Category: Thame news

A YOUNG Thame’s Got Talent winner, who so impressed the judges with her wonderful singing voice, celebrated in style with friends today, when they were treated to cookies and milkshake at the Time Out Caf

THE residents of Oxfordshire are being invited to The Queen?s Diamond Jubilee Garden Party, to be held near Henley.

Four thousand guests, together with The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh, will attend the party to be held on the afternoon of Monday, June 25.

To be one of these guests, Oxfordshire residents can apply through a public ballot which will be drawn next month. Successful applicants will join guests from all walks of life including representatives of voluntary organisations and charities, together with civic, community and business leaders.

Over a thousand tickets up for grabs

The event is being jointly organised by the Lord Lieutenants of Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Buckinghamshire as part of The Queen?s UK-wide Diamond Jubilee regional tour.

More than a quarter of the tickets will be available through the public ballot which will be drawn on Wednesday, May 9, by the Lord Lieutenants of each of the three counties.

How to apply

The ballot is open to residents aged 18 or over of all three counties. Each successful applicant will be allocated a double ticket so they can bring a guest.

Application forms can be downloaded from Oxfordshire County Council?s website. Residents without internet access can get a hard copy at public libraries from next week. The ballot closes on Monday, April 30, and successful applicants will be notified by the end of May.

Guests are promised a splendid afternoon to remember. A highlight is a river pageant themed around the Thames which celebrates the important role the river has played in the life of the three counties over a thousand years.

Closely associated with the event is a major Jubilee fundraising appeal for the four Community Foundations in Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes. To make a donation to the Jubilee Fund for Oxfordshire, or for more information, visit the Oxfordshire Community Foundation website.

IMAGE: Courtesy of http://www.thediamondjubilee.org/

THAMES Valley Police has announced the new opening hours of its front counters in South Oxfordshire and the Vale of White Horse local police area (LPA), following a review of counter services across the Force. The new hours will be implemented from 2 July 2012.

Supt Rob Povey, Commander of South Oxfordshire and Vale LPA, said: ?Our aim is to make best use of our resources, while maintaining a local police presence in our communities, which we have managed to achieve. However, there will be reductions in some of the front counter opening hours in the South and Vale.

?I want to reassure the community that this is not about removing officers from our streets. The visibility and availability of police officers to attend incidents is not affected by front counter opening times. Your neighbourhood teams will still be out patrolling the same areas they do now and will retain their local bases.

?It is also important people are clear that this does not affect emergency response teams in South Oxfordshire and Vale LPA, which are separate from neighbourhood teams. They remain on patrol 24-hours-a-day across the borough and will continue to operate as normal.

?We know that the role of counter services is much valued by the public, and we have worked hard to maintain a high level of service provision in the face of substantial budget cuts across the whole of Thames Valley Police. The new opening hours were drawn up after an analysis of demand and extensive consultation with staff, partner agencies and the general public.?

The opening hours at Thame police station in Greyhound Lane, will change to 9am ? 5pm, Tues – Sat; from July 2, 2012.

As well as visiting a police station front counter, there are a number of other ways to contact your local police, which many people may find easier and more convenient.

Thames Valley Police now has a new number ? 101 ? for non-emergency calls and routine enquiries. There is no change to the emergency number, 999.

You can also use the Force website www.thamesvalley.police.uk to report a crime, as well as to access a wealth of information including:

details of your neighbourhood team
crime prevention advice
road safety
latest news and events
answers to frequently-asked questions.

Up-to-the-minute information is available on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, all of which can be easily reached via our website.

Neighbourhood policing teams provide a direct point of contact in each community. They are available while out on patrol, during Have Your Say meetings and public forums, via email, at Neighbourhood Action Groups and many other local initiatives. Visit the website or call 101 to contact your neighbourhood officers.

DEMOLITION work, set to take place in the Cattle Market car park in Thame this April is likely to cause some temporary disruption.

The work will start on Monday, April 30 and last for around a week, depending on the weather, and will see the demolition of an old storage building at the back of the car park, previously used by Thame Town Council.

South Oxfordshire District Council, which has contracted the work, has stated that: “The redundant building is being taken down for safety reasons to allow for the complete removal of asbestos. Its demolition will also mean that public money will no longer have to be spent on maintaining and keeping the building.”

Currently there are no plans for the area that will be left, once the building has been removed. Sainsbury’s are currently awaiting a decision on their planning application to build a supermarket and a community building on the site.

PHOT): Courtesy of roofasbestos.com (for illustrative purposes only)

THE streets of Thame are set to come to a complete standstill in the middle of June, when the town’s carnival rolls through town.

The theme for this year’s carnival on June 16, is Disco Fever and the event promises to be a festival of colour and fun, and a great celebration for the town?s residents and visitors.

Due to the generosity of everyone who helped donated their time to make last year?s carnival one of the best ever, a massive

THIS is the question that Thame Town Council has been looking into as part of its development of a draft Neighbourhood Plan for Thame, now in its final stages of production.

The council has employed a consultant to assess the need and viability of a community building for Thame. Such a facility has been the longstanding aspiration of some groups in the town, particularly CMAG, the Cattle Market Action Group so the council wanted to know what size building was required and what the financial implications would be.

Are current needs being met?

In his presentation of his findings to councillors on Tuesday (03/04), Ian Barclay, the Consultant contracted to carry the initial study, reported that 10 of the 70 respondents to a needs survey said that there was nothing in Thame to satisfy their specific needs, generally for a larger capacity facility for performance based activities.

Most other groups it seems, were able to find a suitable venue though there were some issues of value and capacity on occasions.

Mr Barclay also reported that the effect of any new facility on existing venues, often not-for-profit organisations, would need to be taken into consideration.

What about future need?

However, he added that any future, or ‘latent’ need thrown up by the future growth of Thame, or unfulfilled bookings where people may be going out of the town for their events because of any inadequacy, needed to be thought about.

Mr Barclay concluded that Thame may have to decide between ‘need’ and ‘vision’:

“If the town is seeking to position itself as a hub for arts events, festivals, performance based events etc perhaps to stimulate the local economy, then that is another thing,” he concluded.

What happens now?

The town council said today: “Following the consultant?s presentation to the Full Council meeting on April 3, 2012, members will now determine exactly what type of facility is required, as part of their Neighbourhood Plan discussions. Their decision will be of vital importance to the town.”

PHOTO: The Stables, behind the James Figg pub, a popular Thame venue for parties, discos, music events etc

ANYONE walking into Lotte’s Kitchen in Chinnor yesterday, might be forgiven for wondering if they’d time-shifted into the Pineapple Studio!

Thame’s Got Talent award winner, 13-year-old singer Lewis Branch of Thame, made the most of his special VIP treatment, awarded at last November?s Thame?s Got Talent event. Lewis’s special treat was afternoon tea and cake at Lotte?s Kitchen, Chinnor, along with a private one-to-one dance lesson with dancer and choreographer Scott Cole, brother of Strictly Come Dancing?s Brendan Cole.

Lewis wowed the judging panel back in November at the annual TGT event in aid of the Florence Nightingale Hospice Charity (FNHC) and was awarded the prize for his soulful voice and obvious talent at such a young age.

After scrumptious chocolate cake, Lewis ‘hit the floor’ with trained dancer Scott, who showed him some spectacular moves on the make-shift dance-floor inside Lotte?s Kitchen, which he thoroughly enjoyed.

Commenting on the day, Lotte said: ?We hope Lewis had fun ? he chose a scrummy chocolate cake and I put together a lovely assorted cake box for him to take home as well. Scott then showed him a selection of dance moves, which he picked up really quickly.?

She added: ?We wish him all the very best for the future ? he is very talented and certainly one to watch.?

Thame?s Got Talent has helped to raise over

FOLLOWING the local authority’s declared support for conversion of schools to become Academies, Lord Williams’s Comprehensive in Thame is to consider changing to an Academy.

The Governing Body of Lord Williams?s School has decided to consult with all its stakeholders about whether the school should become an Academy or not. The consultation period is from Monday, March 26, to Tuesday, May 8, 2012.

A detailed briefing paper is available in the Latest News section of the school’s website: www.lordwilliams.oxon.sch.uk

How will the Consultation Work?

Responses will be sought in writing by the end of the consultation period. and Hard copy responses should be returned in an envelope to the Clerk to the Governors at school and marked ?Academy Consultation?. Email responses should be sent to: academy.consultation@lordwilliams.oxon.sch.uk in free form or using the response form available on the school?s website putting ?Academy Consultation? as the subject bar of the e-mail.

Consultation Meetings

A formal, open public meeting will be held at the school in the Upper School Main Hall at 7.00pm on Thursday, April 19, 2012.

An informal open, drop-in evening will be held at the school in the Upper School Main Hall from
5 -7pm on Wednesday May 2, 2012, which will allow questions to be raised and answered on an individual basis with governors and members of the senior leadership team.

THAMES Valley Police is appealing for witnesses to a collision on the M40 earlier this week.

At around 8.30pm on Monday (26/3) a white Vauxhall Astra van was travelling northbound between junctions 8A and 9 when it overturned and ended up on its roof.

As a result of the collision the driver of a white van, a 26-year-old man from the West Midlands, sustained life threatening injuries and is receiving treatment in the John Radcliffe Hospital.

Any witnesses to the collision are urged to contact PC Sarah Holmwood from the joint Roads Policing Department based at Bicester on 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 crimestoppers-uk.org.No personal details are taken, information is not traced or recorded and you will not go to court.

ON the penultimate day of its financial year, following a quiet week for sales at Thame’s Oxfam book shop, the extraordinary weather and the petrol panic, the shop today sold a 20 volume set of the Collected Edition of the novels of Grahame Greene.

“They were all Firsts editions,” said Manager, Dick Jennen. “All were in very good condition and with very good dust wrappers They were bought by a customer in South Africa and as a result, we raised