TOWNS across Oxfordshire plagued by lorries shaking historic buildings and straining ancient bridges may soon get funding for a solution.

As Oxfordshire county councillors met on Wednesday, Stefan Gawrysiak, the independent councillor for Henley, spoke about the damage and disruption caused by heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) passing through the town over its historic bridge.

Mr Gawrysiak called for new environmental restrictions to be brought into towns including Burford, Chipping Norton and Henley to prevent HGVs driving through them,

He said historic buildings in Henley ‘rattle’ when lorries pass, and pedestrians are intimidated by them while walking on narrow pavements, and said HGVs contribute to the fact that Henley has poor air quality, having been an air quality management area for 18 years.

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Mr Gawrysiak said all he wanted to do was ‘implement existing OCC policy’ found in its Local Transport Plan, and called for council staff to work on studies into environmental restrictions, rather than weight restrictions on bridges, if the communities which needed them could find funding.

He explained his call for environmental limits, instead of weight limits by saying: “Henley has a bridge that is unfortunately too strong. We cannot put a weight limit on it. You could land a jumbo jet on it and it wouldn’t affect it at all.”

Stefan Gawrysiak. Picture: Matt Oliver.

Stefan Gawrysiak. Picture: Matt Oliver.

Other councillors supported the calls for studies, including Hilary Hibbert-Biles, the independent councillor for Chipping Norton.

She said: “This council cannot continue to take the air pollution issue and the contribution HGVs make to air pollution into the long grass any longer.

“If this council is unable to act on this because of funding then I think they have to ask the Government for support if they are incapable of sorting out the issues.”

But councillors who represent villages outside the towns where restrictions on HGVs could be brought in had concerns about large lorries being rerouted through their areas.

David Bartholomew, the councillor for Sonning Common, said: “I fully understand the sentiment and the problems Henley has got but until I can be persuaded it is not going to result in HGV traffic being deflected through the villages I represented I will not vote for it.”

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The county council’s cabinet member for transport, Yvonne Constance, said another solution could soon be available, as part of the 2004 Transport Act which allows London councils to restrict HGVs on certain roads might soon be made available for all English councils.

A ban on HGVs driving through Burford began in August last year, in an effort to drive down air pollution levels and congestion in the town.

But Liam Walker, the county councillor for Minster Lovell and Hanborough has said the ban had caused lorries to reroute through villages in his area, and earlier this year called for it to be brought to an end.

A similar ban was also signed off by the county council for Chipping Norton, but there were concerns that lorries would be redirected along the Rollright Road north of the town, and could spoil the nearby megaliths, the Rollright Stones.

Councillors voted in favour of Mr Gawrysiak’s proposals, which will allow the towns to fund research into new lorry restrictions.