Call for council funds to fix Marsh Lock horsebridge branded ‘outrageous’

A PROPOSAL to finance repairs to Marsh Lock horsebridge using council money raised from developers has been labelled “outrageous” by a town councillor.

The footbridge, which links the Thames Path between Henley and Shiplake, was closed by the Environment Agency in May 2022, following complaints about its condition.

Repairs were initially expected to take two months but were delayed due to the agency’s denial of responsibility for maintaining it.

Despite making no formal recognition of its responsibility, the agency has now pushed ahead with £500,000 spent on initial design work which is due to be completed in March.

It has maintained that it does not have the money needed to fund the repairs, which early estimates put between £3m and £5m.

Earlier this month, the agency met with representatives from Henley Town Council and Henley MP Freddie van Mierlo to discuss its proposed funding.

The strategy, which it hopes to launch later in the year, would seek contributions from local authorities, high net worth individuals and a potential levy on events.

It has requested an early commitment from the town council of £50,000 of CIL funds, which is a fee paid by developers to contribute to infrastructure projects.

At a meeting of the town council’s finance committee on Tuesday, councillors voted to defer a decision on allocating the funding in principle until the agency had finalised its plan and confirmed costings.

It also agreed to wait until a written report had been prepared to vote on.

Town clerk Sheridan Jacklin-Edward said the contribution could be a gesture of goodwill on the part of the council but wasn’t immediately necessary.

He said: “Although this would be a small contribution in the grand scheme of things it is an opportunity for the council to make an early sign of its commitment to the project.”

But Councillor Michelle Thomas called the proposal “outrageous” and questioned why a public body needed to fundraise for repairs to its own infrastructure.

She said: “I don’t like this one bit. I do not understand.

“Is this the Environment Agency, as a public body responsible for such infrastructure, actually telling us, ‘I’m sorry you’re basically on your own and we want money from this and this’?

“They’re setting some kind of national precedent here about how all of these pieces of infrastructure along national trails are actually going to be funded.

“I think it’s outrageous and I’m not having any of it.”

Councillor Rory Hunt argued that attempting to get the agency to admit responsibility by taking them to court could prove more costly.

Councillor Stefan Gawrysiak said the council had to pursue the model to get the bridge open again. He said: “It gets the job done. This is the kind of model they [the environment agency] already use for flood relief schemes.

“There was a huge one in Oxford which was £20m or £30m and local people chipped in X amount.  They shouldn’t have had to, I agree with you on that.

“The allocation of £50,000 from CIL funding does actually mean that we’re taking £50,000 out from something else.

“The important thing is to defer it. When the report comes back it might be that we don’t specify a figure and we just totally support it. Let’s leave it to that particular point.”

Councillor Ian Reissmann agreed the council should not agree to the funding allocation at this stage but would be prepared to looking favourably at it when it had received more information.

He said: “I’ve got a lot of sympathy with Cllr Thomas’ point that it’s outrageous that the failure of the government to properly fund the EA has led to this type of situation.

“The town council has repeatedly had to step in where governments and county councils have failed to provide what they should be providing. I’m happy to say that we’re prepared to consider it, not that we’re happy to do it — because we don’t know yet.”

l What do you think? Write to: Letters, Henley Standard, Caxton House, 1 Station Road, Henley or email letters@henleystandard.co.uk