Makins recreation ground to be given town green status

A RECREATION ground in Henley is to be given town green status.

This will mean that Makins, off Greys Road, remains protected as an open space for the enjoyment of the community in perpetuity.

The town council, which owns the land, applied for the status in April last year in an attempt to protect it from development.

This was in the wake of a planning application by Telent Technology Services, on behalf of EE, to install a 5G mast in a corner of the park.

The firm received planning permission on appeal to the Planning Inspectorate with it confirming that it fell under “permitted development”.

Telent has not yet confirmed when the mast is to be installed.

Oxfordshire County Council has now informed the town council that its application for town green status will be signed off by its legal services team by the end of the month. Mayor Tom Buckley described the designation of Makins as a “fantastic achievement”.

He said: “Applying for town green status was prompted by some of the residents in Henley initially to try and prevent the building of a 5G mast.

“Although some residents may not be happy that the mast is going ahead, the fact is we have a positive outcome in protecting the rest of the green space.

“I think it’s another great achievement for Henley. It’s another instance where residents have come forward and put an idea to the council and it has supported them as much as it can.

“You’re never going to keep everybody happy all of the time but there are positive outcomes. Hopefully this proves that we want to keep this space clear, we don’t want any more building on it and we want it to be free for the people of Henley to use.”

Henley already has two town greens. Freeman’s Meadow, off the Fair Mile, was registered in 2020 on the suggestion of the Friends of Freeman’s Meadow, a residents’ group.

In 2009, Gillotts Corner Field, off Greys Road, became the first town green following a campaign by residents and councillors after South Oxfordshire District Council, the planning authority, said it had potential to hold 150 new homes.

Councillor Kellie Hinton, who chairs Henley in Bloom, said it was “fantastic” to have another town green.

She added: “It’s just really great that Makins was a speedy process and it being designated protects the land a lot more now. It’s such a good thing.”

Dave Eggleton chairs the Gainsborough Residents’ Association, which approached the town council at the beginning of last year to have the ground protected with town green status. He said Makins was bequeathed to the council by Sir Paul Makins in 1920 and was given with a covenant that meant it would never be built on.

He said: “There should be a limit on where you build and what impact it has on the environment.

“Natural beauty is therapeutic for quite a lot of people. And it also has an impact on the environment, the well-being of people and animals, so before you do anything you should always take those into consideration.”

Kate Ashbrook, general secretary of the Open Spaces Society, which is based in Henley, said: “We congratulate Henley Town Council for taking the initiative to register Makins field as a town green. Henley is leading the way in registering greens — this being the third — and it is setting a fine example to other landowners.”

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