Council shelves plan to prevent car park abuse

A PROPOSED crackdown on drivers misusing a car park in Henley used by two charities has been shelved.

The facility off Greys Road is used by Headway Thames Valley, which supports people affected by brain injury at Brunner Hall, and the adjacent hut used by Henley scouts.

The scouts approached the town council, which owns the freehold of the car park next to Makins recreation ground, to ask it to help prevent drivers from parking in their spaces.

They said that parents of children at Sacred Heart Primary School and users of the neighbouring Makins recreation ground often park there.

The council commissioned a report to look into formalising the parking arrangements at the site at a cost of £5,612.

But members of the council’s recreation and amenities committee were told that there had been a change of leadership at Henley scouts and it didn’t want to change the status quo.

A report by town clerk Sheridan Jacklin-Edward said that the Scout Association uses the car park primarily during the evenings but also requires some parking during the day while Headway uses it primarily on weekdays for staff parking and client drop-off and pick-up.

He said: “Parents and carers of children at Sacred Heart Primary School use it for drop-off and pick-up, although they may leave vehicles there for longer periods.

“Local residents use it as long-term parking, local businesses use it for staff parking on weekdays. Park users, especially those using the skatepark use it, and town council parks staff use it occasionally for parking while attending the recreation ground.”

He said in autumn, the council was approached by the scouts saying that they had difficulty finding a space in their private portion of the car park and Headway said its clients found it difficult to be dropped off and collected.

Mr Jacklin-Edward said: “Both Headway and the Scouts reported that while the issues had been present for many years, they had worsened considerably in recent months.”

A study was carried out and the report and designs were presented to Headway and the scouts for their input before being finalised.

Mr Jacklin-Edward said that Headway agreed but the scouts did not now believe there was any major problem and would not be willing to surrender their part of the car park to any new scheme.

He added: “As a result, even if the council was minded to move forward with the proposals, it would not be possible without the scout portion of the car park.”

Councillor Gill Dodds praised parks services manager Karl Bishop for coming up with the idea of introducing yellow lines outside Brunner Hall so drivers would not obstruct the area used by Headway.

Mayor Rory Hunt said: “I am very disappointed having supported the scouts with this report and having spent quite a lot of money that they have subsequently changed their minds after we spent the money.”

The committee recommended spending £600 to introduce yellow lines to mark out the spaces for use by Headway.