THE people of Thame of spoken. They have voted ‘YES’ to accept the Thame Neighbourhood Plan, the first in the country to include allocated sites for housing development.
The turnout was 40%, larger even than for the general election. The stats are: Yes – 2779, No – 855, with 21 spoilt papers.
Reaction from the Mayor coming soon!
SOUTH Oxfordshire District Council, the planning authority for Thame, has welcomed the news that Thame has voted YES to accept its Neighbourhood Plan, which SODC will use to help it decided planning applications.
In a statement today, SODC said: “SODC is delighted with the result of the referendum on the Thame neighbourhood plan. This is a tremendous achievement and means that Thame is among the first towns in the entire country to have a community prepared plan that will be used to make decisions on planning applications.
“The plan preparation was coordinated by Thame Town Council and the plan itself identifies where new housing, employment and shops will be built in the town, and what community facilities will be required. The plan takes account of the specific local needs and views of Thame and its residents.”
At the referendum yesterday, 2,779 Thame residents said yes to the question ?Do you want South Oxfordshire District Council to use the neighbourhood plan for Thame to help it decide planning applications in the neighbourhood area??
The statement continued: “The district council will now bring the neighbourhood plan into action and as of July, it will carry legal weight in deciding planning applications for the town.”
Cllr Angie Paterson, cabinet member for planning at South Oxfordshire District Council, said: ?We are very pleased that Thame residents have agreed to adopt their neighbourhood plan. Everybody involved with creating the plan, from the Town Council to the residents who contributed can be very proud of the achievement ? it?s good news for Thame.?
The plan was almost two years in the making and can be read at the district council?s website at www.southoxon.gov.uk/ThameNP
THE Mayor of Thame has welcomed the result of yesterday’s referendum to decide whether Thamne’s Neighbourhood Plan, was acceptable to the majority of the town.
He told ThameNews: “Obviously I am delighted with the result.
“The future of Thame is now in the hands of local people.
We were and a front runner in a new process and we will continue to be! Even more importantly, we crossed the finishing line in first place with a fantastic, positive endorsement.
“History was made in Thame today!”
AFTER almost two years in the making, today is the day that the people of Thame go to the Polls to decide whether or not its Neighbourhood Plan becomes enshrined in local planning policy.
The lead up to Referendum day has no doubt been one of the most controversial periods in the town’s history, with passions running high on both sides of the debate, particularly over where it was decided new housing should go.
With accusations of ‘dirty tricks’, illegal advertising and ‘scare mongering’, today the dust must settle, minds made up and choices made that will have repercussions for the way Thame develops for the next 15 years.
Simultaneously, the County County local elections are also being held with the number of seats cut from 74 to 63 , though Thame is one of just two areas which will keep two representatives.
The Conservatives currently control the authority with 52 seats while the Liberal Democrats hold 10, Labour nine, the Greens two and the Independents have one seat.
The Polls in both contests are open between 07:00 and 22:00.
The result from Thame’s referendum is expected to be announced by Friday lunchtime with the county council final declarations by late afternoon.
MOST of us have been hit by the current financial crisis. Some more than others, and an increasing number of households right here in our community are struggling at times to makes ends meet in the most basic way: to put food on the table.
The Sharing Life Trust, in cooperation with other local charities and citizens groups, aims to relieve the pressure of food poverty by providing a few days-worth of solid food to tide families over during a crisis period. The packages are entirely reliant on donations (in kind or financially) and are made up of non-perishable foodstuffs such as cereal, pasta, fruit squash, canned vegetables and rice.
While it may be a revelation to many that there are households in our community who need to use this service, it seems to be helping an increasing number of people. The Sharing Life Trust reports that while 150 packages were distributed in the whole of 2012, as of April 2013, 116 packages have already been given out.
These figures reflect wider national trends. In October 2012, food charity FareShare reported that charities nationwide saw a 59% increase in the need for food packages. According to a 2012 survey by the Guardian Teacher Network, almost half of all teachers have taken food in for their hungry students.
Most of Foodbank recipients are referred through one of the Sharing Life Trust?s partner organizations, such as the Citizen?s Advice Bureau, Social Services and Toogle, the community information, advice and referral service. Those who self-refer to the Sharing Life Trust must meet their criteria, to ensure food packages are distributed fairly.
For the direct recipients of the Foodbank project, reasons for their need vary, and circumstances change from case to case. According to John Hulett, of the Sharing Life Trust: ?while there is no one dominant reason,? a possible key factor for many is that ?food prices and inflation have increased, while benefits have not kept up.” Other factors may include a sudden breakdown in family relations, or financial circumstances, such as debt, leading to unexpected gaps in budgets.
These factors may be linked to wider socio-economic issues, such as an increasing cost of living and unemployment. Ultimately, a poor financial position for a number of households is at the heart of the issue. However, this is something that is simple for concerned citizens to help out with. The Sharing Life Trust welcomes donations from people with a little to spare.
Thame shoppers can buy some of the following items during their regular shop, and drop them off at one of the designated collection points: Thame Town Hall Information Centre (Monday-Wednesday 9.00am ? 5.00pm, Thursday 10.00am-5.00pm, Friday 9.00am ? 4.30pm), Thame Library (Mon,Tues,Fri 9.30am-5.30pm, Thurs 9.00am-7.00pm, Sat 9.30am-4.30pm), St Mary?s Parish Church and Barley Hill Church (Sundays only):
large packet of breakfast cereal
UHT milk (1litre pack)
tinned soup
fruit juice, longlife (1 litre pack)
bottle of fruit squash
500g pasta
jar of pasta sauce
tin of baked beans or spaghetti
1kg packet of rice
tinned vegetables
tinned fish (e.g. tuna)
tea bags
jar of instant coffee
potato (instant mash or tinned)
tinned meat/meat meal (e.g. steak & kidney)
tinned fruit
sugar (500g bag)
packet of biscuits
Pack of washing machine powder (a useful additional non-food item)
NOTE: So that stock of one particular item do not mount up and there are shortages of others, the Sharing Life website shopping list is updated every week.
SOURCE: Contributed by Will Worley
IMAGE: The Mayor of Thame, Nigel Champken Woods, presents a cheque for £1,250 to Phil Stratton of the Sharing Life Trust. The trust is one of the Mayor’s chosen charities and the money was raised at the Mayor’s Big Bash recently
THE ‘Yes’ Campaign, who are encouraging the people of Thame and Moreton to vote to accept the Thame Neighbourhood Plan, attracted a lot of attention when they ‘camped out’ in the town centre on Saturday.
Alongside another stand, manned by Thame Town Council, the ‘Yes’ group answered questions from passers by about the Neighbourhood Plan, and visitors to their tent included Thame’s MP, John Howell, and Michael Oatway, Oxfordshire’s Youth Parliament representative. Michael said: “”The neighbourhood plan has got Thame’s best intrests at heart and will be greatly beneficial to all residents if voted in.”
Jeannette Matelot Green, for the ‘Yes’ campaign, who was on the spot most of the day with fellow members, in their distinctive T-shirts, told ThameNews.Net: “We spoke to many residents and the key questions were: Using the Plan to explain where the housing would be allocated; Primary school and health centre provision;
Where the Elms Field allocation had come from – we explained that this had come forward later in the consultations and it had been agreed that SODC and English Heritage had no objection to this and therefore
it would get planning permission whether we vote Yes or No.
“We explained that if the Plan was turned down,the 45 houses would then be considered Windfall and would be added to the 775 houses making it 820 houses. Some residents still thought they were voting for 775 houses and once they realised that was not the case, they thought they would now vote Yes.
” Another popular questions was what would happen about the Cattle Market if there was a No vote. We couldn’t say what Sainsburys would do, but the most likely outcome was that they would appeal against SODC’s decision to refuse their planning application.”
On Sunday, Thame enjoyed being in the political limelight, when the town and its plan featured on the Politics show on Sunday, on the BBC. There representatives from both the No and the Yes camp had their say, and Neighbourhood plans in general were discussed by studio guests.
You can watch the Politic Show on iplayer here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01rxx34/Sunday_Politics_South_28_04_2013/ It’s at about 48:14 secs along.
IMAGE: (Courtesy of Nick White Photography) John Howell MP urges local people to vote for the Thame Neighbourhood Plan
THE Rotary Club of Thame is asking the public to check their sheds and lofts and bring their old tools to the Upper High Street car park, near Market House, in Montesson Square on Saturday morning, May 25, between 9:00 and 14:00.
Every year the Rotary Club of Thame runs a collection point for unwanted tools. These are then taken to ‘Tools for Self Reliance’ at Netley Marsh near Southampton. The latter is a charity which refurbishes them and sends them to NGOs in Africa. The NGOs then distribute them among both men and women craftspeople, to enable them to obtain work.
Rotarian Peter Hook, Chairman of the International Committee at the Thame Rotary Club said: “The Rotary Club of Thame would like to encourage everyone to check their garages and lofts and bring their unwanted items to us to give the craftspeople in Africa a chance to put their skills to good use for the benefit of their community, as we believe it is a worthy cause.”
Here are a few examples of items to be collected:
?Sewing machines
?Blacksmiths tools ? especially anvils, leg vices, hand operated pillar drills
?Carpentry tools ? especially large carpenters’ vices, metal jack planes and tri-planes, drawknives;
?Engineering and Metalworking tools ? especially HSS twist drills, metric taps & dies, hand operated bench grinders;
?Bicycle repair tools ? especially spoke spanners;
?Shoe repair tools ? especially complete sets of individual lasts;
?Auto mechanics’ tools ? especially HD screw jacks, tyre pressure gauges, foot-pumps;
?Electrical repair tools ? especially multi-meters, Arc Welders (240V);
?Industrial quality power tools ? especially drills and bench grinders.
Once refurbished by a group of retired engineers at Netley Marsh, the tools are packed into containers for shipment to African countries. From the port of arrival they are taken by members of the organisation to villages to help the people become more self-reliant.
Anyone with tools available to donate but who may not able to go to the Upper High Street car park on the May 25, can send a message via the Rotary Club’s website: www.thame.rotaryweb.org
or ring/text 07764 85 49 49
FOLLOWING recent safety concerns about a missing pedestrian gate to Elms Park, the headteacher of nearby John Hampden Primary School, has added his voice to pleas to Thame Town Council to act.
In a statement today, Alan Haigh said: “The school pays a small nominal sum to Thame Town Council for the use of the park. This has been the case for many years. In recent years the school has supported efforts to change the park into an increasingly user-friendly facility for families and especially children, eg Music in the Park.
“In advocating this park as a superb green area and space to play in, our interests as a school lie firmly in upholding this as a safe place to play by large numbers of children being able to play unsupervised with the most minimal levels of danger and risk.
“As a school supporting and promoting sustainable travel in the town and around the school, many children use bicycles and scooters to come to and from school. They should and do use the park pathway which leads on to the highly busy Park Street. An unprotected park entrance would logically increase the risk of accidents.”
Parent recalls near-miss….
Several parents have had, what to them, were worrying experiences, including this Thame resident who did not wish to be named (name and address supplied)for personal reasons:
“The incident happened one day as I left the park with my two daughters, one in a buggy and one on a scooter. We exited the park onto Park Street with my eldest daughter, then five, exiting first on her scooter.
“As she went through the exit where the gate should be and turned left onto the pavement, a white van mounted the dip in the kerb to make a delivery the the house immediately on the left, missing my daughter by a couple of inches!!
“Clearly this exit is concealed, hence I would like a barrier put up between the road and pavement. The van should not have done this as that side of Park street is double yellow lined. However, on a daily basis this does not put off vehicles from parking on this side.
“I submitted a comment on the town council’s website detailing my experience and supporting the need for a gate and barrier. I’m not certain why this isn’t getting sorted as it seems clear to me that as a public space frequented by many people, and especially children, that these necessary safety features should be in place as can be seen in other parks in Thame. So surely a precedent has been set!
“The council has a responsibility to provide the community with safe recreational areas. Therefore, you would think they would make it a priority to correct this ASAP.
“The alternative is an accident waiting to happen… it’s a no brainer to me!
The Mayor of Thame, Nigel Champken Woods, speaking at the recent annual, Town Meeting, told concerned residents: “The entrance has undergone several inspections by ROSPA, the last of which being two weeks ago, and they have reported the current layout to be of ?minimal risk?. However, the Council is responding to the concern raised by local residents and the issue will be raised at the next Culture, Leisure and Recreation meeting.”
PHOTO: The view through the pedestrian side entrance from Elms Park, Thame, onto Park Street
BETWEEN 12:15pm and 1:15pm on Tuesday, April 23, a van parked in a car park on the Oxford Road, Thame, was broken into.
Offender/s have gained access by the driver?s side door by removing the lock panel and drilling a hole. They have then accessed the rear panel doors at the rear of the van and stole power tools.
Please be extra vigilant. 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 and state you are responding to a Thames Valley Alert message.
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.
SOURCE: Thames Valley Police Alert
WATCH Manager at Thame fire station, Andy Ford, this evening received one of the biggest surprises of his life when he accepted a request to attend the Thame Annual Town meeting to answer the public’s questions about the fire service.
But the whole thing was a setup. After delivering his annual report, the Mayor of Thame revealed the true purpose of Andy’s presence at the meeting, possibly the best kept secret ever of the crew of Thame fire station, and presented him with his Long Service and Good Conduct Medal on behalf of Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service after 20 years of service.
Andy was obviously taken completely by surprise and was, for once, almost lost for words, though he did manage to thank the Mayor and to say how much he appreciated having his service recognised.
In thanking Andy for his long, distinguished service, the Mayor recalled a particular incident at the scene of a car crash when Andy single-handedly fought a car fire and rescued a trapped driver while his colleagues kept the flames away from the driver’s position.
As his colleagues stood amused at the back of the hall looking very pleased with their plotting, Watch Manager Andy Ford, made it very clear that they hadn’t heard the last of this matter. Knowing the good-natured teasing and banter that goes on between Thame fire officers, I have a feeling that ‘getting one over’ on their boss might be a short-lived victory.