Old Greys Lane Steps Under Threat of Public Access
The owners of the newly built Old Grey Cottage on Old Greys Lane or Waterworks Lane as locals know it have applied for a Notice of Land Deposit on a large area of the lane which include the bank, the bottom of the steps, part of Deanacre and the path along to St Annes Close.
The land has a footpath through it and the steps leading up to Makins Recreation Ground are currently a permissive path. A Land Deposit brings an end to recreational use of the land ‘as a right’, which is a declaration not to dedicate routes over land and make them a ‘Right of Way’.
When planning permission was given for this plot in January 2023 which both the Town Council and Henley Society recommended objection, SODC included a condition, “Prior to the formation of the new access and parking area hereby approved details of the realigned steps between Henley-on-Thames public footpath 6 and Makins Recreation Ground shall be submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority. Thereafter the realigned steps shall be constructed in accordance with the approved details prior to construction of the dwelling above slab level.”
In June ‘Permissive Path’ signs above were added to the steps. Residents who use the steps were encouraged to apply for them to be added to the definitive map as a footpath with evidence that they have used them for 20 years.
Judith Phelan from Deanfield Road said, “I would like to point out that generations of school and pre school children plus parents have used the path to access play groups, junior schools and Scout meetings but by definition few individuals in this category will have used the path for 20 years. It has been in constant use by ‘school children’ for 70 years to my knowledge which I think should count as ‘using the path for 20 years’. From 1955 until he left the school Mike Phelan used the path every day to go between his home and the Grammar School. This was the path through the allotments that ‘everyone used’. I have lived in Henley (in Deanfield Road) since 1978 and have used the path as a parent with school children, as a mum popping to the shop on Greys Road and as a route to the trainer pool and that part of the town. I object to anyone trying to remove this ‘right of way’.”
Kate Ashbrook, General Secretary of the Open Spaces Society said: ‘The landowner has challenged people’s use of the path, but it seems likely that it is already a public footpath, albeit unrecorded on the definitive (official) map of public rights of way. Local people need to submit evidence to Oxfordshire County Council of their uninterrupted, uncontested use going back 20 years from the date of the challenge. It is clearly a well-used and valued route, and we hope the claim will go through smoothly. However, if there are objections, the matter will be determined by a planning inspector, probably after a public inquiry or hearing. The process does take time so the sooner the application is submitted the better. We explain the process on our website here.”
I have used this path for a good number of years and it has been very useful as a means of taking toddlers to and from the recreation ground and as a way of going to church and the shops without making a lengthy detour. This path has been in use for far longer than a house has been there and the buyers of the house have made their own choice to live there, path and all!