New bridge lights plan on the way

THE man leading a project to illuminate Henley Bridge says he is optimistic that it will be given the green light.

Make Henley Shine, a small group of businesspeople, wants to attach 456 mini-LED lights to the Grade I listed structure, which it says will revitalise the town.

Daniel Bausor, who chairs the group, said he is taking learnings from other towns which have successfully illuminated their “historic monuments”.

This comes as a government planning inspector last week approved plans to put lights on Marlow Bridge, a Grade I listed suspension bridge.

The town council submitted the plans which involved installing strip lighting along the deck to illuminate the suspension chains and key structural elements.

Both Buckinghamshire Council and the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead refused permission, citing concerns about the possible impact on protected bat species along the River Thames.

But the inspector overturned the decision concluding that the lighting would cause “no significant harm” to the flying nocturnal mammals.

Mr Bausor, who lives in Bix, said: “We’re delighted for the residents of Marlow and that they’ve been given permission to light the bridge because we know that it gives a huge boost to the town. When people visit Henley during the Christmas period, I always thought it was amazing how beautiful the Market Place looked but, in contrast, how dark and uninviting the bridge looks.

“There’s a huge amount of support in the town for businesses and hospitality, which are struggling with the cost-of-living crisis at the moment but these bigger picture ideas can reinvent the experience for businesses, visitors and residents in Henley.

“There are parallels to learn from other towns that have illuminated their historic monuments. Marlow is a market town, like Henley. There has been forward thinking with the approval of its application and we want to do the same and make a positive difference.”

Mr Bausor said the new application, which will be submitted this year, is “ahead of the game” as it will include a number of ecology surveys which he says will demonstrate that any lights would not harm the ecology of the river.

He said: “From our first proposal, we deliberately learnt from my experience working on the Illuminated River project, a long-term art installation in London. There, we avoided light spilling on the river, which had a detrimental effect on ecology and wildlife.” Under the original plans, the lights would have been laid flat on the arches, spaced 50m to 61cm apart and linked by a single cable. They would come on automatically at dusk before being turned off at midnight.

“I think we’re missing a great opportunity to give Henley a similar boost by lighting its bridge,” he said. “But our team and a number of stakeholders are focused and are working together to finalise lighting options for our great bridge, which will just illuminate the architectural features, avoiding the river.”

The project first began in 2018 when entrepreneur Clive Hemsley installed two strings of lights on the bridge without permission and was later forced to remove them.

Mr Hemsley, who lived in Hart Street but has since moved to Lyme Regis, kept pursuing the idea and recruited Mr Bausor, who set up Make Henley Shine in 2021.

Its last application to illuminate the bridge was withdrawn in May 2024 following issues raised by the planning authorities on either side of the river.

South Oxfordshire District Council declared the application invalid while Wokingham Borough Council said that there was a “technical issue” with it.

As the Henley Standard revealed at the time, the group had made an error in its application over the ownership of the bridge.

It said that Oxfordshire County Council, the highways authority, was the sole owner, when in fact it is jointly owned with the borough council.

Concerns were also raised about the appearance of the lights during daylight hours and how practical they would be to install.

The Environment Agency objected, saying the lights would have an “unacceptable impact” on navigation of the River Thames.

The last application, which was submitted in December 2023, prompted more than 175 responses from residents to the borough and district councils as part of the public consultation.

The first application made by Make Henley Shine was withdrawn in July 2022 on the advice of the district council.

l What do you think? Write to: Letters, Henley Standard, Caxton House, 1 Station Road, Henley or email letters@henleystandard.co.uk