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PLANS for a 2.4m high boundary fence around Gillotts School in Henley have been refused. 358 Fence

South Oxfordshire District Council’s planning committee voted seven to one against the proposed wire mesh fencing at a meeting on Wednesday last week.

The secondary academy in Gillotts Lane claimed the 7ft 8in fence is needed for security reasons.

But Councillor Stefan Gawrysiak, who represents the town on the district council, objected to the northern section of the 550m-long fence along the bridleway and public footpath running parallel to Blandy Road and Makins Road.

This section would close off an area of trees and shrubland known as Gillotts Wood, which he argued would harm the view, affect wildlife corridors and endanger pedestrians.

He suggested the fence should be behind this section of woodland.

Cllr Gawrysiak proposed the motion to refuse the application.

Planning officer Caitlin Phillpotts had recommended approval.

In a report to the committee, she said the design of the wire mesh fencing would mean the view into the Gillotts Wood area would be “largely retained”.

The council’s ecology and forestry officers had raised no objections, she added.

But Ken Arlett, a town and district councillor, said the fence would be “totally unneighbourly” due to its height and position. He said Gillotts Wood was protected as a local green space under the revised Henley and Harpsden neighbourhood plan.

Councillor Arlett said: “I think it would be pretty sad if the first chance you get to support the joint Henley and Harpsden neighbourhood plan was voted against. There’s four and half years of work that has gone into that plan.”

He said the fencing would cut off animal corridors that had existed “as long as anyone can remember” and raised concerns for pedestrians walking down the narrow, fenced-off path.

Cllr Arlett said: “Although the town council’s planning committee overwhelmingly supports children’s safety, the items above need to be resolved before planning permission is granted.”

The school has permitted development rights to build a 2m high boundary fence but applied for an extra 40cm based on guidance from the Department for Education and for insurance purposes.

Headteacher Catharine Darnton said: “My very first responsibility is to keep my students safe. A perimeter fence supports this by preventing intruders accessing the site and preventing students leaving the site during the school day.” She said there had been “numerous incidents of incursion” at the school in recent years.

Ms Darnton continued: “We sustained a series of 30 connected intruder incidents between April 2016 and October 2017, eight of which involved criminal activity.

“There was a serious incident in October 2019 which led to police involvement and extensive parental concern about site safety.

“We had an attempted break-in out of hours in November 2019 and, in November 2020, there were travellers on the Henley leisure centre site who repeatedly caused incursions on to the school site during the school day when students were present.”

She also reported incidents of lead being stripped from the science block roof and an attempted theft from a garage.

She also complained that dog walkers used the private land almost every day.

Ms Darnton said the fence would improve safety for pedestrians using the footpath and suggested installing slowing gates for cyclists.

She said: “I would feel more at risk if I was walking along open woodland, where an attacker could be hiding and potentially could drag me, than I would walking along a clearly defined area with a fence.”

But Cllr Gawrysiak said the fence would be “prison-like” and “dangerous” for pedestrians. He added: “If every landowner in the country erected this wire mesh fencing around every plot of land they owned, how on earth would wildlife traverse the site?”

Cllr Gawrysiak suggested the fence should be moved back 10m.

The committee voted by seven votes to one to turn down the application with one abstention.

Speaking after the meeting, Cllr Gawrysiak said: “I was extremely pleased for the residents of Makins Road and Blandy Road that planning permission was turned down.

“I would hope that Gillotts School and residents of tMakins Road and Blandy Road and Henley Town Council and myself could meet to see whether we could come up with a solution to these issues which is successful for all sides.”

Ms Darnton said: “We are very disappointed. We had worked closely with the planning officer and she had concluded that our proposal complied with the relevant development plan priorities and that it was acceptable against all relevant criteria, including impact on the character of the site, protected trees, species and habitats.

“There is no more important responsibility for us than to keep our students and staff safe and for further challenges to be placed in the way of us improving the security of our site is highly regrettable. We will now take some time to consider our next steps.”

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