Your letters...

Pointless and costly delays

Sir, — My company, Elegant Homes Reading, has finally received detailed planning permission to build nine houses next door to Thames Valley Gymnasium in Sonning Common.

It has been a three-year battle and really should not have been so difficult. The proposed development sits on an area of unused private land surrounded on all sides by buildings.

It is an obvious infill within a sustainable village and the proposal also includes upgrades to the privately-owned and funded gymnasium which is a much-used community facility.

The reason it has taken so long is a small number of residents have used every trick in the book to obfuscate the planning process.

Not only has this caused huge delays but it has cost significant monies both to my company and the planning department at South Oxfordshire District Council.

They were never going to stop the development as it was planning policy compliant, so what motivates these people and their objections?

We are a local company that has been building well-designed and built housing for 30 years, creating homes and communities. We contribute huge amounts of tax to the public purse through stamp duty, PAYE, sub-contractors’ tax, the community infrastructure levy, Section 106 contributions and corporation tax, if we finally make a profit.

By delaying and costing us money these residents reduce and slow down these tax receipts which pay for their pensions, provide their GP surgeries and all the other public services which they probably take for granted.

It’s about time we find a way to stop this waste of time and money as we have no hope of growing our way out of the huge deficit we have or solving our housing crises if we continue to allow a small number of people to control the narrative.

In one of your earlier articles, we were criticised for calling these people NIMBYs. If the cap fits, wear it. — Yours faithfully,

Peter Neville

Elegant Homes Reading

Patrick Road, Caversham

Tale of two museums

Sir, — We recently visited Le Boulou, a small town in southern France, about half the size of Henley. There we visited the Maison de L’eau et de la Méditerranée, a new museum which celebrates and explains the role of water locally and more widely.

It is an interesting museum and well worth a visit but it does not having anything like the historic collection of the River & Rowing Museum. It does not have the rich history of rowing achievement to celebrate. It does not have artworks of the calibre of the John Piper Gallery. It has no equivalent of The Wind in the Willows to mark and it does not have a river as historic as the Thames running through it.

Yet the Le Boulou museum has recently opened and the Henley museum is closing.

It seems really sad that Henley apparently cannot sustain a museum that celebrates its own rich rowing and riparian heritage. — Yours faithfully,

Rob Ballantyne

Dorchester-on-Thames

Why state visit for president?

Why have we invited Trump to a state visit in September?

First, he gives Putin the red carpet treatment then sides with him against everything he said he was going to do. That is, call for a ceasefire before any further negotiations.

In fact, he comes away with quite the opposite in agreeing that Ukraine should sacrifice territory and now he is saying that it is up to Zelensky to stop the war. To cap it all Putin then says that if Trump had been president in 2022 there would not have been a war that Russia started.

He should have charged Putin for his war crimes and put pressure on him to declare a ceasefire before anything else (as he said he was going to do).

Trump backtracks on everything he says and his only answer if one does not go along with his views is to increase tariffs. He has given up on Gaza and is now using Ukraine to gain favour.

We should stand firm and cancel his state visit or at least postpone it until Trump comes to his senses. — Yours faithfully,

Barrie Jones

Lower Shiplake

Hands-on with customers

Sir, — On the trail to occurrences. Away from the jeweller rip-offs. Now contemplating dentists. In the interim…

Remember pining for the first cuckoo song of spring? It gets better. Spotted the first copper of the year in uniform, including helmet, in Duke Street last week. Mid-August, not bad.

It really does get better. A gentleman collapsed outside the Piccolino restaurant in Market Place a couple of days ago.

Bear with me. My neighbour who fell in the street and broke her hip waited for an ambulance for 11 hours recently.

The Piccolino customer had two ambulances with flashing blue lights within two shakes of a lamb’s tail. One bunked off, seeming resentful for coming second. Cut their nice blue lights in a rather disgruntled manner, one thought.

And the story now becomes totally whizzo. Medics from ambulanco uno, still flashing lights rather show-offy, gathered the chap on to a stretcher to load him in the back.

Here’s the killer. The manager of Piccolino popped out to shake his hand while he was on the stretcher.

That’s the way to encourage diners to return. — Yours faithfully,

Richard Jones

Reading Road, Henley

Council tax

collection

Sir, — Having had a similar experience to Ken Ellison with council tax delays (Standard, August 22) I did some research and found that the Valuation Office Agency is responsible for setting bands for all properties.

Once this has been determined, South Oxfordshire District Council issues the bills and collects the tax. Henley Town Council neither sets nor collects council tax.

The town council sets an annual precept which covers its running costs and community events which the district council collect and administrates on its behalf.

Hopefully this explains the process. — Yours faithfully,

Jacky Hayward Wittwer

Ancastle Green, Henley

In support of

Henley Society

Sir, — I visit Henley often to meet friends and was a guest at the Henley Society’s summer social recently.

Having noticed how busy the town has become and the increasing piles of rubbish, especially in the town square, I was pleased to see your very positive front-page article (Standard, August 22) regarding the work being done by the Henley Society, together with the town council and traders, in this case Gail’s, to make the town centre more welcoming to visitors.

In checking the Henley Society website, it seems that annual membership is about the same price as a Gail’s coffee, so excellent value for money in both cases!

Although not a resident of Henley, I will join, as I love Henley and want to support a good and active user group, working for everyone’s benefit. — Yours faithfully,

Christina Drew

Wellesley Drive, Crowthorne

Performances of great value

Editor, — I just wanted to bring to your attention, as well as thank, Mike Sterling for organising the performance last night at St Peter’s and St Paul’s Church in Shiplake.

Mike, Anthony, Natasha and their pianist really brought the West End to Shiplake and the surrounding community with beautiful renditions of both opera and various musicals.

It is exactly for this type of event that brings home the value of living in the area, reflecting everything that is great about culture and music, while highlighting the beauty of local giving and performance.

Again, a beautiful evening and thank you Mike, Anthony, and Natasha. — Yours faithfully,

Davide Ferrara

Makins Road, Henley

Do come to support us

To celebrate the 70th birthday of Friends of Townlands Hospital, we are holding an event in Market Place tomorrow (Saturday) from noon to 3pm. Entry is free and open to the public and we would encourage everyone to pay us a visit to see what we do.

Soleluna Pizza and Gelato Henley will be there and Bertie Slippers will provide music and children’s entertainment. There will also be a face-painter and a rowing machine for you to demonstrate your prowess.

We are also holding a tombola and a raffle. Thank you to the many wonderful donations from individuals and local businesses.

A display of photographs will illustrate some of our work over the years. Do come and support us. — Yours faithfully,

Dr Peter Ashby

Nettlebed