Parking by war memorial is disrespectful, says villager

THE owner of a children’s nursery has denied “disrespecting” a war memorial by allowing people to park close to it.

Andrew Ball has called for a fence to be installed around the memorial in the grounds of Highmoor Cross Memorial Hall.

He says that Highmoor Nursery, which meets at the hall, has ignored his request for users not to park near it.

But the nursery says it only allows parking on the grass on busy days.

The memorial plaque was taken from St Paul’s Church in Highmoor Cross when that was deconsecrated and converted into a house in 2017.

The parish council placed it on a special plinth next to the memorial hall.

But Mr Ball, who lives in Highmoor, says users regularly park next to the plinth.

He said: “The hall is used as a nursery and on many occasions, despite there being a car park, cars and skips have been parked disrespectfully close to the stone. I think the memorial should be roped off. I said to the hall trustees, ‘All you need is some posts and chains around it’.”

On one occasion a skip was placed next to the memorial.

Mr Ball, who is director of a marketing company in Newtown Road, Henley, said he raised this with the nursery, which blamed the skip hire firm but the company said it was instructed to put it there.

He said: “On many other occasions, a car has been parked too closely and I raised this with the trustees of the hall, who failed to act. They have never taken on board anything I have said. I find it
irksome.

“It is completely disrespectful. There is a whole car park that they could use but they are parking just for convenience.”

Mr Ball said he visited the nursey to complain but was “fobbed off” and told that he was “patronising”. He added: “I was told that if the nursery didn’t hire the hall that it would probably close, which may account for the lack of action by the trustees.

“I am hoping that any coverage may galvanise them into demonstrating the appropriate respect for what the stone represents. This is my last resort.”

Gwen Pagnell, owner of Highmoor Nursery, said: “The school does not believe it is disrespectful in any way and in fact regularly speaks to the children about the significance of the memorial.

“The children and staff are involved in making wreaths and laying them at the stone in commemoration of our fallen heroes as we believe it is very important that they and the sacrifice they made are not forgotten.

“The nursery has been based in hall since the late Nineties and the car park has always been used by both staff and parents.

“The memorial was a welcome addition at a much later date after the nursery was well established. While we do our best to avoid parking in close proximity to the memorial, on busy days it is sometimes necessary for people to park on the grass. However, this has never obstructed access to the stone.

“The alternative would be for parents and staff to park in the roads around the village, which I am sure many residents would object to, apart from the fact that it would be dangerous.

“The incident with the poorly positioned skip occurred in 2019 and was an error on behalf of the driver from the skip company.

“I apologised to the parish council for the error and there has not been a recurrence of this since even though we do have a skip annually.”

The parish council said it would find a solution. It said: “We understand the importance of ensuring that the memorial is respected and properly maintained and are commited to finding a suitable solution.

“We will discuss potential measures, such as the installation of fencing, to prevent disrespectful parking and preserve the dignity of the memorial.”