Oxfordshire County Council wants to remove four disabled bays in Henley and move the Market Place one. Objections close at 5pm on Friday 2 October 2026.
Oxfordshire County Council is proposing to remove four Disabled Persons Parking Places in Henley-on-Thames and relocate a fifth. The proposal is out for consultation now and objections close at 5pm on Friday 2 October 2026.
The four Henley bays marked for removal are:
- Crisp Road, northeast side, outside No.131
- New Street, south side, outside No.22
- New Street, north side, outside Nos.25 and 27
- Trust Corner, southwest side, outside No.8
A fifth bay, in Market Place, would not go but would move along the south side from outside No.59 to outside No.51.
Three of the four removals are in town centre streets a short walk from Hart Street. No other town in the order loses more than two bays, and none of them loses four.
What the order does across the district
The council describes the bays it is removing as “no longer required”. It does not publish a reason for any individual removal, and the consultation documents give no criteria.
Across South Oxfordshire the order takes out nine bays at eight locations and creates seven new ones. Two more towns lose bays with nothing back:
- Goring, Red Cross Road, east side, outside No.5: one bay removed
- Sonning Common, Pages Orchard, southeast side, outside Nos.37 and 39: two bays removed
- Cholsey, Amwell Place: one removed, one new bay in Buckthorn Lane
- Thame, Park Street: one removed, two new bays in East Street and Roundhead Drive
- Chinnor: two new bays, in Elm Drive and St. Andrews Road
- Great Milton: one new bay in Fullers Field
- Wallingford: one new bay in Cherwell Close
The same order covers the Vale of White Horse, which gains bays at eleven locations in Abingdon, Drayton, East Hanney, Faringdon, Longcot, Radley and Wantage, and loses none.
What it means for you
Losing a marked bay is not the same as losing the right to park there. A Blue Badge holder “may park on single or double yellow lines for up to 3 hours, but in general not where there are restrictions on loading or unloading”, under the national scheme rules. A Disabled Persons Parking Place is different: it is a reserved space, it is enforceable, and it does not depend on there being a legal length of kerb free when you arrive.
In the town centre car parks, the three-hour cap applies to you too. Kings Road has 19 disabled spaces and Blue Badge holders park free, but the maximum stay is three hours with no return within two, exactly as it is for everyone else. There is no all-day option at Kings Road or Greys Road. The nearest is Southfields, at 54 spaces. More on that in parking in Henley.
If you want to object, do it by 2 October. Responses go through the council’s consultation page, or by post; paper copies can be requested on consultations@oxfordshire.gov.uk or 01865 519800. The council says that if objections come in, it will put a report to the Cabinet Member for Highway Management at a public meeting later in 2026, and members of the public may apply to speak at it. Agendas appear on the county council’s site about a week beforehand.
One thing worth saying in an objection. The council has not published why any individual bay is no longer required, so an objection that says who uses a bay, when, and what they would do without it is giving the council information it does not currently have.
Other traffic orders in the district, including the closures running in Goring and Thame this autumn, are tracked on our Henley roadworks and travel page.
Frequently asked questions
Which Henley disabled parking bays are being removed?
Four: Crisp Road outside No.131, New Street outside No.22, New Street outside Nos.25 and 27, and Trust Corner outside No.8. The Market Place bay is not being removed but would move from outside No.59 to outside No.51.
When is the deadline to object?
5pm on Friday 2 October 2026. Responses go through Oxfordshire County Council’s consultation page, or on paper by request from consultations@oxfordshire.gov.uk or 01865 519800.
What happens after the consultation closes?
If objections are received, the council will put a report to the Cabinet Member for Highway Management at a public meeting later in 2026. Members of the public may apply to speak. The agenda usually appears about a week beforehand.
Can a Blue Badge holder still park on a yellow line in Henley?
Under the national scheme rules a badge holder may park on single or double yellow lines for up to three hours, but generally not where loading or unloading is restricted, which is shown by yellow kerb dashes or signs. That concession is separate from the marked bays in this order.
Is disabled parking free in Henley’s car parks?
Yes at Kings Road, which has 19 disabled spaces, but the three-hour maximum stay still applies and there is no return within two hours.
Sources
- South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse: proposed Disabled Persons Parking Places (September 26), Let’s Talk Oxfordshire for every bay listed, the 5pm 2 October deadline, the response methods and what happens next.
- Oxfordshire County Council statutory notice of the proposed variation orders, published on the Public Notice Portal on 2 September 2026 and 4 September 2026, reference JaC/12.6.PO371, for the order titles, the map tiles and the objection address.
- The Blue Badge scheme: rights and responsibilities in England, Department for Transport for the three-hour yellow line concession and the loading exception.
- Kings Road car park, South Oxfordshire District Council for the 19 disabled spaces, the free Blue Badge parking and the three-hour maximum stay.
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