Category: Thame news

SAINSBURY’S in Thame is helping to make the town greener by donating hundreds of bulbs and seeds to St Joseph?s Catholic Primary School, Barley Hill Primary School, and John Hampden Primary School.

Staff from Sainsbury?s Thame have visited St Joseph?s Catholic Primary School and Barley Hill Primary School to present the children with the plants.

After a receiving a surplus of gardening supplies, Sainsbury?s Thame decided to donate them to local children. All three primary schools in Thame have benefitted from this. All plants donated were past their display until date, but still perfect for planting.

A Sainsbury spokesperson explained: “This forms part of Sainsbury?s policy of not sending waste to landfill, the aim being to donate all products to the local community or send them for composting. The children will be learning all about how plants grow and what they need to survive, and will be able to see their schools in bloom.

The store manager (Danny Hayes), HR manager (Julie Harris), and PR ambassador (Liz Clarke) visited St Joseph?s. They were invited to morning assembly to present the children with the plants, and also given a tour of the school?s new classrooms. It was a beneficial visit for both parties, as the children learnt about plants and Sainsbury?s staff learnt about a vital part of their community.

Recently, the customer Service Manager, Anthony Beedles-Andrews, and PR ambassador, Liz Clarke visited Barley Hill. They were able to meet some of the children who were thrilled to receive the bulbs and seeds on behalf of their classmates.

PHOTO: Danny Hayes, Mrs Claire Kerr, and four children from St. Joseph?s (in blue)

THAMES Valley Police is urging parents to be aware of litter and debris left in playgrounds and recreational areas after an incident in Thame. this afternoon (17/7)

The warning comes after a 14-month old boy was hospitalised after picking up what is believed to be a discarded drugs wrap and chewing it in the Southern Road recreation ground, near to the scout hut.

Police were called at 5.15pm by the ambulance service, who took the boy to Stoke Mandeville Hospital. His condition is not thought to be serious and he is being kept in overnight for observation.

Officers have searched the scene for further paraphernalia and arranged for the council to carry out cleaning at the recreation ground.

Det Sgt Darren Cartwright said: ?This was obviously a frightening experience for the boy?s parents, but fortunately he doesn?t seem to have been seriously harmed. It seems he had picked up a discarded paper wrap believed to have contained an illegal drug.

?There is potential for further for forensic investigation into the incident and we would like to make parents, guardians, and caregivers aware of it, especially in light of the continuing hot weather which families are taking advantage of by visiting our parks and public areas.

?If anyone sees anything which they believe could be harmful or contain illegal substances, please contact the police on 101 or your local council.?

SAY ?neigh? to a boring Friday night this week! Especially for those who fancy a flutter on the horses, a local charity have organised a horse racing themed evening?s entertainment for next Friday, July 19.

Everyone is invited to canter down to the Thame Guide HQ in Southern Road, Thame, for 7.30pm and join in the fun.
The evening, hosted by Thame Youth Memorial, takes the format of a day?s horseracing, with punters betting on the races played on the big screen. Entry is free and racegoers can bring their own food and drink as well.

Bets will cost

AFTER an absence of two years, the Thame Show returned on Saturday, and thousands of people flocked to the Show Ground in hot sunshine to experience farming pursuits, some great arena entertainment, local food and drink and the ever-popular Domestic Classes competitions.

Although the autumn Chrysanthemums and harvest vegetables like carrots, parsnips and autumn fruits were missing as the show had moved from September to July, there were soft fruits and plenty of other alternatives to produce a good showing of the love attention of local, amateur growers and the competition was as hot as ever.

From children, the popular ?garden on a plate? produced some very imaginative entries and the standard of entries in the Photography competition, judged by the Mayor of Thame, Peter Lambert (himself a professional photographer), was higher than ever.

Panting in the heat, but being very carefully looked after by their owners, the Rabbit classes attracted a lot of attention and the caged birds too made a very attractive, if slightly sad, spectacle. Row of jams and lemon curd, always a very popular part of Thame Show, stood in glistening rows opposite dozens and dozens of scones, fruit cakes and Victoria sponges, many alongside their red, blue and yellow winners? cards eagerly sought by their makers once the judging was over.

The extra toilet facilities spread around the grounds this year, and more shaded seating, were much appreciated by the hot visitors.

Theme?s MP, John Howell, visited the Show as the guest of the President of the Show, Mrs Desmond Heyward, for lunch and afterwards toured the Show to see what was happening. He said: ?It was good to see Thame Show back in operation again. I hope that the Show had as many visitors as it needed to make it a financial success. It deserved to. It was a fantastic day out.?

The show organisers have not released any visitor numbers or details of whether the show has been a financial success yet, but judging by the mostly favourable comments being made by the happy families leaving at the end of the afternoon, it seems on the face of it that Thame Show is back to stay.

BETWEEN midnight on (8/7) and midnight on (10/7) a vehicle parked in High Street, Thame was broken into.

Offender/s has stolen the grill from a Fiat Punto. There is no further information available at this time.

If you have seen any suspicious looking people or vehicles in the area or have any information relating to this message please call the police on 101

Alternatively if you have information but wish to remain anonymous, please call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or online @ crimestoppers-uk.org. No personal details are taken, information is not traced or recorded and you will not go to court.

THAME’S Neighbourhood Plan, which will help steer the development of the town for many years, has won two prestigious planning awards this week.

In an award ceremony held last night in London, the Royal Town Planning Institute presented the planning consultants, Tibbalds, who helped the town council formulate the plan, and the Neighbourhood Plan, picked up the award for ?Innovative use of the planning process ? Plan Making?.

Town Mayor, Cllr Peter Lambert, was in attendance and was delighted with the result saying: ?After all the hard work put into the Neighbourhood Plan I am very pleased and proud to be present when the result was announced. The referendum result demonstrated the confidence the people of Thame have in the Neighbourhood Plan and this award from the RTPI, a highly regarded professional body, reinforces how comprehensive and thorough the Neighbourhood Plan process has been.?

Sue Rowlands, Director of Tibbalds, said: “We are very pleased to have received the RTPI award for innovative plan making, on behalf of everyone who was involved. The plan?making process successfully brought together local people’s interest in (and concern for) the quality of their town’s environment, with our technical planning expertise. The result is a clear and robust vision to shape the future development of Thame. The award also recognises all the energy and enthusiasm that Thame Town Council and residents have put into working with Tibbalds to prepare the Thame Neighbourhood Plan.”

SODC Cllr Angie Paterson, Cabinet Member for Planning, said “Congratulations to the team for winning this prestigious planning award. It’s great to see the people of Thame working together and having real influence over the future of their community. I’m also pleased that the support our officers provided helped to make this happen.”

Helen Stewart, Town Clerk, supported this in saying, ?The award recognises all the hard work that went in to developing what has been described as an exemplar plan and everyone involved should be proud of what Thame has achieved?.

The RTPI Awards for Planning Excellence celebrates the contribution that planners and planning make to society, to highlight exceptional examples of planning and to inspire others to achieve the same high standards.

All entries were rigorously assessed by a panel of judges from across the private, public and third sector chaired by Sir Terry Farrell CBE, the UK?s leading architect planner. Thame Neighbourhood Plan was up against three other projects including the Upper Eden Neighbourhood Development Plan as well as submissions from Croydon Council and SLR Consulting Ltd.

Director of Tibbalds Planning and Urban Design, Hilary Satchell, said ?we are delighted that Tibbalds’ work on the Thame Neighbourhood Plan has been recognised by the RTPI award for innovative plan making. This award is a testament to the way that the various parties involved rose to the challenge of putting in place the first Neighbourhood Plan to allocate land for development. It belongs as much to Thame Town Council, South Oxfordshire District Council and, most importantly, the people of Thame as it does to Tibbalds.”

Award number two!

Earlier in the week, Thame?s Neighbourhood Plan had been awarded a commendation in the Action for Market Towns (AMT) Towns Alive Awards 2013. The awards scheme was founded in 2004 and is described as ?Britain?s top awards for town projects.? It aims to recognise and showcase initiatives that are helping the country?s market towns to adapt to change and flourish and is supported by the Big Lottery Fund.

The Neighbourhood Plan?s commendation comes in the Partnership & Strategic Working Category which celebrates community-led projects, collaborative working and influencing strategic policy. Despite the fierce competition and rigorous judging process from the seven-strong panel of experts, Thame?s Neighbourhood Plan has been identified as a ?high quality? project and was a strong applicant to the competition.

THE bug-loving pupils of John Hampden Primary in Thame, had a very special visitor yesterday, as a reward for winning a national competition when a poster created by the school impressed the judges.

A resident of Thame, who died recently, has left behind a fascinating archive of photographs and other Thame-related material and memorabilia from his days as a teacher at Lord Williams’s school and ‘a pillar’ of the community and the local church.

Norman Lilley lived in Thame from the mid 1950s until his death earlier this year. He taught Physics at Lord Williams’s School from 1955, through until his retirement in 1982.

One of his many talents was photography (there will be many in Thame who will recall his Queensway Studios), and over the years he took many pictures of life within Lord Williams’s and around Thame. He was also a collector of material relating to Thame.

Following Norman’s death, and in accordance with his wishes, this material and photographs has been handed to the School’s alumni association, The Old Tamensians. They are now uploading as much as possible to their existing online archive at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/oldtamensians/ Once uploaded the material will be given to Thame Museum and the School.

PHOTO: Courtesy of Old Thamensian’s Assn. Left to right: Dave Martin (guitar), Alan Noon (banjo), Danny Hedge (drums) and Peter Savin (bass). In the background is the LWS cricket pavilion

THE Police are asking for information about suspicious vehicles in the area, following an attempted break-in at Lupton Road, Thame on Saturday, June 6, between 9am and 9pm.

The offfender/s attempted to gain entry to an outbuilding but were unsuccessful and nothing was stolen. No further information is available at this time.

If you have seen any suspicious looking people or vehicles in the area or have any information relating to this message please call the police on 101.

Alternatively if you have information but wish to remain anonymous, please call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or online @ crimestoppers-uk.org. No personal details are taken, information is not traced or recorded and you will not go to court.

THE owner of a white cat is being sought, after it turned up on the doorstep of a couple in Marston Road, Thame.

Jamie Hazeldine who found the cat, or rather, who was found by the cat, explained: “We found the cat on Wednesday night (03/07). It was crying outside our house so we brought it in and every time we tried to put it back outside it stayed outside crying. We looked after it all night and took it to the vets on Thursday morning to check for a micro chip. It didn’t have one so they are keeping hold of it for a week to see if anyone comes forward to claim it.

“It’s a white fluffy cat. It wasn’t injured and the vets have also checked it over. It seems to have been well looked after so hopefully someone will come forward.”

Anyone with any information about the cat’s ownership can contact Jamie via ThameNews.Net: 07792 487 030 or via facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jayhazeldine