Your letters...

HGV analysis was flawed

Sir, — I refer to your front-page lead article publicising the “leaked” ANPR analysis report prepared by executives at Oxfordshire County Council highways department (Standard, June 20).

There is a number of flaws in that report which have been identified by a variety of scrutineers and reported to Councillor Judy Roberts, who is the county council’s cabinet member with responsibility for weight limits, among other things.

Therefore, I’d be very grateful if you would publish the letter from Henley HGV Watch, which we sent to her critiquing the report.

You should also be aware that there has been a number of developments since. These include Henley Town Council’s transport strategy committee passing a resolution on Wednesday last week. This was initiated by Councillor Stefan Gawrysiak and it called for an experimental environmental regulation order for an 18-tonne restriction on Henley Bridge. This has also been supported by Freddie van Mierlo, our MP. — Yours faithfully,

Amanda Chumas

Henley

Dear Councillor Roberts, On behalf of the Henley HGV Watch campaign, I am writing to provide our detailed response to the analysis report.

1. Concerns about objectivity and methodology:

We are concerned that Intelligent Data, commissioned at a cost of £25,000 to collect ANPR data over two days, was not tasked with interpreting the data, leaving that responsibility to Oxfordshire County Council highways executives. For a process that requires impartiality, the absence of third-party analysis risks eroding trust and raises questions about the objectivity of the conclusions.

The figures cited and percentages regarding 18-tonne-plus HGVs do not align with the raw ANPR data we received. Further, the assertion that 74 per cent of these vehicles are making local stops is directly contradicted by four-and-a-half years’ worth of photographic evidence submitted to the council.

We request full disclosure of the methodology used to arrive at these figures and the justification for using “estimates” in the macro visualisations. Transparency on how journey paths and stop behaviours were assessed is crucial.

2. Technical and data gaps:

Several cameras critical to monitoring HGV movements were non-functional during the September 25 to 26, 2024, survey period, notably Remenham Hill and the M4 J8/9 turn-off. These are essential in monitoring whether freight is circumventing the strategic road network (SRN) to shortcut through Henley.

Without these camera feeds, how can any conclusions about journey time or local stops be reliably drawn? Moreover, the report fails to explain the estimated 25 per cent of HGVs with no subsequent capture or which routes they followed.

3. Unreadable visualisations:

The macro analysis and visualisation maps are all indistinct, with illegible legends and insufficient explanation of the data sources. These must be revised for clarity and transparency, with connections drawn directly to the raw ANPR data.

4. Confused presentation:

The purpose of the study was to measure the numbers, weights and types of HGVs going through Henley – where they were coming from and going to and whether they were doing local business (including making legitimate stops within a five-mile radius) or whether HGVs coming here were long-distance traffic hoping to save journey time by crossing the Thames here. The analysis report seems to have lost sight of this main purpose because much of the report focuses on data applicable to the whole study area. Why? This creates confusion and is unhelpful.

5. Disregard for historical freight policy:

The county council’s current freight policy appears disconnected from its own historical guidance. The previous Oxfordshire Freight Quality Partnership Map, developed with the council and Halcrow, clearly advised that Henley is “unsuitable for through-traffic”.

Similarly, the Oxfordshire Minerals and Waste Local Plan 2017 map designates Henley as an “environmentally sensitive area” to be avoided if possible. These safeguards have been disregarded under LTCP5 and no rationale has ever been provided for their removal.

This policy shift has led to an influx of 44-tonne HGVs which are often long-distance hauliers with no local business case for passing through Henley, many of which are carrying waste, shipping containers, or goods headed to distant distribution centres and ports.

6. Other qualitative factors seemingly ignored:

We highlighted the damage to historic buildings, the danger to older, young and disabled pedestrians on Henley’s narrow pavements and the reduction in cycling here because of danger.

There is intimidation created by these huge HGVs as their wheels pass by pedestrians with less than a foot’s clearance because our pavements are so narrow and busy. We have submitted a vast gallery of photographic evidence which includes pedestrians scrambling to get out of the way of danger posed by HGV cabs looming over pavements or dragging their rear trailer wheels over kerbs as they negotiate our tight street corners. Add to this the pollution and poor air quality that these HGVs bring with them. These qualitative impacts are seemingly given little weight in the analysis report.

7. Our key request — an environmental weight limit:

The analysis report’s “Potential Interventions” fail to address the core issue: the need for an environmental weight limit of 18 tonnes to restrict through-traffic. Such a limit could be enforced by two ANPR cameras positioned strategically on the A4130 — at Temple and Nettlebed — fining HGVs that transit straight through without making a legitimate stop. A traffic regulation order to this effect would reduce infringement risk, as HGV drivers would be unlikely to jeopardise their licences and satnavs would no longer route these huge behemoths through Henley.

Contrary to claims on page 18 of the analysis report, such a limit would not displace traffic to the A4074 or A329. Long-distance HGVs are already seen to avoid Henley when minor disruptions occur —indicating that they use alternate SRN options which are viable and preferred when no journey-time gain exists.

We also dispute the assertion of the analysis report that the A4130 cannot be allowed to have a weight restriction because this would impact HGV movements related to mineral and waste operations. In fact, the plan states that Henley is an “environmentally sensitive area – avoid if at all possible”!

8. Conclusion:

The council’s highways department executives have failed to provide an objective, transparent analysis report. Either the methodology, outlining how the raw data figures led to the final recommendations, must be fully explained, or an independent third party should conduct the analysis to ensure credibility and gain the trust of all stakeholders.

Throughout the Henley HGV steering group’s process, we have felt sidelined and disadvantaged. We represent a significant portion of Henley residents who strongly oppose the continued imposition of massive HGVs passing through the heart of our town for long-distance journeys. Despite submitting four-and-a-half years of real-time photographic evidence, our concerns have been dismissed and minimised, with the sole focus seemingly placed on ANPR data.

While we have been explicitly prevented from presenting our case to the Henley HGV steering committee, representatives of the haulage industry have been granted full representation and unrestricted access to all committee materials. This does not constitute a fair and balanced process; rather, it suggests a deliberate skewing of the outcome in favour of the haulage industry.

Moreover, the ANPR data collection took place over just two days in extremely poor conditions, with standing water and heavy rainfall affecting critical cameras. Some equipment failed or did not record usable data, raising serious concerns about the reliability of the dataset. While we are not advocating for the complete dismissal of this data, we strongly urge that it be examined in the broader context of all relevant considerations.

If the council is genuinely committed to resolving this issue, they must engage the local population and ensure an inclusive, fair process. Otherwise, they risk significant public backlash.

We reiterate that a weight limit is urgently needed to stop through HGVs of 18 tonnes or more. Henley cannot continue to serve as a de facto long-distance freight corridor. — Kind regards,

Amanda Chumas, Henley HGV Watch Campaign

Data must be verified

Sir, — I read with interest last week’s leader regarding the “leaked” ANPR analysis produced by Oxfordshire County Council’s highways department.

I have lived in Henley for some 16 years now and have witnessed the increasing number of HGVs cutting through this town.

Many of these HGVs have foreign number plates and liveries and are almost certainly destined for UK ports rather than for “local” deliveries/journeys as the council’s highways executives are suggesting — i.e. some 74 per cent, which is most unlikely given the size of the vehicles.

I think this issue would benefit from independent analysis of the raw ANPR data collected, something that should have been done from the outset rather than the council doing it themselves, effectively marking their own homework.

I would think a field trip to Henley by the highways executives to see for themselves would be quite instructive in interpreting the data.

I was pleased to see that both our MP Freddie van Mierlo and our county councillor, Stefan Gawrysiak, both of whom live in Henley, are involved in the campaign to stop 18-tonne HGVs using Henley as a convenient “rat run”. — Yours faithfully,

Alister Jones

Henley

Planning world is not sane

Sir, — Seven years ago Gladman, the land development company, lost an appeal against the refusal of planning permission for a development of 245 houses on farmland on the edge of Emmer Green, beside Peppard Road which goes from Sonning Common to Caversham.

They subsequently launched a High Court appeal against the decision but abandoned it — presumably because they were told by the lawyers they were likely to lose.

In a sane planning world, that would have been the end of it. It should not be possible to reapply to build on a site which a planning inspector has deemed unsuitable.

But we do not have a sane system. So, it is no surprise that Gladman — now owned by the house builders, Barratt — have come back with a plan (they call it a vision, naturally) for a monster development to include the previous site and wide tracts of countryside north of Playhatch, a total of 1,200 homes.

They haven’t formally applied for permission to the relevant planning authority, South Oxfordshire District Council, preferring the route of first trying to get Reading Borough Council’s support by presenting the scheme as the answer to Reading’s housing shortage.

They have dressed it up in the usual way — as bringing with it wonderful benefits including a primary school, new footpaths, community orchard etc. They even suggest that it could help fulfil the dream of a third Thames Bridge, even though everyone knows this is not going to happen.

The reasons why the planning inspector dismissed the previous appeal — in effect, that it would wreck a precious stretch of highly attractive countryside — apply just as strongly today, and even more so, because the proposed housing estate (sorry, vision) is four times bigger.

It should be remembered that Gladman would not be proceeding with this scheme without the cooperation of the owners of the land. As far as I can tell, the land is owned by the Phillimore Estate or its farming company, Coppid Farming Enterprises. It would be interesting to hear the views of Lord and Lady Phillimore. — Yours faithfully,

Tom Fort

Sonning Common

Work together to save planet

When we talk about solving the climate and nature emergency, it’s easy to think of international summits and government targets.

But last month’s Great Big Green Week in Henley proved something powerful — real change begins at the grassroots — with our community coming together to protect what we love.

Through a packed week of local events in Henley, including our vibrant Big Green Festival, a poetry evening at Henley library, Green Screen film Honeyland with panel discussion at the Regal Picturehouse, an inspiring talk at Leander by climate scientist Professor Christopher Merchant hosted by Olympic rowing champion Greg Searle, a business roundtable on sustainability at the River & Rowing Museum, and a joyful Big Green Picnic down by the river — we saw what’s possible when people feel connected to a shared purpose.

Nearly 2,000 people from the local Henley community took part in the events during Great Big Green Week. Ideas were sparked, connections were made, momentum was built. And this is just the beginning.

What these events showed is that change doesn’t have to start with big policy — it can start on a picnic blanket, in a sports club, in the library, in your garden or at a local business workshop, with small actions which then become amplified. Whether it is schoolchildren learning about pollution or businesses using their voice to influence their customers and suppliers, change is most powerful when it’s rooted in everyday life. That’s why our attention now turns to what’s next.

Greener Henley’s 2025-2028 plan for a safer, cleaner and greener Henley seeks to harness this momentum, setting out an ambitious but achievable goal — to engage 5,000 local people in climate and nature action over the next three years.

This is not through top-down campaigns but by reaching those not yet actively engaged — those who care deeply but haven’t yet found a way to take part — and supporting them to step in, speak up and take action.

As part of this next phase, we’re inviting people and organisations to make a “Pledge for the planet” — a set of carefully chosen actions in nine sectors of our lives: travel, food, money, energy, fashion, stuff we buy, nature, speak up and river.

The pledges represent some of the most impactful actions we can take to help tackle the climate and nature crisis. Each pledge shows how many others have already signed up to it — because while it is easy to feel that individual efforts don’t matter, together we create momentum that’s both impossible to ignore and powerful enough to influence real change.

These pledges are intentionally varied in scope — from reducing food waste or walking/cycling more, to getting more wildlife friendly or making homes more energy efficient. Why? Because we know that what matters most — and what feels achievable — differs for everyone. Our goal is to meet people where they are and support them to take the next step that’s right for them.

But we’re not just asking individuals to pledge. We need everyone to reach out to their own networks and spread the word — and some networks can reach a lot of people very quickly.

That’s why we’re calling on local organisations — schools, businesses, clubs and community groups — to adopt a pledge and actively promote it to their stakeholders: their members, customers, staff and suppliers. This is how we grow a ripple effect of action and awareness that spreads far beyond our central efforts — with trusted voices carrying the message into every corner of the community.

We believe that climate and nature action works best when it’s local, accessible, built on real relationships and grounded in the community. To truly scale this movement, we need more voices, to reach more people.

We need local organisations — schools, businesses, community groups, churches — to step up and lead action within their own networks, so that this becomes a joined-up, self-sustaining, connected movement to make Henley safer, cleaner and greener. We are already now starting to see the seeds of that happening, with organisations championing our message within their own communities. It’s why we’re calling on the following to get involved:

l Schools, which sit at the heart of our community, with huge reach via students to their families, to work with us to help inspire the next generation amplifying climate and nature action in our community through learning, creativity and leadership.

l Businesses, to drive sustainable practices and bring customers, suppliers and staff on the journey with them. Businesses have the potential to reach a wide audience very quickly, so for example by undertaking our pledge to get a free energy assessment and relaying that through their networks, they can quickly inspire similar behaviours.

l Sports clubs, to use their strong platforms within the community to amplify and normalise our message to members, supporters and the wider community. They already have a cohesive team, so by sharing their pledge — such as using eco-friendly cleaning products that are less harmful to river life — they can inspire their network to adopt similar changes.

l Community groups, to keep leading the way through projects that bring people together and build trust. Even an action as simple as sharing news about our events can have a huge impact when it reaches further into the community, helping to keep people informed in their own conversations on climate and nature issues.

l Sporting and other influencers, to become champions for the planet — helping to reach broader audiences and normalise action across all walks of life. Local rowing champions Greg Searle and Imogen Grant have already started on this journey with us.

Together, these groups can help us amplify Greener Henley’s message and show that collective action is not only possible — it’s powerful.

Great Big Green Week showed us what can happen when a community comes together but it also reminded us that the clock is ticking. We need to take this momentum and turn it into a movement that’s impossible to ignore.

Why? Because when communities come together with a shared vision, they model what’s possible, how we can protect our families, our local places and live in harmony with nature. This kind of positive, united action inspires confidence, encourages wider participation and creates a strong foundation for lasting change. Like the multitude of drops of water making up the ocean, our pledges for the planet can provide a platform for us to create something bigger and longer lasting than the sum of its parts.

The climate and nature emergency can feel overwhelming. But our community has already shown that we are stronger together. We have the people, the passion and the power — now we need to use them.

If we can get much larger numbers of people involved, amplify our message through trusted voices and protect what we love, we’ll create change that lasts.

Because real transformation doesn’t start somewhere else. It starts right here in Henley. — Yours faithfully,

Kate Oldridge

Executive director, Greener Henley

Inadequate pothole repairs

Sir, — As with the usual Lib-Dem-controlled Oxfordshire County Council, there’s not a whisper of a reply regarding my letter (Standard, June 20) regarding the absence in their 2025/6 budget files of any Watlington relief road funding.

Nor to the very poor and expensive maintenance in Bell Lane, Henley, for which I congratulate you on digging out the costs of, even if you had to do so via a Freedom of Information request — page four of same issue.

This will have been previously due to the use of a “Dragon Patcher”, whose ineffectiveness beyond six months has been pointed out many times over the last three years.

More recent works have turned to Tarmac around Russells Water — again, to an incomplete standard.

Here, on the lane running to and through the village from the B480 at Howe Hill, firstly, we had a visit on May 28 when some but not all potholes were circled in white paint.

On June 1, a second visit saw these holes down to the village being filled with Tarmac. On June 3 and 4, a third visit to fill two of the three remaining marked holes (three of many) between the village and Maidensgrove. The third untouched.

Thus, a series of three visits and not even finished, when one would have been more than enough for such small-scale work.

On June 7, we then get a letter from the county council — unsigned and undated — saying the village to Maidensgrove section will now be completely shut from August 28 to September 10 for Gigaclear works.

How’s this for bad management? You couldn’t even make it up. Are we entitled to any standard of response, service and value for money from this Lib-Dem council? Isn’t this what we pay council tax for?

Or is it to help them get installed in their magnificent new £20m headquarters in Oxford? — Yours faithfully,

A de Segundo

Russells Water

Trees must be looked after

Well done Adrian Vanheems for starting the ball rolling (Standard, June 27). Ever since we got our dog two years ago I have been increasingly distressed by the state of our local trees.

We have literally thousands of very old trees that within a certain relatively short time frame won’t be here any longer because of the inexorable strangling by ivy.

Every single approach road to Henley is evidence of this and what happens eventually is the desecration visible on the hill just outside Hurley. The view from our bedroom window is a solid bank of trees on Peppard Lane where the ivy has gone completely rampant. So, when the trees start falling over they just get cut down.

All it would take to rescue them is a local taskforce which I would be delighted to join. The husband has already bought me a battery-operated mini chainsaw, advice and help from local arboriculturists appreciated.

And before anybody starts banging on about ivy berries being a food source for birds, just walk down Peppard Lane and note the lack of songbirds, only crows, jackdaws and magpies inhabit those dark and dreary woods. There’s no point in planting more trees if we can’t look after the ones we have. Rescue our trees! — Yours faithfully,

Susie Duguid

Makins Road, Henley

...Ivy does not harm them

Editor, Adrian Vanheems is wrong in his assertion that ivy is a parasite of trees.

It will use trees as a support on which to climb and will compete for water and nutrients along with all other woodland flora. But it does not parasitise trees.

Its “sail” effect may destabilise otherwise weakened trees making them vulnerable to wind.

It does, however, provide a very valuable habitat for many creatures who exploit it as a food source and shelter/nest sites. — Yours faithfully,

Martin Wise

Coombe End, Goring Heath

Fear for exhibition

If the River & Rowing Museum is to close, what will happen to the Wind in the Willows exhibition, which is delightful and the only reason I ever visited? — Yours faithfully,

Bridget Martindale

Henley

Now is time for action

Editor, — I applaud Edward Sierpowski’s letter “Turning on the Waterworks” (Standard, June 13) in which he points out the shortcomings of Thames Water.

Throughout my business and social circles people are crying out for corrective action to be taken. The Henley Standard does well to publish many of these complaints. However, I feel that a full-blown editorial is required with a punch that will make the national headlines. There are ways out of the impasse in the water industry and I would be happy to share avenues of escape with yourself.

Yes, we should rearm to defend ourselves against the enemies without but we should not ignore the enemies within. — Yours faithfully,

Douglas Wright

Caversham

Always query message origin

The Indian philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti: “It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.”

There is a tendency for people to adopt a lifestyle that is uniquely geared towards their needs and desires even to the detriment of others. The most successful of whom impose their rules and beliefs on others, by force if necessary. Those forceful impositions are most often brought in by psychopaths and ideologues.

The more stilted or worse those needs and desires, the worse those diktats are. This is where terms such as gold-digger, power mad, slimy, greasy, sly as a fox and others come from. They were coined not to praise the good fruit but to highlight the bad seed.

They also distinguish themselves by their actions; the drive for power, dominance and submission from others to their way of thinking. That thinking doesn’t have to be correct, it just has to be “their thinking”. It is these values that produce bullies, despots and dictators, also entrepreneurs and politicians.

The psychopaths outnumber the altruistic, socially and morally responsible. It is often viewed as a triangle with achievements at the top and failure along the bottom. The width of the triangle diminishing in number of people achieving a higher level.

Think carefully, is someone ordering you to conform or advising you about better options? Take care of each other. — Yours faithfully,

Edward Sierpowski

Henley

Thank you for support

Sir, — On behalf of South Oxfordshire Mencap Society may I say a very big thank-you to the wonderful people of Henley for supporting our collection in aid of Learning Disability Week 2025 on Saturday, June 14 in Market Place.

The theme this year was “do you see me” and they certainly did, donating the magnificent sum of £616.38. These funds will help us to provide our members with mainstream contact in our community.

We hold discos, theatre outings and Christmas parties and our Meteor Club, which meets on a weekly basis, holds, among others, music evenings, art and craft, bingo, games and keep fit. These events have the additional benefit of providing respite for carers’ and families. Donations such as these are extremely valuable to us.

We are a local charity based in Henley and would always welcome new volunteers to help support our activities. Please pass on our thanks. — Yours faithfully,

Brian Connolly

Fundraising trustee, Church Street, Henley

Heartwarming tribute

Sir, — How heartwarming it is to read about the intended commemorative events regarding the Checkendon Polish Refugee Resettlement Camp.

Several elements will combine to create a strong, enduring connection and tribute to Poles who had been savagely uprooted from their homeland.

Zbigniew and Barbara’s reflections, Graham Drucker’s savvy searchings, the involvement of one-time inhabitants and local community will help to establish honour and remembrance where it is due.

I spent my first five years in that community. It would be so special to bring our memories to bear, united in our history and shared experiences.

It would be tremendous to have people make contact in order to come together to mark the occasions. — Yours faithfully,

Irenka Zofia Motyka

Wood Lane Close, Sonning Common

Entertaining angels

Sir, — We were at the Swiss Farm Kitchen and passed the time of day with a local couple who were then joined by their children. It was busy so we didn't see them go. Then a delightful surprise! The waiter came to us and told us, quite excitedly, that the couple had paid our breakfast bill.

Had we been entertaining angels unawares?! We want to say a big thank-you to them. You know who you are and you made our day! Is Henley a good place to live? You bet ya! — Yours faithfully,

Bob and Geraldine Radley

Vicarage Road, Henley

Cygnets are flourishing

Sir, — May I, via your pages, address the swan uppers.

Last year, you recorded 89 cygnets on your stretch of the River Thames, nine of which hatched at the bottom of our garden. This year our same swans have produced a further nine cygnets, all of which, as I write, are flourishing.

I hope you will note this, as you make your way upstream this year. — Yours faithfully,

Enid Light

Marsh Mills, Henley