Henley Society

THE planning application for a Premier Inn at Henley station went before the town council on July 13 and our deputy chairman, Julian Brookes, spoke on behalf of the society against the proposal, reflecting the views of our members in a survey.

We had conveyed the results of the survey to individual planning committee members ahead of the meeting, as we will do to members of South Oxfordshire District Council’s planning committee before they meet to decide the application.

Town councillors voted unanimously, and most robustly, against the application and asked for it to be “called in”, which means that the proposal will be decided by councillors rather than planning officers.

Our executive committee would like to thank those of our members who have put their own thoughts on the application on the district council’s planning portal.

Alan Pontin, a member of the society, whose company is involved in the development of Highlands Park, will address members on Thursday, September 23 in a talk entitled “Henley’s need for more housing and how that can be sympathetically achieved”.

We are aware that this talk could be emotive and give rise to a lot of questions. We hope to hold the talk face-to-face but if covid determines otherwise we will revert to Zoom. Further details in due course.

It is hoped that our October talk will be given by Simon Spearing, the new manager of the Kenton Theatre.

On April 12, 2022, we will visit the Sandhurst Commandant’s Parade, which is a full dress rehearsal for the Sovereign’s Parade that takes place some days later. This is a colourful musical event not to be missed. Full details nearer the time. On Sunday, August 7, 2022 we will be holding a Music on the Lawn event at Remenham Club to mark the 60th anniversary of the society.

The music will be Beatles-themed as 2022 also marks the 60th anniversary of the release of their first record.

We now have six of the eight trees at Sheephouse Lane sponsored at £200 each. The two remaining are a field maple and a linden.

If you would like to have your name, or that of a loved one, commemorated by sponsoring a tree, please let us know.

Our concerns about the Taylor Wimpey plans for disposing of waste water from its development at Thames Farm were sent to the district council.

We have objected on the grounds of the threat to the safety of our drinking water brought about by plans to use grouting on the aquifier below the site and to the routing, which would cause an increased threat of flooding in the area around the Jubilee Park football and hockey pitches.

We are pleased to report that the Thames Traditional Boat Festival will be going ahead this year from Friday to Sunday, August 27 to 29.

All the usual activities are scheduled, including the Dunkirk “Little Ships”, boat trips and refreshments from the various pop-up venues.

A number of our members took advantage of the river cruise organised by our reciprocal members the River Thames Society on July 31.

All enjoyed a balmy evening and excellent on-board fare.

Members should be aware that an appeal has been lodged against the refusal of permission for a planning application for eight flats with associated parking on woodland at Parkside.

This proposal is similar to two previous applications, in 2016 and 2018, which were both turned down, and is on a site protected by 2006 legislation as a priority
wildlife habitat. If the appeal is successful, 52 trees, mostly with tree preservation orders, will be felled, thus partially destroying the heart of an important wildlife corridor on the edge of town.

The Planning Appeal reference is P20/S2002/FUL and members are urged to make their feelings known to the appeal inspector as a matter of urgency via the Planning Inspectorate’s website.

For more information about the society, visit www.thehenleysociety.org

Geoff Luckett