Your letters...

Time bomb

tax bill

Sir, — I sincerely hope that our council in Henley has no shortage of money.

We have lived in our new flat since December and we have not yet received a council tax banding, let alone a bill.

There are many young folk living here who can ill afford the large tax bill when it arrives despite the council attitude of “you must put the money aside”. — Yours faithfully,

Ken Ellison

Newtown Road, Henley

Dangerous state of road

Sir, — The present state of the Mill Lane road surface is dangerous for children in pushchairs and prams and also for patients of the care home being pushed in wheelchairs. The rough surface of the lane poses a risk of overturning, etc.

It is time for money to be spent on smoothing the surface to avoid the risk of overturning the above means of transportation. Funds for the work should be found from the local authority of Government.

The effort to ensure that there is no more flooding after heavy rains at the beginning of the lane has been successful up to now (the proof will only be apparent when heavy rains return).

Before retirement I was an electrical engineer, my experience included maintenance of high voltage grid installations and building of coal-fired power stations.

My work also ensured that power was always available domestically, such as by repairing electrical faults in residential areas.

I have also worked abroad in Ghana, Sudan, Iraq, Pakistan, Namibia and Portugal.

This area is a lovely place to live and residents with homes here would enjoy it more with a smoother lane surface. The present surface must be detrimental to their cars, particularly the tyres.

I hope the residents with homes here will support my concerns. — Yours faithfully,

James Cooper-Duff
(age 103)

Henley Manor Care Home

Second chance for museum

Sir, — I am greatly saddened to read about the impending closure of the River & Rowing Museum in Henley.

Provincial museums have a very difficult job in attracting visitors throughout the year, especially during the winter months. But they cannot just rely on tourists to keep them “afloat”.

Unfortunately, a fairly static museum display doesn’t give cause for locals to come back on a regular basis.

Small temporary exhibition areas cannot attract the numbers that the large London museums can, thus earning significant money from putting on their “blockbuster” displays perhaps twice a year.

Perhaps by making the permanent river and rowing exhibition more compact, it would enable more space to be freed up for larger temporary exhibitions and more community-based activities, that would also be money-earning.

I understand that the museum opened in 1998. The energy performance of buildings has improved greatly since that time.

If a new business plan could be put in place that makes better use of the space available, then ways could be found to significantly reduce running costs, primarily by increasing the insulation levels to current building regulations standards.

I feel that the River & Rowing Museum deserves a second chance in an evolved format that makes better use of the space in terms of earning income.

Perhaps there could be a “limited competition” (financed perhaps by local entrepreneurs and businesses?) inviting architect and exhibition designer teams to come up with proposals that offer a brighter future for the site. — Yours faithfully,

Paul Barnfather

Sherwood Street, Reading

Changes

needed

Sir, — Potholes and the management of our roads are subjects never far from your columns and correspondence.

You may know that Labour’s Transport Secretary, Heidi Alexander, will spend more money to improve road maintenance.

But, to get the full amount, she said on March 3 that there are two conditions:

l By June 30 to have shown that maintenance has been long-term preventative.

l By end of October to state what customer satisfaction surveys have been carried out and with what result.

How have or will our local authorities respond to those?

Meanwhile, the road between Russells Water and Maidensgrove is shut for a month while wayleave and cost overrun issues, which should have been sorted out before work started by some half-decent management, have yet to be resolved.

Oxfordshire County Council’s website states: “The vast majority of council staff have hybrid working arrangements meaning they can work from home or other remote locations, or in the office”.

No wonder there are thoughtlessly placed road closed signs halfway down the road to Russells Water.

How about some help for the guys on site who actually do the work?

The vast majority of staff at Oxfordshire County Council may work from where they like.

The vast majority of councillors are Lib-Dem. We are disgracefully let down. There has to be change. — Yours faithfully,

Adrian de Segundo

Russells Water

Dressing for the occasion

Sir, — After all the recent letters regarding the dress of Henley Mayor Tom Buckley on a formal occasion with the Henley Sea Cadets, I was interested to see in last week’s edition a photo of the deputy mayor, Councillor Ian Reissmann, formally dressed for a garden party.

Some years ago, when I was a leader with the 1st Henley Scouts, we made sure all the Scouts were smartly dressed for the annual St George’s Day parade and service as the mayor would be in attendance.

The mayor always arrived in good time and was appropriately dressed for the occasion.

If Councillor Buckley does not understand that he is the leading citizen, he should resign and hand over to Ian Reissmann. — Yours faithfully,

Peter Giles

Earley

Hands off

our geese

Sir, — I am writing in response to Bryan Wrighton (Standard letters, August 15) about culling Canadian Geese.

I just want to say, as a Canadian, leave my geese alone. They’re beautiful creatures.

My address is Gloucestershire but I am formerly a resident of Watlington. — Yours faithfully,

Brendon Harris

Plump Hill, Mitcheldean

Superb

photographs

Sir, — I’m writing to say how much I enjoyed studying the gorgeous bird photos by Simon Booker in last week’s issue of the Henley Standard. They were superb. More please! — Yours faithfully,

Linda Seward

Cookley Green