New bridge lights plan submitted by spring

A FRESH bid to illuminate Henley Bridge will be submitted in the spring.

Make Henley Shine, a group of businesspeople, wants to attach 456 mini-LED lights to the Grade I listed structure, which it says will revitalise the town.

The new proposal will be submitted to South Oxfordshire District Council and Wokingham Borough Council, the planning authorities on either side of the bridge.

The group’s last application was withdrawn in May after it had been declared invalid by the district council while the borough council said there was a “technical issue” with it.

As the Henley Standard reported previously, the group had made an error in its application over the ownership of the bridge.

It said that Oxfordshire County Council, the highways authority, was the sole owner, when in fact it is jointly owned with the
borough council. Daniel Bausor, who chairs the project, said: “Since we withdrew the planning application, we have brought in a brilliant planning consultant who is helping us.

“We are going through that due diligence and we are positively responding to the few outstanding queries from the planning authorities from last time.

“We expect to submit an amended and enhanced planning proposal that will be ready by the spring.”

Under the original plans, the lights would have been laid flat on the arches, spaced 50cm to 61cm apart and be linked by a single cable. They would come on automatically at dusk before being turned off at midnight.

However, concerns were raised about the appearance of the lights during daylight hours and how practical they would be to install.

The Environment Agency objected, saying the lights would have an “unacceptable impact” on navigation of the River Thames.

Mr Bausor, who lives in Bix, said the design for the lights would stay broadly the same and the new application would also include a number of ecology surveys, which had been requested following the last one.

He said: “There is a whole range of support from business and community groups who see the need to enhance the experience around the bridge and regenerate the night-time economy for the hospitality businesses which really suffered during the pandemic.

“We need our independent hospitality businesses and venues and, if people don't come out at night and support them, then we will lose them, so I think having lights is a brilliant incentive.”

Mr Bausor said that if the design was approved, the group would work with Education Henley, a partnership between local schools.

It wants to hold an annual competition for children to design a lighting plan for the bridge for a week.

The forthcoming application would be the third since 2018, when artist Clive Hemsley, who previously lived in Henley, attached lights on the bridge without permission which were subsequently removed.

Make Henley Shine was formed in 2021 to resurrect the idea and withdrew its first application in July 2022 on the advice of the district council.

The last application, that was submitted in December last year, prompted more than 175 responses from residents to the borough and district councils as part of the public consultation.