Cameras to monitor routes of big lorries

CAMERAS could be set up on roads around Henley to establish whether the town has a problem with heavy goods vehicles using it as a short cut.

The automatic number plate recognition devices will be placed in surrounding areas including Marlow, Maidenhead and Reading.

Oxfordshire County Council, the highways authority, has included £100,000 in its budget for the project with a similar one also being carried out in the Burford area.

The data is expected to be collected over the course of a year and used to identify the routes used by lorries. Based on the results, the council may introduce a weight limit in Henley for a trial period.

Campaigners have long argued that long-distance HGVs have been using Henley as a cut-through to shorten journey times because of the bridge over the River Thames.

They say that this has a negative effect on the town’s air quality and creates a risk to cyclists and to pedestrians due to the narrow streets and pavements.

Councillor Stefan Gawrysiak, who represents Henley on the council, said: “We have secured £100,000 for the study in Henley and the surrounding area.

“A large part of that study will be the positioning of ANPR cameras that will capture the route and weight of traffic going through Henley. The reason why the cameras will be geographically spread — they will be towards Maidenhead, Marlow, Reading, the Crowmarsh Gifford roundabout and the road to Didcot — is so that the roads coming into Henley can be monitored.

“Even if we have a weight limit, the big lorries can legitimately come into Henley but it is the through- HGVs we want to stop, those which end up at different locations. They should be using different routes, such as the M4, the A34 to Didcot or the M40 and Maidenhead bypass.

“We are also looking very closely at air quality and the historic nature of Henley and its narrow streets with a view to taking part in what is called Healthy Streets.

“I am sure that it will come out that Henley is not safe for HGVs to come through because they intimidate pedestrians and cyclists, which means we have a town that is not walking- or cycling-friendly, which we want it to be. It is much broader than trying to introduce a weight limit.”

Cllr Gawrysiak paid tribute to the Henley HGVs watch group, led by Amanda Chumas and Tony Fox, who have compiled pictures of HGVs believed to be using Henley as a cut-through.

Meanwhile, the group and Cllr Gawrysiak have been pressing the county council to carry out a structural analysis of Henley Bridge.