Category: Thame news

STATION Road in Haddenham is expected to be closed for the next 24 hours, following a serious fire in a field, just fields away from where this weekend’s Thame Country Fair was taking place.

According to reports a huge stack of, what is described as ‘ Miscanthus elephant grass’ used as a ‘green’ fuel for Oxfordshire power station, is still burning and is expected to burn all night. This material is apparently also used in anaerobic digesters to produce electricity. The public is warned to stay away from the area.

This is the second time such a fire has occurred involving this material; a similar event occurred two or three years ago on the same spot.

Fire crews were still at the scene this evening.

(1) THAME Town Council is negotiating with a telecoms company who want to erect a mast close to the Southern Road football changing rooms.

The mast would be 17.5 metre high, and if the plan goes ahead after a public consultation and planning application, the town council could be paid in the region of £70,000 to spend on public services.

(2) FOLLOWING further complaints from the public about dog fouling and litter around the town, Thame Town Council’s Open Spaces Working Group will be discussing the problem at its next meeting on April 20.

(3) AN Information Point had been installed at the Youth Memorial in Upper High Street, Thame, giving information about organisations which offer support and counselling.

(4) THIS year’s Summer Jam at Thame Skate Park will take place on Sunday August 6, 2017.

A protest was held outside Marlow community hospital on Wednesday, April 5, to demonstrate against the closure of beds at Marlow and Thame hospitals.

Twenty overnight beds closed from April 1, in a 6 month ‘pilot’ during which more diagnostics will take place in ‘community hubs’. Dozens of people chanted ‘Hand Back Our Hospitals’ and called for the beds to be reopened.

A spokesperson for the opposition group reported : “There is deep concern about the closure of these wards. The public were full of praise for the staff and the care they received from them in the past.”

SaveWycombeHospital campaign leader, Miss Ozma Hafiz, said: “Buckinghamshire has received less funding for some time, resulting in centralisation of services such as A&E and maternity. Now, under ‘Sustainability and Transformation plans’ (STPs), the NHS is being forced to make more savings, resulting in the removal of our community hospital beds. These changes have been rushed through without proper public consultation and when social care is already struggling.

“The Buckinghamshire community has been badly let down by the lack of scrutiny of these plans. Other councils are putting the needs of their residents first by rejecting the STP plans; we deserve the same. Our MPs must also step up and champion more funding for our NHS. Additional resources need to go into prevention to help keep people safe and well. Bed closures in the county will impact other hospitals in and around Bucks, which will affect us all. The John Radcliffe has already cancelled ‘non-urgent’ operations over the winter due to a shortage of beds. The Trust needs to reopen these beds and redeploy the excellent staff teams. We need proper public consultations on the whole of our STP.”

Bucks resident, Andy Trueman, said: “A pilot that only runs in Spring and Summer seems difficult to understand when we are just coming out of possibly the worst Winter pressures that the NHS has ever faced and that is a winter which wasn’t particularly severe. More than 40% of hospitals in England declared a major alert in the first week of 2017 as the health service came under increasing pressure. Stoke Mandeville A&E waiting times only hit NHS targets for two months in 2016, and the hospital was on Black Alert, running at critical capacity during January 2017.

“Bed blocking was cited as the major reason. Then some 12 weeks later, Bucks NHS Trust removed beds. It simply doesn’t make sense. At no point will there be a chance to test this pilot in the most difficult time for hospitals. If they are so confident, why not?

“They base their reason for the pilot on the public engagement sessions that they undertook last year but very few members of the public attended these sessions. At these meetings, they picked up on the desire of the public to have more treatment in their communities and at home which is of course preferred. However, it was not mentioned that this could be at the cost of community beds. So the public were not given the full picture last year.”

Mr Truman continued: “Despite the pilot being raised at both the Bucks County Council Health & Adult Social Care (HASC) Committee and Health & Wellbeing Board, there does not appear to have been sufficient level of scrutiny or challenge to the plans. Moreover, not all the community services will be in place for the start of the pilot and this risks putting vulnerable people at risk.

“It is also still not clear how this pilot will be monitored and its effectiveness or otherwise measured. The metrics and ongoing assessment need to be publicly available and the Trust need to be open and honest about how it is working. Our fear is that people who would have needed these beds will now be sent home and be ‘lost’. Out of sight, out of mind.”

Ozma added: “We need everyone to speak up for our NHS, local decision makers included. Unfortunately, we’ve heard the term ‘pilot’ used before when Ward 5B closed. Residents like Terry Price from Marlow have sacrificed so much giving to the community and campaigning for Wycombe and Marlow hospitals over the years. They deserve to use overnight beds at their local community hospital should the need arise. Closure of these beds is in Terry’s words ’absolutely disgraceful’ and I completely agree with him. This essential resource should be available to residents.”

It is feared that these bed closures will be rolled out to other community hospitals. A petition reached 1000 signatures in under two days and was submitted to local decision makers. It can be found HERE

PREVIOUS report on this subject HERE

A Thame taxi driver has been fined £500 and six penalty points after using an unlicensed and uninsured vehicle for private hire.

Tye Edwards, 40, of Cromwell Avenue, pleaded guilty to operating a private hire vehicle without a valid licence and using a vehicle without insurance at Oxford Magistrates Court.

The court heard how in September 2016, Edwards, trading as KML Cars, was transporting passengers along the M25, when he was stopped by police. The officers discovered that Edwards was not displaying a Private Hire vehcile plate. A licence plate that had expired ten months earlier, was found hidden under a jacket inside the vehicle.

Further enquiries revealed that Edwards’ vehicle had also failed a roadworthiness test in March 2016, which meant that he was operating unlawfully and that his insurance was therefore invalid. Edwards was on his way to Heathrow Airport with his passengers who had been booked through their travel agent, both parties believing that the vehicle was legitimate.

Margaret Reed, Head of Legal and Democratic Services at South Oxfordshire District Council, said: “Taxi drivers are responsible for ensuring their vehicles are on the road legally.

“This was a serious case where someone was charging people to ride in an unlicensed, uninsured and unroadworthy vehicle. This was potentially very dangerous for the passengers and other road users.

“We would also urge anyone using a private hire or hackney carriage vehicle to check that it has a valid licence plate before they get into the vehicle.”

THAME Town Council is to pass on to the local planning authority a long list of complaints about waste bins that are constantly left outside two restaurants in the town.

At a meeting of its Policy and Resources Committee this evening, on the agenda was the town council’s regular report of Compliments and Complaints, which included thirteen complaints about Jack and Alice’s waste bins and six about Prezzo’s bins.

Cllr Helena Fickling reminded fellow councillors that they had made a specific point about the bins not being left out on the pavement, when the original Planning applications for Jack and Alice and Prezzo had come before them.

The Manager of Prezzo told Thame.Net this evening that her company had reduced the number of bins recently, specifically those for recyclable material, and that they had no option other than to keep their waste bins out on the pavements because, to store them at the side of the building behind a side gate, would put them in contravention of Fire Regulations as the restaurant’s designated Fire Exit was out through that way.

She said that she would take the matter up with her superiors.

Thame councillors agreed that the Clerk should write formerly to South Oxfordshire District Council about the complaints as it would seem that both restaurants were going against conditions of their Planning permissions.

You can read the full report about Compliments and Complaints received by Thame Town Council HERE

NB There was just one bin outside Jack and Alice this evening, because the road is currently being dug up in the Buttermarket, and the pavement blocked in front of the premises.

(1) FOLLOWING complaints from residents and town councillors to Thame’s Neighbourhood Policing team about inconsiderate parking in residential areas of the town, the team has now taken action and hand-delivered letters to some local residents urging them to think before parking.

The letters have been delivered to residents in and around Queens Road and Horton Avenue in Thame, requesting that, when parking vehicles, drivers consider other road users, pedestrians and emergency response vehicles. They also ask drivers to be mindful to keep junctions clear, not obstructing private driveways and leaving sufficient room for manoeuvring of vehicles.

(2) FOLLOWING a burglary in Roundhead Drive, Thame, recently, an offender was arrested out of the area, interviewed and has been charged with burglary of a dwelling, taking a vehicle without consent and no insurance. The offender was released on bail with conditions after appearing at Oxford Magistrates Court on March 30, for a first hearing.

During the burglary, entry was gained by forcing the back door and several items stolen, including the victim’s car.

(3) HAVE your say with a local PCSO from the Thame & Wheatley NHPT:

• 24 April 2017, 11am – 12 noon – PCSO James HOPKIN at Costa, High Street, Thame.
• 27 April 2017, 11am – 12 noon – PCSO Diane JACKSON at Thame Library.

(4) CHINNOR Crime Prevention Event April 9, 5pm – 7.30pm – The Neighbourhood team will be in Chinnor between 5pm-7.30pm distributing crime prevention advice and signing people up to the Thames Valley Alerts. More information will be sent out via TVP’s twitter page and through the local parish council nearer the time.

(5) COMMUNITY Café! – Wednesday, April 26, 6pm – 8pm – Thame & Wheatley NHPT are inviting all members of the community to this new engagement event. The “Community Café” is a fresh approach to community engagement and new way for the police and community to work together. It is an opportunity to meet the local neighbourhood policing team for Thame and Wheatley.

A police spokesperson explained: “We want to work with the local community to explore how we can together make our town and surrounding villages a safer place. The event will be an opportunity for you, the community to help us come up with ideas on how to tackle low level incidents and areas of concern for the local residents. The Community Café is open to everyone from all the surrounding villages.

“All members of the community are invited to join us, local businesses, residents, youths, organisations and volunteers. For more information, please contact the Thame neighbourhood team. Email: ThameNHPT@thamesvalley.pnn.police.uk

Venue: Thame Town Hall; Date: Wednesday, April 26,2017 Time: 6pm – 8pm.

You can read the rest of the Neighbourhood Policing Newsletter, from which the above are extracted, HERE