Cameras to monitor routes of big lorries

CAMERAS have been installed on the main routes into Henley to establish whether heavy goods vehicles are using it as a shortcut.

A total of 34 automatic number plate recognition devices have been placed in and around Henley as part of a £100,000 traffic study.

They include cameras in Gravel Hill, Greys Road, the Fair Mile, A4130 and Marlow Road in Henley as well as in Nettlebed, White Hill, Remenham and two on Caversham Bridge.

Oxfordshire County Council, the highways authority, is carrying out the study as part of its local transport connectivity plan.

The data is expected to be collected over the course of 10 weeks and used to identify the routes used by lorries. The results are expected in December and could lead to the council introducing a weight limit in Henley for a trial period.

Campaigners have long argued that long-distance HGVs have been using Henley as a cut-through to shorten journey times because of the bridge over the River Thames.

They say that this has a negative effect on the town’s air quality and creates a risk to cyclists and pedestrians due to narrow streets and pavements.

Henley Town Council’s transport and strategy group submitted 150 pages of evidence, which included more than 1,000 photographs of misplaced HGVs collected since 2020.

It claims to have demonstrated vehicles using Henley as a traffic corridor instead of staying on the motorways and other main routes.

Amanda Chumas said: “We were so shocked about the dangers that HGVs were causing, because they were mounting the pavements, that I started a group to campaign for a weight limit for the bridge.

“We started a petition and got more than 2,600 signatures from people and we took it to the county council and the town council because, if we want to get a weight limit, we have to get them on our side.

“We have fought to get the county council to consider applying for the limit in Henley since 2020 because large HGVs have great difficulty in navigating the narrow busy roads here. They pose a danger to pedestrians when their wheels frequently mount our pavements.

“They do vibration damage to our listed homes which front on to the roads and interfere with other traffic. Because of the sheer size of them they have to pull into the oncoming lane of traffic to be able to swing wide enough to complete our 90-degree narrow turns.

“They cause damage to our roads and pavements and disturb residents’ sleep because this long-distance HGV traffic runs 24/7. They also cause pollution, which is of particular concern, especially given the close proximity of pedestrians on nearby narrow pavements, who must inhale it. This includes children walking to and from Rupert House junior school in Bell Street, and they destroy the amenity value of this ancient Thames side town, as they thunder through the middle of it.

“Any one of these factors alone would justify a weight limit under the 1994 Traffic Regulations Act because the A4130 is entirely unsuitable to be a recommended HGV route.”

Stephen Christie-Miller, a director of Savills estate agents on the corner of Bell Street and New Street, said staff are “threatened daily by these trucks”.

He said: “Our main concerns are that the historical structures, houses and buildings are being affected. Pollution is also being caused and it is a danger to pedestrians who cross in front of them.

“Regularly my staff are saying ‘This one is coming through, we should get out the way in case it hits’. A bus hit the corner of our building the other day, which just indicates how narrow the corner is.

“These trucks are taking shortcuts when they should be staying on the M40 to the bypass. They should not be cutting through this lovely old town. It’s increasing and the trucks are seeming to get bigger and sometimes they have trailers with them, too.”

Adrian Gregory, 67, who lives in Bell Street, moved to Henley about two years ago and said there has been an increase in the number of large lorries driving through the town.

He said: “It’s a busy road and we were fully aware it was busy when we moved. But over the course of the two years, the volume of really large lorries has grown significantly through that particular part of town.

“We recognise it is unnecessary and should only be applicable to those servicing Henley and not for the majority of lorries that are using it as a route to get through and continue up and over the bridge.

“A lot of them have nothing to do with this town and the disruption is causing noise. I often even see them wheel straight down from New Street and swing way over the pavements and pedestrians have to stop and avoid them. The road system clearly isn’t designed for them.

“In most hours, up to eight massive lorries and maybe 20 smaller ones travel through around 10 working hours of the day. It doesn’t seem to be what Henley was designed for.”

Councillor Stefan Gawrysiak, a Henley county councillor, said the introduction of the limit would “transform Henley”.

He said: “I have been involved with this campaign for around 10 years now and I think a weight limit would transform Henley. It would mean people would walk and cycle more. People walking along pavements wouldn’t feel intimidated and the quality of life would improve.

“Big lorries serving businesses would still be allowed but any 44-tonne lorry servicing other towns wouldn’t be allowed to come through. What we absolutely do want is for inappropriate HGV journeys to be stopped.”

Henley MP Freddie van Mierlo met with campaigners last Friday and said he would support the introduction of a weight limit. He said: “It was truly shocking to see some of the images they shared that they have collected over four years of HGVs moving through the town. I’m really concerned about the impact of the heavier lorries on Henley Bridge and want to see that better regulated.

“I discussed with the group their concerns around the impact on pedestrians and historic buildings in Henley and agreed that more needs to be done to address safety fears and also safeguard the historic centre of Henley.

“I am supporting their efforts to see a reduction in traffic through Henley and I will be watching the outcomes of the HGV study by the county council closely.”

A spokesman for the county council said: “We adopted a new freight and logistics strategy alongside the local transport and connectivity plan in July 2022. The strategy made the commitment to explore an area-based approach to weight restrictions.

“Due to the complexity of weight restrictions, it was not possible to identify restriction proposals from a countywide level. This was for a number of reasons such as the need for granular local data and consideration of other potential solutions.

“The study therefore developed an overarching process and set of criteria to set out how the council assess, prioritise and address HGV issues. We are now putting this into practice by conducting more detailed studies in two initial areas: the Windrush Valley and Henley.

“The next phase of the HGV study work includes additional data collection via automatic number plate recognition cameras to better understand where HGV traffic is travelling to and from. The findings from this will be combined with the other data and used to help inform the next steps and options appraisal.

“We appreciate the concerns of Henley residents and would like to reiterate our commitment to delivering the freight and logistics strategy, relieving traffic in Henley and protecting our communities from inappropriate HGV movement.”