Thame.net

Category: Thame news

  • Mayor’s response challenged

    DEAR Editor

    The Mayor, Jeanette Matelot Green, seems to have totally misunderstood the situation re the dismissal of the CAAC. Firstly this apparently happened at the town council AGM on the 13 may and not as a request to the Grants Panel.

    The CAAC is not a group which needs funding. They were set up to assist the Town Council and SODC, in January 1984, by looking at Plans in the Conservation Area. To do this they need to meet in the Town Hall as it is unlikely that they would be able to remove the plans and meet to discuss them elsewhere. The proviso of a meeting place in the Town Hall is set out in the Terms of Reference both in 1984 and again at a later date.

    The meeting does not cost anything as all correspondence is by email (minutes, agendas etc) and the meetings are made when the cleaner is in the building, so that no one has to be employed to unlock or lock up the building. The point of the group is to discuss the plans together and come to an agreed recommendation as a whole and not as individuals thus using a corporate knowledge of the towns buildings and their history. Whilst the Mayor and Chair of Planning may have building expertise they have not had the length of time and intimate knowledge of the Listed Buildings in the Town that the members of CAAC have.

    Once we agree that the Mayor is talking about the wrong meeting, the wrong issue ie funding and that the Town Clerk was at the meeting on the 13 May the whole of her letter becomes totally invalid and misleading.

    I still suggest that CAAC are reinstated.

    Ron Clanfield
    Thame

  • ‘What was the point of the Neighbourhood Plan?’

    Dear Editor,
    I have a glossy leaflet from South Oxfordshire District Council titled ‘Local Plan 2031’. Referring to Neighbourhood Planning Areas it includes the words ‘….in order to provide the levels of growth we need, and to be fair to all communities in the district, we may be required to consider increasing the amounts of housing provided in neighbourhood plan areas, as well as in other areas not covered by or preparing neighbourhood plans.’

    So what was the point of all the effort and time we all spent in Thame on agreeing a Neighbourhood Plan?

    A cynic might have expected something like this. And a cynic would have been right. I wonder what those who serve our community at all levels of Government think about this development.

    Norman Brand

    Thame

  • ‘Loose woman’ supports hospice charity midnight walk

    WITH less than a month to go until the fifth Gemstone Midnight Walk on Saturday, July 12, in aid of the Florence Nightingale Hospice Charity (FNHC), actress and TV presenter Lynda Bellingham has once again lent her support to the event, with a few words of encouragement for walkers taking part.

    Lynda bellingham wearing the trade-mark Florence Nightingale Hospice Charity pink bunny ears
    Lynda bellingham wearing the trade-mark Florence Nightingale Hospice Charity pink bunny ears

    Lynda, who was diagnosed with cancer last year, has been a long-term supporter of the Florence Nightingale Hospice, and said: “This is a wonderful event in support of the Hospice, which is celebrating over 25 years of local Hospice care. In this very special anniversary year, please show your continued support by taking on the Gemstone Midnight Walk challenge alongside family, friends and loved ones. I’ll be thinking of you all on Saturday,  July 12 – good luck.”

    With a few special silver tweaks, including 25 male walkers in celebration of the Silver Jubilee year taking on the challenge alongside over 600 ladies, plus changes to this year’s route – all six and 13-mile walkers will start and finish at Aylesbury College, Oxford Road, there will be some changes made to the route itself.

    The ever-popular walker ‘pitstops’ will of course include the must-have walker energy boost, Jelly Babies, and will see Aylesbury’s Waterside Theatre, opening its doors on the night with a Cinderella-theme in celebration of December’s Christmas panto. FNHC has been the chosen charity of the theatre since it opened in October 2010.

    Mix 96 Breakfast presenter, Katy Brown, will once again be providing the on-stage warm-up (a fantastic staging area courtesy of local company Class Act) with live music from The Zefrons, singer Sophie Del Ray and a second-chance to see the Charity’s Strictly Florence 2013 champions, Sian McCarthy and Mark Henderson, perform their winning CHA CHA on the night.

    Local diet and fitness guru, Joanna Beardsmore-Dilks, will be limbering up the crowd with a high-energy workout in the build- up to Midnight, which always goes down a treat with walkers. Joanna has supported the event for the past four years as a ‘thank you’ for the work of the Hospice, who cared for a friend through her battle with cancer.

    There is still time to take part in this, the walking challenge of the year. You can enter online at www.gemstonewalk.co.uk, contact the team on 01296 429975 to register over-the-phone, or pop along to Harris & Hoole, Aylesbury, (1st floor, Tesco Broadfields) on Thursday, June 26, and sign up in person. All ladies who sign up on the day can claim a FREE pair of the trademark pink bunny ears!

    Florence Nightingale Hospice Charity needs to raise over £600,000 this year to ensure the continued funding of local Hospice services including Day Hospice, a 12-bedded in-patient unit, Florrie’s Children’s Team and the Nightingale 24/7 Care Team, who provide vital care and support to sick people in their own home at a critical time of need.

    For more information, please visit www.fnhospice.org.uk

  • Thame housing development plans to be considered by council

    A planning application for new housing on Site C, as allocated by the Thame Neighbourhood Plan, will be presented at Thame Town Council’s own Planning Committee next Tuesday, June 24.

    SiteC_masterplan (500x412)The basic details of the plan, Application P14/S1619/O P14/S1619/O – Land East of Thame Park Road are:

    “Hybrid planning application seeking residential development for up to 187 new dwellings (including up to 40% affordable housing) with vehicular access from Wenman Road, structural planting and landscaping, informal and formal open space including retained agricultural land, childrens play space, allotments, surface water attenuation and ancillary works; comprising a full planning application for element A of 79 dwellings and element B which seeks outline planning permission for up to 108 dwellings. In respect of the outline element B only principle access to the highway is sought for
    approval and all other matters are reserved for determination at a later date.”

    Click on the application number above to read the full planning application details.

  • Thame pub’s life-line to ladies passed over for the ‘footie’

    THE Thatch in Thame is throwing a life-line to female guests who find themselves passed over for the football this month. Anyone whose other half refuses to make plans for the evening or who simply can’t face four weeks of wall-to-wall world cup, can treat themselves to their very own night out on Tuesday, June 24.

    The Richard OnslowThis one-off Ladies Night, will be filled with bubbles, ice cream and all things indulgent. There will be plenty of things to feast your eyes on, including handsome waiters and barmen keeping the fizz flowing on the night, starting with a tasting of champagnes from around the world with ice creams chosen to match, ending with music and dancing.

    “This year as every year we shall be making The Thatch a football free zone, but this time around we wanted to do something nice to help all the women out there escape from their world cup hell,” said manager of The Thatch, Evelin Rae. “With the dreaded day, the start of the world cup, now dawned, we decided to invite the ladies to put their men in the blokes crèche at The James Figg pub down the road to watch the game, and spend their evening with us at The Thatch.

    “We’re planning a wonderful night out with plenty of bubbly, sweet treats and excellent company, when the f-word will most definitely will be banned. Tuesday, June 24, coincidentally a world cup night, is going to be a very special night for the ladies. We’ll also be raising money for a great local cause by supporting Friends of O.S.C.A.R, the Didcot charity which supports children with brain and spinal tumours and their families. So join us and enjoy a fabulous night out.” 

    The Thatch’s ladies night starts at 7pm and tickets cost £10. They can be booked from the pub by calling 01844 214340 or by going online at  www.thethatchthame.co.uk 

    The Thatch is at 29-30 Lower High Street, Thame, Oxon, OX9 2AA. Tel: 01844 214340

  • Crash motorcyclist flown to hospital

    A Motorcyclist was rushed to hospital and the Junction 7, slip road closed for some time around 9am this morning, after the bike was involved in a collision with a red Volkswagen Golf car on the A329, near Great Milton.

    air_ambulance (400x241)The injured rider was flown to hospital by air ambulance. The road has since re-opened.

  • What a ‘quacking’ race!

    THAME & District Round Table hosted another successful duck race again this year, raising thousands of pounds for local causes.

    Captain Duckie alias Stuart Groves, launches hundreds of pastic ducks into the River Thame
    Captain Duckie alias Stuart Groves, launches
    hundreds of pastic ducks into the River Thame

    The race took place on Sunday (15/02) and enjoyed a great turnout with hundreds of local people coming to support the race and see if they had bought the winning ticket. The race raised £4,260, thanks to the ongoing support for this event from the people of Thame and the surrounding villages. Captain Ducky led the proceedings as usual and although his boat was a lot more shipshape than it’s been in previous years, it didn’t keep him any drier!

    In a busy weekend, Round Table were also in action on Saturday too, when they joined forces with Thame Lions to run the bar at Thame Carnival. Working together with the Lions, the two groups raised a further £1,000 for local charities.

    Neil Shorter, Chairman of Thame Round Table, said: “We’d like to thank everyone who supported the race by buying tickets and helping us to raise so much money. We would also like to thank all the family and friends who joined us on the day and helped to set the race up and in particular, to collect up all the ducks afterwards and get them cleaned and dried ready for next year. Finally, we’d like to thank The Falcon pub for providing their pop up bar for us to use and for helping throughout the day on Saturday too.”

  • Carnival Chair says ‘thank you’ Thame!

    CONGRATULATIONS have been flowing in to the new team that organised this year’s Thame Carnival, and the Co-ordinator, Sue Martin Downhill, Chair of Thame4Business, has expressed her gratitude to all concerned.

    One of Sue Martin Downhill's girls (left) enjoying themselves - without her mum - at Saturday's carnival
    One of Sue Martin Downhill’s girls (left) enjoying themselves – without her mum – at Saturday’s carnival

     

    The 'School together' carnival collected their winners cup from the Deputy Mayor, Nicola Dixon
    The ‘School together’ carnival collected their winners cup from the Deputy
    Mayor, Nicola Dixon

    The Carnival, themed  ‘the World of Sport & Recreation’, brought families, friends and local sports and activity groups together, to produce a great Carnival and festival fete, on the Southern Road Recreation ground – and the sun shone!

    A delighted Sue said: “With the help of some fantastic people of Thame, the Thame Carnival was as successful as I had hoped it would be. It was cool while we were setting up but the sun came out and shone for the rest of the day. cropped_tractor_cab_kids (400x267)

    “The parade was a great sight with a massive effort from all the floats. Congratulations to the combined schools’  float who produced a mass of colour. The steel band brought out the carnival feel and there was plenty of carnival music and noise throughout. Tom MacKriell of Thame Youth Theatre, and his team of marshalls brilliantly tackled the organisation of the order of the parade and keeping the roads clear and safe. Thanks to them, as without all 20 of them there would have been no parade!

    “Our MC, Dan Blasor, brought the whole event together and the Dog show had the best turn out of entries ever.carnival_dogs (400x348)

    “It was great to see so many sitting out in the sunshine enjoying the beer and Pimms tents and watching the entertainment in the arena and all around the ground. Although I would love to have been able to have spent more time wandering around with my girls,   enjoyed the day thoroughly.”Carnival_Andy_ford_emma (400x264)

    The Slade Tribute band, Slyde, entertained visitors at the end of the afternoon, with great humour and great memories of the music of other bands like ‘Sweet’ and ‘The Osmonds’ too!carnival_Slyde (268x400)

    Twitter and facebook followers of the Thame Carnival, like Ian English, who runs the popular Boodlum Band and the newly formed Thame Pop Choir, posted their comments: “Well done Sue and committee for organising an excellent Carnival and making it work so well – it was a great afternoon!”

    Thame Firefighter, Mark Nuns, posted on twitter: “Awesome sight seeing a Lancaster Bomber doing a low fly over of Thame!”carnival_Lancaster2014 (400x259)

    Karen Shardlow, Fund-raising Co-ordinator for the Florence Nighingale Hospice Charity, which took part in the carnival parade, posted: “Thank you Thame Carnival! Great fun day! We were all pleased to be a part of it.”Carnival_florence_nightingale_2014 (400x294)

    LOADS MORE PICTURES – here from Saturday’s carnival

  • Turn End treats for gardeners & artists

    TURN End Garden, one of Haddenham’s hidden gems, is opening its gates to host a series of gardening and art events this Spring and Summer.

    turn_end
    photograph: Richard Bryant/arcaid.co.uk

    Tucked away in the heart of Haddenham, Turn End is located in Townside and is one of three award winning village houses of post war architectural merit, designed by Peter Aldington. Its garden, created as a natural extension to the architect’s own house, is a series of ‘garden rooms’ designed to be harmonious with the building and filled with beautiful and interesting plants.

    Turn End Trust was established to foster appreciation of links between architecture and garden design, and is running a programme of events starting in May, from seasonal walks, to hands-on art and craft workshops and gardening courses, led by artists Heather Hunter and Jean Mould Hart. The art and craft workshops include Box Books and Creative Paper Making whilst Jackie Hunt, Turn End’s Gardener, is leading a series of Spring, Summer and Autumn walks designed to highlight the constantly changing character of the garden throughout the seasons. Teamed with horticulturist, Lindsay Engers (who frequently holds workshops at Waterperry Gardens), she’ll also be advising gardeners on selecting and caring for plants as well as introducing propagation techniques, in two workshops scheduled this Summer.

    Email turnendgarden@gmail.com or telephone 07591 018601 for the complete programme and a booking form.

    Turn End will also be participating in Bucks Open Studios Week (June 14th-22nd). The garden will also be open on Thursday, June 26, 2-5.30pm, as well as home to a Sculpture Exhibition on July 5, 6 & 9-13.

  • Spare building material bags wanted

    WANTED : The Thame Community Equipment Bank needs bags for carrying marquees in. They need to be strong but light weight. Need to have handles which won’t cut into your hands. Have you had any building material delivered in strong bags ? We will clean them before use.