ignored pleas from the local community to either reopen it or sell it to someone who will re-open it as a pub and restore it to the heart of community life in the village.

This is a disgraceful attitude to both the history and heritage of Pishill and to the needs of the community.

Various half-hearted suggestions of opening parts of the pub buildings for café/restaurant use (all of which themselves have been inappropriate for a historic village inn) have not progressed and are attempts to justify conversion of the rest of the pub. It is wholly wrong that anyone — an individual or company — buys a pub for non-pub use when it is both viable and wanted by the local community.

The current application is an entirely selfish attempt to convert a historic village pub into what is effectively personal space with a “adjunct” of supposed community space to try to get the application passed.

That is not remotely fulfilling the vital role the Crown Inn has played in Pishill for centuries.

We make no comment on the character of Mr Brand, nor of the content of whatever he chooses to broadcast or record, but it is wholly unacceptable for anyone to seek to take over, close and permanently destroy a historic village pub for their own use.

The idea that the Crown should be converted for this is frankly appalling.

Mr Brand is perfectly entitled, directly or through his company, to buy suitable non-pub properties and install a recording studio from where he can do whatever podcasts and broadcasts he desires.

There are many buildings he and his company could purchase to do this, including vacant barns.

It has not been proved that the Crown is not viable and indeed it is clear that it has been and would again be a successful business.

As well as being the only pub in the village, serving food as well as drink, the Crown has hosted weddings and functions. Even in the current difficult climate, this is very clearly a viable, indeed potentially very successful pub business.

This importance of pubs is explicitly enshrined in the National Planning Policy Framework and must be the basis of any decision on an application to convert a public house, especially an historic one.

South Oxfordshire District Council must reject the planning application as it is contrary to “planning positively for the provision of community facilities, including public houses”.

The permanent loss of the pub would be detrimental to the community and to the area.

The application as it is means the unjustified loss of a historic public house, which would have a negative effect on community cohesion, on community spirit, on the already very limited amenities/services in Pishill, on heritage, on history and on the local economy.

If the council gives in to what Mr Brand and his company want, it is not only sanctioning the unnecessary destruction of a historic and important village pub, it would also be sending out a very dangerous message — that wealthy people and companies can buy our nation’s pubs and do what they want with them, against the wishes of the communities that value them.

For all these reasons, we urge the council to throw out this application.

We also urge Mr Brand to do the morally right thing and move out of the pub, put it up for sale at the value as a pub and allow it to reopen. — Yours faithfully,

Greg Mulholland

Director, Campaign for Pubs, York

Thoughtless builders

Editor, — The builders working on two new-builds in Harpsden are using the grass verges opposite to park their vehicles and they have completely destroyed them as well as turning them into mud.

It was said that no vehicles working on the development site would be parked on the public highway obstructing traffic due to it being an offence (under Section 137 of the Highways Act 1980).

I think that someone at the council responsible needs to ask the workers to remove their vans from the road, park in the site and reinstate the verges.

You can see where the edge of the tarmac is and the damage they have caused. I only managed to squeeze past last week and an emergency services vehicle would struggle. — Yours faithfully,

Sarah Thompson-Bell

Harpsden Way, Henley

Cheated over music CD

Sir, — I attended the Simon and Garfunkel Story at the Kenton Theatre on Saturday with my wife.

We both felt the concert was amazing, bringing back fond memories of the Sixties. Afterwards we chatted to both the artists in the foyer.

As we were leaving, we were offered the sale of a CD. Thinking it was the artists we had just seen perform, we had no hesitation in buying it.

The lady even suggested we got it signed and both artists willingly obliged. No mention was made by anybody that it wasn’t actually them singing on the CD.

I have just listened to it. To say I am bitterly disappointed is an understatement.

These artists sound nowhere like those we had seen perform. James Pattison and Charles Blyth were so, so superior to this recording.

I feel cheated by the theatre for not being told that this was not actually what we had just listened to. A total waste of £10. — Yours faithfully,

Paul Freeman

Caversham

Amazing Acorn

Sir, — Coming back from London to see the family, I was delighted and surprised to see that the Acorn Theatre Company had a show on at the Kenton (A Christmas Carol).

It was a great show, holding true to both Charles Dickens and Gail Rosier’s true hopes for the group.

The chance to meet people of all ages, creeds and colours, all in the hope of putting on a show.

Acorn should be celebrated as much as the children’s choir, the adult facilities in Greys Road, the countless efforts that people put in to help others.

Acorn gave me the chance to go to Edinburgh, Winchester, Oxford and even Grahamstown in South Africa.

Isn’t it about time we spent more time giving children and young people out-of- school experiences?

I was delighted to see that, as many under-10s played the urchins, there was a great group of teenagers playing other roles.

No reason that the ghost of Christmas past shouldn’t be aged 10 and how exciting to see a 15- or 16-year-old being part of something so exciting and engaging. One of the things Acorn has always had in it heart.

My point is that Henley and its residents have a lot more to celebrate that the royal regatta. — Yours faithfully,

Charley Smith

An Old Oak