Your letters

Consultation fatally flawed

Sir, — Many Henley Standard readers have commented adversely on the proposal to close Henley fire station on the grounds of efficiency because response times should be improved.

I believe the public consultation document is flawed on a number of grounds.

In the public consultation document on the closure of Henley fire station it does not mention Oxfordshire’s reliance on fire stations in Caversham Road and Wokingham Road in Reading. The consultation document could have been updated to include this important point but it has not.

This surprised me because when I was vice-chairman of Berkshire County Council’s public protection committee between 1995 and 1998 I took a particular interest in the fire brigade and I was very aware that a significant number of incidents in South Oxfordshire were dealt with by Caversham Road.

Interestingly, the public consultation document states that between July 2022 and March 2024 the amount of the day covered by Henley retained or part-time crews was only nine per cent and 25 per cent at night. This prompted me to ask Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service how many times between July 2022 and March 2024 the Caversham Road fire station was mobilised into Oxfordshire. The answer was 258 occasions, 207 of which were to incidents on Henley fire station’s ground.

Moreover, other Berkshire fire crews also attended incidents in Oxfordshire and on Henley’s ground in particular, Wokingham Road fire station was mobilised on 88 occasions during the same period. That means Berkshire fire crews went into Henley’s area on nearly 300 occasions.

Despite the promise of a new fire station at Crowmarsh (costing £8.3 million) to replace the existing Wallingford fire station and also provide cover for Henley (if the proposal for the closure of Henley goes ahead), I do not apologise for asking the inevitable question: How many more mobilisations of fire appliances from Caversham Road and Wokingham Road will be needed if Henley fire station is closed?

I am old enough to remember when Caversham Road fire station had three fire appliances. Then there were two and now it has just one appliance.

Rather worrying because close by is a road called Vastern Road, where planning permission has been granted for existing offices and shops such as Majestic, the Range, Aldi and others alongside the railway line, plus the former Post Office sorting office where the height of the building will be 34 storeys high, all to be demolished.

In their place there will be no fewer than 5,000 flats. Some of these were opposed by Reading Borough Council, particularly the 34-storey monster but some of them were approved on appeal by the previous (Conservative) government.

Secondly, this proposal is fatally flawed because of the way this consultation has been handled.

For example, it is totally logical that there is a three-county fire control centre, based at Calcot, Reading, which dynamically monitors cover over the counties of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire. Absolutely right because what is important is saving lives, not worrying about county borders.

However, where is the logic in the way this consultation has been conducted, solely within Oxfordshire? Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service is aware of the fact that there is a consultation but it will, like the public, make its comments within the 12-week consultation period.

But wouldn’t it have been more sensible for the three counties fire service to consider this consultation prepared by an independent outside body before going out to the general public?

Likewise, Buckinghamshire has gone out to public consultation without meaningful discussion with colleagues in Berkshire and Oxfordshire. Undoubtedly, this Buckinghamshire proposal will have an impact on Slough and areas adjacent to Oxfordshire as I have seen for myself the Henley crew working in Hambleden.

Elsewhere in the consultation, the closure of Woodstock and Eynsham fire station might be warranted because a new fire station is proposed north of Oxford and it would be close to their areas.

Thirdly, Henley is not comparable to Eynsham and Woodstock, even with a new fire station at Crowmarsh as Caversham is closer to Henley. In years gone by I knew many members of the Henley fire brigade. It could understandably be thought that the lack of support from Oxfordshire’s fire chiefs with recruitment campaigns in Henley showed lack of leadership from the top. This has left recruitment within Henley to the very brave firefighters who have to be available for much of their days, quite apart from their day-to-day jobs.

As if they did not have enough to do fighting the fires themselves, helping people trapped within vehicles following road accidents and rescuing an ever-increasing number of residents whose homes are flooded.

The public should also be aware that every year there is a significant increase in firefighters having to force entry into households because the paramedics called to seriously ill patients cannot reach them because they are obese and need to be carried to ambulances by fit and able-bodied firefighters.

Perhaps Oxfordshire County Council is thinking of the capital receipt it would receive from the sale of the premises in West Street, Henley, which inevitably will end up as a block of flats.

Fourthly, councillors quite rightly are critical of developers who conduct public consultations on planning applications and these take place over Easter, Whitsun, school summer holidays, Christmas and the New Year.

Why did the 12 weeks of consultation have to be over Christmas and New Year? A time of the year when families are celebrating and responding to consultation is not their top priority.

Finally, the consultation document admits that at nighttime, when there are fewer fires, there will be just five fire appliances which can immediately be sent out across the whole of Oxfordshire. Frightening!

Thankfully, in Berkshire, there are more than twice that number of fire appliances ready to save us in our homes or needing to be extracted from crashed vehicles.

Rob MacDougall, the fire chief in Oxfordshire, has publicly admitted that in the last 10 years the number of on-call firefighters in Oxfordshire has dropped by 36 per cent.

You can do anything with statistics and there is no getting away with it that successive governments have made massive cuts to local government (only a third of the cost of running councils’ services is paid by council taxpayers and the remaining two-thirds comes from the Government) and there have been cuts to other public services such as the fire brigade and the police.

Whatever shine Oxfordshire cares to put on this consultation, the fact is that the cumulative cuts since 2010 have resulted in the loss of one firefighter in five across the UK.

So, please, residents of South Oxfordshire and Caversham area, respond to the public consultation which is on Oxfordshire County Council’s website. The deadline is January 20, 2026. — Yours faithfully,

Vic Angell

Chazey Road, Caversham

Sharing river expertise

Editor, — You have been very supportive of Friends of the Thames in Henley and of those, including members of the town council, trying to protect our river and the quality of the water and rightly so.

As the Buckinghamshire councillor for the Chiltern Villages Ward, I am acutely aware of the issues faced by riverside communities in Fawley, Hambleden, Medmenham, Great Marlow and Little Marlow in my ward. Also, in my neighbouring wards of Marlow Town and Bourne End.

Issues include flooding and critically, sewage pollution in the Thames among many other matters. I know these concerns are felt in Henley too and many of your readers are in the villages close to Henley in my Buckinghamshire ward.

A decision by Buckinghamshire Council to discontinue the former “outside body” liaison committees, such as the Little Marlow sewage treatment works liaison committee, is regrettable and has created a clear gap in local oversight and partnership on our stretch of the Thames.

I therefore suggested the formation of a partnership of town and parish councils with a non-party political approach to focus on improvements for our communities and liaison with Thames Water and the Environment Agency.

Challenges include Thames Water’s pollution incidents, co-ordinating flood risk with the Environment Agency (EA) and Buckinghamshire Council, the Lead Local Flood Authority (LLFA) in my ward, and addressing the impact of development which requires a unified, persistent and multi-level approach.

Water quality is a very important issue for recreational use of the river. Water quality data and any dangerous impurities need to be published where residents and recreational users can see the results. That is already happening in Henley and we want to get citizen scientists to help join the dots along the Buckinghamshire stretch of our river so we have a full dataset all the way along the Thames.

We want to share knowledge and expertise with Friends of the Thames and further along with Windsor Riverwatch and Thameswatch Kingston, Mayors for a Drinkable Thames and Thames21 to name just a few who have been very helpful.

We hope to bring local experts, Thames Water, the Environment Agency and many other stakeholders together alongside the town and parish councils, Buckinghamshire councillors, Buckinghamshire Council officers and our MPs, who are very supportive.

It is my objective that we can work with our Members of Parliament, Joy Morrissey MP and Emma Reynolds MP to ensure the local issues are raised in Parliament or with relevant government departments (Defra, Environment Agency national body), particularly concerning Thames Water’s investment and compliance obligations.

While the council may no longer support “outside body” committees, we can champion the partnership’s efforts to ensure it is formally recognised by the council as a key stakeholder and advisory group on River Thames matters in Buckinghamshire, giving independent reports and requests more weight.

We held our first meeting on November 27 in the Carlton Room at Harleyford Golf Club, Marlow, with their generous permission. It was well attended by representatives of the parish and town councils. It included a speaker, Wilson Phillips, who spoke about water quality testing along the Thames.

I hope this is of interest to Henley Standard readers. — Yours faithfully,

Councillor Mark Turner

Chiltern Villages Ward, Buckinghamshire Council

Following in the footsteps

Sir, — When wondering why speech is being criminalised, independence penalised, movement hobbled, all the while crime against the person and property skyrocket, cost of living rises, standards fall and safety seems to be a thing of the past, look to the regions where the real “right” gain control.

Where Reform have taken over councils, fraud has been discovered, costs have come down and the truth about the manipulation and greed of the Government is being revealed. Is it any wonder many councils feel threatened enough to ask for postponement of local elections under any spurious guise?

It is planned to deprive more than seven million people of their right to vote, just to prevent Reform upsetting the gravy train. Labour are putting forward even more proposals to limit future elections. Slowly, too slowly, we are following in the footsteps of our cousins across the pond in realising what a terrible wrong has been perpetrated upon our nation and its people.

My father’s words ring in my ears — “If you hang the truth on someone’s nose they will hate you for it”.

And my god don’t they hate Farage and don’t they hate Trump even more.

Perhaps this Christmas when we write our list to Santa Claus we should ask for a bottle of red pills and a wake up call. Take care of each other. — Yours faithfully,

Edward Sierpowski

Henley

Singing at its very best

Editor, — Many churches in Henley are in full swing in heralding Christmas. I was very fortunate to share this experience at Reading Minster last night (December 5).

It was the Royal Berkshire Hospital charity concert, a highlight of the year hosted by Berkshire Radio’s bubbly Sangeeta Bhabra.

As the choirs swayed their voices rang out in the vastness of the minster. When the audience joined in this was community singing at its very best. It was a coming together of the community in joyful harmony in aid of those in hospital over Christmas.

The choirs were a health-giving joy to themselves and to their enthusiastic audience.

It was a carol service with a swing from beaming schoolchildren, from the little one who waved to her family at the end of each carol to the smiles and enthusiasm of those of more mature years.

Christmas has indeed been sung in. — Yours faithfully,

Douglas Wright

Caversham