Planning Permission Granted for Town Hall Banners

Despite The Henley Society and the South Oxfordshire District Council Conservation Officer having concerns about the installation of temporary banners on the front of the town hall, SODC have granted planning permission for the installation of the eye bolts to hang the banners from and given advertising consent.

The Conservation Officer stated, “The installation of the eye bolts will cause minimal and easily repairable disruption to the historic brickwork of the town hall and is therefore not objectionable. However, I have concerns that the presence of large banners may harm the character of both the building and the conservation area
considering its central location. The heritage statement claims the banners would not be permanent, but only be used 4 times a year for no more than two weeks at a time. If a reasonable and enforceable condition can be drafted to ensure this is the case my concerns regarding any permanent alterations and resulting harm to character would be relieved.”

The Henley Society commented, “We are not keen to see eight steel eye bolts driven into this Grade II listed building and would certainly object to the use of UPVC for the banners which is clearly against advice set down in the Traditional Shopfront Design Guide.”

A condition has been added to the permission which states, “That the banner advertisements hereby approved shall only be used in conjunction with the promotion of local events. They shall be displayed for a maximum of six periods within a calendar year and each period shall not exceed 14 days. At all other times, the banners shall be removed from the building.”