Your letters

Nurturing nature

Last June, Greener Henley urged Henley Town Council to declare a nature emergency, to sit alongside its existing climate emergency declaration.

So we are thrilled to see that the council has made this important declaration. We applaud its leadership on this issue and will do whatever we can to support its plans in this regard.

The decision to declare a nature emergency couldn’t have come at a more critical time. The UK is one of the most nature depleted countries in the world and there is a pressing need to address the alarming decline of nature in our area and across the country.

Nature’s fine balance is crucial because everything we love, cherish and rely on, from clean air, water and our health to beautiful landscapes and the stability of our economy, hinges on the health and balance of our natural ecosystems.

But across the UK and around the world ecosystems are under siege, species are vanishing at an unprecedented rate and the delicate balance of nature is being disrupted.

A local example of this is the hazel dormouse. In 2004, 100 of them were counted in the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust’s reserves. Last year only two could be found.

Although we think of Oxfordshire as a verdant county, the loss of our ancient hedges linking to woodland means nocturnal animals such as dormice, which travel long distances but never come to ground, are left stranded and so are in rapid decline.

Here in Henley, every day we are witnessing first-hand the impact of habitat loss, pollution and climate change on our local wildlife and natural landscapes, from increased flooding to the decline of insect populations, from air pollution in excess of multiple World Health Organisation limits to our beloved river turning into an open sewer.

But amid these challenges lies an opportunity — a chance for us to take decisive action to reverse the tide of nature decline.

This is where the declaration of a nature emergency becomes more than just words on paper; it becomes an instigator of change, a wake-up call for the urgent action needed to halt biodiversity loss and to begin restoring nature and ecosystems.

Green spaces play an important part in this and they should not be something separate to our town. Welcoming nature back into our urban spaces is vital, as is ensuring we have access to sustainable, locally-grown food.

The council has established two community orchards from which we can all benefit. We are all aware of the need to reduce food waste and provide food security, so more community growing spaces close to where people live seems the way forward.

For those without outdoor space to grow their own, more community allotments, orchards or even smaller growing spaces for fresh herbs would be valuable community assets.

This is also an opportunity for every resident of Henley and surrounds to play a part in safeguarding our natural world for future generations.

From protecting and restoring our local wildlife habitats to making daily choices that protect nature, there are countless ways that all of us can contribute to a more nature-positive world.

One such opportunity is Greener Henley’s Nature2 campaign, which aims to mobilise our community in creating a nature corridor across our town by encouraging everyone to plant 1m2 of native wildflowers for pollinators.

By taking part, individual efforts multiply as together the seeds we sow become habitat stepping stones for wildlife; collectively we create something we could never achieve on our own.

Halting and reversing nature decline requires action on many levels, from the general public to farmers, businesses, schools and organisations, to local authorities and policy makers in government. In short, all of us.

We are all involved in getting into this mess and we must all work hard together to get us out. Individual actions are no doubt important and can contribute to positive change, inspiring others and creating a ripple effect.

However, in our high carbon society where the principal reason for nature loss is intensive farming and the continuing effects of climate change, this crisis must be dealt with at government policy level in order to achieve the necessary seismic structural shift required.

It’s crucially important that we show policy-makers that change is possible, that our council and residents are ready to embrace the changes that we need to make in our everyday choices for a better way of living, ultimately bringing us to a more sustainable, healthier, happier place where we live alongside nature.

This is why what we do here in Henley is so vital, that we can model a community that lives in harmony with nature, that places nature at the heart of everything we do, that recognises that we are in fact an integral part of nature.

The council’s nature emergency declaration gives nature an essential seat at the table in all council decisions made.

So let’s embrace this moment as a catalyst for change. Let’s harness this opportunity to protect and restore nature.

Together, we can build a future where nature thrives and our children inherit a cleaner, greener town and a world worth cherishing. — Yours faithfully,

Kate Oldridge

Chair, Greener Henley

Drama is hard going

I imagine I will be part of a chorus with this but here goes.

I share Nicola Robinson’s concerns about the number of dramatic plays available at the Kenton these days but putting it alongside Wokingham or Progress theatres is not a proper comparison (Standard, April 26).

The Kenton is now a receiving theatre, unlike the other two and I would add the Corn Exchange in Wallingford to them. Wokingham, Progress and the Corn Exchange are each run and owned by amateur societies which can afford to put on several productions a year — eight for Wokingham, 10 for Progress and five for the Sinodun Players at the Corn Exchange.

Reading Rep is a welcome recent professional addition but they too control their space. The Kenton is run by a trust and rarely commissions plays, or indeed anything.

Nevertheless, the Henley Players still fly the flag for drama at the Kenton by putting on two plays on a year and many call upon the pantheon of established playwrights cited by Nicola.

Recently they have produced George Bernard Shaw, Tom Stoppard and J B Priestley in addition to more modern works and will be doing Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night this autumn.

I can’t think of any other society within an eight-mile radius which does this at the Kenton.

All the others put on musicals, although even those are becoming rare as expenses mount both for hire of the theatre and royalties.

In fact, I notice that in recent years the Reading Operatic Society has pulled in its horns and has transferred from the Hexagon to the Kenton. I can’t help thinking that cost was a major factor in that.

Apart from the Henley Players’ detemined efforts to keep going at the Kenton, drama lovers would do well to look next door at the HAODS Studio where four productions a year are mounted.

Last year the variety included Blackadder, Under Milk Wood, Death And The Maiden and my own Backstage Aladdin.

This year, so far they have staged ’Allo ’Allo and have another full programme lined up.

We’re trying but it’s hard going. It would help if we could find ways of getting the message out but these days it competes with so much on social media that it gets lost in the miasma.

One more consideration: The Kenton is a lovely space and an asset for the town but it has serious limitations.

It’s equipped to deal with medium scale professional productions but there is an access problem which other venues don’t have.

Basically, how do you get a production set through the narrow entrances to the side and front?

Previously local societies built complex and sophisticated sets from the flats stored in the back. Sadly, they’re all gone, as has the storage. — Yours faithfully,

Mike Rowbottom

Stoke Row

Unelected, unwanted

Sir, — So one of the unelected leaders in Britain, Humza Yousaf of the SNP, has found that he actually needs the people to be confident in him not his back-slapping lackeys.

The new unelected first minister of Wales, Vaughan Gething, realising he needs the public to keep his hold on power, is back-pedalling on the idiotic blanket coverage of 20mph speed limits across Wales.

Now all we need is for the unelected mighty millionaire Rishi Sunak to understand that he has no mandate from any part of the electorate.

In having leaders foisted upon us without voice or recourse, we are turning back history to the era of the divine right of kings, where parliament was irrelevant and one figurehead held power over the nation for good or bad.

And in the words of Lord Acton, the evidence is there for all to see: “Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

It is high time that power be denied those for whom the people have not directly voted.

Perhaps the time is for independents to have a chance or perhaps proportional representation’s time has finally come.

Or a return to the classic Greek form of sortition would provide the route to a better future for it certainly isn’t the bunch of elites that have been fighting it out for decades with the population being the losers. — Yours faithfully,

Edward Sierpowski

Henley

Please come to lunch

Sir, — I am writing to you as I feel it’s my responsibility as chairman of the Henley and Peppard branch of the Royal British Legion to let you and our wider community know how passionate we are to get the message across that everyone, regardless of whether or not they have armed forces connections, will be warmly welcomed to our luncheon talks.

These lunches take place on the third Tuesday of the month at 11.15am for 11.30am.

My experience of these occasions over the years is that it gives people an opportunity to make new acquaintances, learn a thing or two from interesting speakers and connect with old friends for a good catch-up.

All that in the pleasant surroundings of Henley Rugby Club’s Menza Café and to crown it all with a two-course lunch with coffee or tea.

I would urge our community to come along and experience these luncheon talks, starting on Tuesday, May 21 when representatives of Lowland Rescue Oxfordshire will talk about the significant role it plays.

Sandwiched between the two big search and rescue charities, the RNLI at sea and the air ambulance, Lowland Rescue Oxfordshire and its highly trained operatives assist the emergency services in extreme circumstance.

They will tell you much more about their activities and hopefully bring a couple of highly trained search and rescue dogs with them.

Further information is available from our website, www.rbl-henley.org

The only proviso, for catering purposes, is that you will need to book and pay by the Thursday before the Tuesday lunch, in this case by Thursday, May 16.

The easy process is to book with Karen Grieve by emailing henleyonthames.secretary@rbl.community and she will direct you to the payment procedure of £18 for the lunch and talk.

I do hope you, our community, will take up our invitation and come and give it a try, remembering that everyone is welcome, whether or not you have armed forces connections.

I look forward to meeting you soon. — Yours faithfully,

Anne Evans

Chairman, Henley and Peppard branch, Royal British Legion