Category: Thame news

TODAY, Wednesday (24/4), a property in Hillside View, Chinnor, was the target of an attempted burglary.

At 00:15hrs, the aggrieved heard noises and saw two suspects dressed in black with hooded tops running away from the property.

Police attended and found tool marks around a side window and the rear door handle had been moved down, believed in an attempt to gain entry.

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.

A Thame man has been given a suspended sentence for brandishing a knife in a public place and using threatening words or behaviour. Shane Eele, 48, of Rooks Lane, Thame, admitted producing a knife outside Thame Snooker Club, in St Andrews Court, Thame, telling Louise Miller: ?I?m going to burn this place down,? at around 10.30pm on December 22.

He then moved on to the Swan Hotel, in Upper High Street, Thame, where he made threats to Sian Coles regarding her boyfriend.

Eele’s defence lawyer said that his client had split up from his wife 18 months previously and was now a full-time carer for his 87-year-old mother.

In sentencing Eele at Oxford Crown Court on Monday (22/04), Recorder Hodge Malek presiding told him that such offences would result in jail, but in this case he had decided to award two, six-month sentences suspended for 18 months, to run concurrently, plus a 12 month Supervision Order, so that he could continue looking after his mother.

Eele was also banned from entering any licensed premises for 12 months.

TWO separate safety issues were raised by residents at last night’s annual Thame Town Meeting, one concerning Harrison Place, Lea Park, and the other the entrance to Elms Park in Park Street. The Chair of the the Lea Park Residents’ Association, Angela Wilson, described how young cyclists and skateboarders were ‘hurtling’ into the road in the Harrison Place area of Lea Park.

When the Mayor, Cllr Nigel Champken Woods replied that the council would make finding a solution to the problem one of its priorities in the next administrative year, another resident asked for it to be dealt with ‘as a top priority now’ pointing out that these were young children between four years-old and nine affected.

The same resident said that he had written to the council three times about the problem, including copying in the Mayor on one of the emails, but had received no response. “This is not acceptable,” he concluded. “This is a safety issue and the council should take it seriously.”

The Mayor replied that he had not seen any correspondence but offered to talk to the resident about the matter outside of the meeting.

The second safety issue, also involving possible danger to children, involved the on-going debacle about the the missing, side access gate at the entrance to Elms Park, in Park Street, Thame. (See LINK and LETTERS PAGE )

Richard Jeffries, who lives opposite the park entrance, said that he had sent four correspondences to the council dating back to July, 2011, with what he called, ‘unsatisfactory results’. He wanted to know why the gate had not been installed as per the council’s original plan.

The Mayor replied that it had been four years since the gate had been changed, since when several RoSPA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents) inspections had been issued, stating that the risk level at the site was low. “We intend to address the issue,” said the mayor, and promised that the council’s CLR (Culture, Leisure and Recreation) Committee would be considering the matter at its next meeting in June, and would look into the possibility of installing a barrier there.

Mr Jeffries concluded by offering to help the council implement the solution.

MORE from the Thame Town Meeting tomorrow

THE scene late this afternoon, as fire crew grapple to remove a car that somehow left the road near the bridge in Chinnor Road, Thame, and ended up straddling a garden wall.

No further information is available at this time though it is thought that the driver was not seriously hurt.

PHOTO; Courtesy of @theWISHnet via twitter

THAME’S innovative Neighbourhood Plan, which is the first ever to allocate new housing sites, has been shortlisted for a prestigious planning award.

The Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) Awards for Planning Excellence are set to be hotly contested with 30 schemes shortlisted for five project categories, ranging from the regeneration of Kings Cross to public realm improvements in Singapore.

The Thame Neighbourhood Plan, which has been submitted by Tibbalds, the consultancy that worked with Thame Town Council on delivering the plan, will compete with three other entries in the ‘Innovative use of the planning process’ – Plan Making section.

They are:

Upper Eden neighbourhood development plan (submitted by Development Planning Solutions)

East Pit/Lakes of Rhosamman regeneration strategy (submitted by SLR Consulting)

Croydon’s 16 places and the shift to spatial planning (submitted by Croydon Council)

The shortlisted projects will now be further scrutinised by a panel of 24 expert judges, chaired by one of the world?s leading planner-architects, Sir Terry Farrell, before the category winners are announced on July 10.

To read more about the RTPI Awards, go to http://www.planningresource.co.uk/Design/article/1178873/rtpi-planning-excellence-awards-shortlist-revealed/

The people of Thame and Moreton will go to the polls on May 2, to vote in a Referendum to decide whether the Thame Neighbourhood Plan becomes part of district planning policy or not.

TODAY, St Mary?s Church in Thame is flying the Union flag at Half Mast out of respect for the late Margaret Thatcher, whose ceremonial funeral took place in London today.

At 5pm this evening, St Mary?s Bell ringers will be ringing the bells, half muffled, in tribute to her.

A District Councillor, who was concerned about the effect of the government’s so-called ‘bedroom tax’ on particularly disabled people, has lost her bid for SODC to ask the government to review it.

Cllr Eleonor Hards put her motion to a recent meeting of the district council, asking that the council ‘by all means available’ make representations to the government to bring forward an early review of the tax which is to be brought in as part of the Welfare Reform Bill.

In putting forward her motion, Cllr Hards said: “It is becoming apparent that this under-occupation penalty will have a severe impact on members of our local communities particularly people with disabilities.?

According to the Minutes of the Council meeting held on February 21, a number of other councillors spoke in support of the motion saying that planned changes in allowances, which will reduce housing benefits for people who have a spare room, took no account of disabled people?s adapted homes and the possible need for a carer, of parents sharing custody who will lose the room for their child when visiting or of grandchildren visiting grandparents. Others pointed out that there was a shortage of smaller dwellings in the district to meet the demand.

Some councillors apparently felt that vulnerable residents would be forced to leave their neighbourhoods and support networks which could have the result of increasing the demand on the resources of social services. An early review would allow the unintended consequences of the proposal to be addressed.

According to the Minutes, those councillors opposing the motion spoke of the need to reform the current scheme to ensure a flexible and fair approach to the housing needs of residents. The housing benefit payable should reflect a person?s or family?s needs in terms of bedrooms required and not automatically cover the cost of the property. This system already operated within the private rental sector, it was said, and it was too early to undertake a review because the scheme was not yet in place.

It was explained that the government had allocated a

THERE will be nine candidates running for two seats on behalf of Thame and Chinnor in the County Council elections on May 2, 2013

They are:

David William Bretherton Liberal Democrat Party
Nick Carter Conservative Party
Colin Dennis Grenville Green Party
David Arthur Laver Liberal Democrat Party
Michael Montgomery UKIP
William Parkinson UKIP
Mary Honora Stiles Labour Party Candidate
Simon Stone Labour Party Candidate
David Noel Wilmshurst The Conservative Party

A full list of the candidates for all divisions is available at Oxfordshire County Council’s website

THAMES Valley Police is appealing for information after a woman was found dead on the A40 at Wheatley, near Thame, early this morning.

The incident occurred near to the Holton over-bridge, at 00.38am.

Police believe that a woman fell from the over-bridge onto the Oxford-bound carriageway of the A40. The woman was confirmed dead at the scene by paramedics.

The A40 was closed following the incident, and was reopened at about 6am.

The death is being treated as ‘unexplained’ by the police.

Investigating officer, Sgt Michael Bettington said: ?I would appeal to motorists who may have been travelling along this stretch of the A40 at this time, or pedestrians who may have been using the Holton over-bridge to contact police via 101.?

If you don’t want to speak directly to the police you can contact the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online at www.crimestoppers-uk.org. No personal details are taken, information is not traced or recorded and you will not go to court.

IN exactly three weeks from today, Thame will be the first community in the country to vote on a Neighbourhood Plan that includes specific sites for development. To mark such an historic stage in planning history, Nick Boles MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Planning, Department for Communities and Local Government, will be visiting Thame for the second time, on Saturday, April 27, in preparation for the Neighbourhood Plan referendum on May 2, 2013.

The Minister, escorted by the Town Mayor, Cllr Nigel Champken-Woods, will be wandering around Thame between 12 noon and 2pm visiting shops and businesses, ready to answer questions – and pose for photographs.

The 15-year plan for Thame is the first neighbourhood plan to allocate sites for future development of an additional 775 homes, three hectares of new employment land and up to 5,700 square metres of new retail within the town centre. It also sets out potential locations for a new community facility, plans for new and improved connections in and around the town and new and improved open spaces.

Planning Minister Nick Boles has said: ?Neighbourhood Planning is an incredibly important new right and one that provides a real opportunity for people to bring about the homes, shops and facilities they want to see to make their community thrive.?

Supporting this view, the Mayor added: “Local people are being given the opportunity to vote on a plan that has been put together by the community. It is giving Thame a say in what happens in the local area rather than a plan that has been developed to serve the whole district.?

The next stage in the process is the referendum where the community has the final say on whether a neighbourhood plan comes into force. If more than 50 per cent of people voting in the referendum support the Plan, then South Oxfordshire District Council will use it to help it decide planning applications in Thame.

“Your vote counts!” concluded the Mayor.