County Council Still Not Submitted Planning Application to Remove Bridge Graffiti

After nearly a year, the ‘H’ graffiti remains on our beautiful Grade I listed bridge.

We understand that a video capturing the artist and this along with the name of the artist has been given to the police.

In March Oxfordshire County Council (OCC) announced that they need to apply for listed building planning consent from Wokingham Borough Council (WBC) to remove the graffiti.  We asked OCC for an update on the planning application as there was no record of one being submitted on the WBC website.  They responded, “We have not been able to submit the application yet due to the team’s volume of work.”

A spokesperson for Wokingham Borough Council said, “Our heritage team has supported them (OCC) by giving advice on the best way forward that won’t damage the stone and as soon as we receive the application, we’ll do everything we can to process it quickly.”

Geoff Luckett on behalf of The Henley Society said, “We’re totally perplexed why nothing has been done in all the weeks and it looks like there is nothing going to be done in the near future in sight.  It looks like we’ll have this hideous eyesore on our beautiful bridge for this year’s summer season too.”