Category: Thame news

THAME Town Council is concerned that its Thame Town Plan consultations has so far failed to engage with many younger people in the town.

The council says that by end of last weekend, it had over 400 names recorded as visiting the various drop-ins, workshops and other events held about Thame Town Plan.

“We are very pleased at how many people came and contributed,” it said. “Our consultants, Tibbalds, held a feedback session on Sunday (09/10) on the issues and ideas which came up over the weekend. They will now be writing up a report of all the things you (the community) have told us and will be making it available over the next week or so.

“However, younger people (15-30) were conspicuously absent at the drop-ins and workshops and we need to get the word out to them about the Town Plan and find out what they think. If you are a Facebook user, please get your Facebook friends in Thame to ?like? the Thame Town Plan page and get involved in the debate.

In the meantime, please keep an eye out at: www.facebook.com/thametownPlan

Twitter users can get involved @ThameTownPlan or use the hashtag #ThameTownPlan

SOUTH Oxfordshire District Council is concerned about the proposal in the Government’s Mason Report that could see the removal of the requirement for Hackney Carriage/Private Hire drivers to undergo an Enhanced Criminal Records Bureau check.

The council fears that the proposed change could lead to unsuitable people with criminal records being granted licences as inadequate checks have been carried out.

The council is to call on the Home Office to ensure that when it responds to proposals in the Mason Report that the requirement for Enhanced Criminal Records Bureau checks for Hackney Carriage/Private Hire drivers is maintained.

The government is proposing to stop enhanced criminal record (CRB) checks – meaning taxi and mini cab drivers will only be prevented from getting a licence if they have a relevant conviction. General information about their criminal records will not be provided.

A Home Office spokeswoman is quoted (in the Huffington Post) as stating that taxi drivers did not always need to go through enhanced checks: “The law has not changed,” she said. “All taxi drivers are still required to undergo a standard criminal record check which will reveal details of any convictions, cautions and warnings held by police.”

HISTORICALLY, October sees a substantial rise in Doorstep Crime throughout Oxfordshire. The following is a Community Message from Thames Valley Police, sent out on behalf of Oxfordshire Trading Standards.

Thames Valley Police and Trading Standards carry out routine patrols to protect vulnerable people from being cold called and then being bullied into having unnecessary work carried out on their property.

Please be extra vigilant and remember to report any doorstep cold callers as soon as possible to Thames Valley Police on the non-emergency number 08458 505 505 or to Oxfordshire Trading Standards 0845 051 0845 option 2.

Provide as much information as possible, time and date, include the location they are working at, name of the company or salesman, vehicle details, including registration number of the vehicle used and description of any other occupants.

If they offer you a flyer or leaflet, keep it as it may be of interest. All information will be dealt with in confidence and the caller may stay anonymous if they wish to do so.

Message Ends.

A HOUSING charity with clients in the Thame area was praised by the Prime Minister last night, along with other charities and volunteers, at the Oxfordshire Charity and Volunteer Awards.

Soha Housing, which is the largest social housing provider in South Oxfordshire, managing 5,300 homes, won the award for Best initiative involving the statutory and voluntary and community sectors working together (sponsor Henmans).

The special event at Oxford Town Hall, hosted by Oxfordshire Community and Voluntary Action (OCVA), saw over 40 of the county?s volunteers and ten local charities receive certificates to honour their contribution. The Awards were presented by the High Sheriff of Oxfordshire, Mrs Penelope Glen and Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire Tim Stevenson OBE.

Charity of the Year went to Restore, which supports people with mental health issues. Benedict Leigh, Chief Executive of Restore, was overwhelmed by the Award, commenting: ?We are stunned and gratified. We wouldn’t be Charity of the Year without our great volunteers.?

Mr Cameron?s message to the audience said: ?Volunteers are the core of Britain?s civil society, an indispensable resource for the voluntary sector and in many public services. I would like to take this opportunity to recognise the outstanding work that Oxfordshire?s volunteers do. A strong voluntary and charitable sector is crucial to building a bigger and stronger society.

?My vision for the Big Society rests on the fact that in our communities there are individuals, like you, businesses and charities that are often better placed to confront the problems our country faces than the State. I want to take power out of the hands of bureaucrats and give it to the people working on the front line who know what is best for a service and who can help us provide better services more efficiently.

?I am sorry that I can?t be with you today at the Charity and Volunteer Awards but I do hope that you have an enjoyable day and thank you again for all your hard work.?

Soha proudly claims to offer: “A safer, cleaner, greener approach, increasing pride in neighbourhoods, reduces community conflict and demonstrates community cohesion.” Visit Soha’s website: www.soha.co.uk

AT approximately 13:30 on Saturday, October 8, Fire crews from Thame and the Specialist Rescue Unit from Kidlington attended a road traffic collision.

A 20yr old woman driver was cut free from her car after crashing though a hedge and colliding with an electricity pole on the Chinnor Road just outside Thame.

Firefighters had to cut through the hedgerow to gain access to the car which had landed in a field. The woman was then cut free using specialist cutting equipment.

The female casualty was treated on scene by Paramedics and doctors from the Thames Valley Air Ambulance. Fortunately her injuries did not appear to be serious and she was taken to hospital by ambulance.

The rescue was hampered by the damaged electricity pole, which the fire fighters had to ensure was kept clear so not to cause further injury to the driver or the fire fighters cutting her free. The crews worked around these issues in conjunction with the Ambulance service and doctors and were able to release the woman safely from her car.

THE first major consultation event for the Thame Neighbourhood Plan started today and will continue tomorrow, Saturday, October 8, and Sunday, October 9, in the Town Hall. The event will be a mix of drop-in events, workshops and town tours, so something for everyone!

The purpose of the event is to find out in more detail what the issues are locally for Thame and to gather together the ideas people who live or work in the town have for what could be better so that the team working on the plan can understand face to face what people think.

The Neighbourhood Plan idea comes from new legislation proposed by the Government to give local communities more say in their area and the right to put together a plan for submission to the District Council for approval following a public vote, or referendum.

The details of what the Government proposes for Neighbourhood Plans are still being finalised but Thame Town Council has been awarded funding for a pilot scheme so has been able to get a head start to ensure that a strong vision is developed for the future of Thame, in partnership with residents and businesses.

The Town Council has appointed consultants to help them with the Neighbourhood Planning process and is hoping that residents, businesses and others who use Thame will attend the events and get involved.

The team are very aware that there are lots of things already happening in the town but want to make sure that they hear them directly from those involved.
The events on October 7 and 8, are open to anyone to come along. Members of the team will be around to listen, talk and share ideas. The event is being organised by Tibbalds, the consultants appointed by the Town Council to lead the production of Thame?s Plan, in partnership with staff from the Council, Town Councillors and local people. Hilary Satchwell is one of the team from Tibbalds working with the Town Council. Hilary is an urban designer who works with communities to help them be clear about what sort of place they could be living in over the next 10 or 20 years.

?I am really looking forward to hearing directly from residents about what they value about Thame at the moment and their aspirations for the future,” she said. “Thame has a really interesting town centre with a fascinating history. I also want to know what really annoys people, things like where it is really hard to cross the road, or which areas find it hardest to get to the town centre. We also want people to think about what their vision is for the town in advance of the events on October 7 and 8, if they can,? she added.

As part of the two days of drop-in sessions at the Town Hall, there will be workshops that will look at key housing and town centre issues in more detail, and these can be signed up for on the day. The programme for the two days includes:

Friday, October 7
Drop-in – open to all from 11am to 9pm; come any time you like

Workshops on Future Housing at 11.30am and 7pm

Workshop on the Future Town Centre at 2.30pm

Saturday 8 October
Drop-in – open to all from 10am to 4pm; come any time you like

Workshop on the Future Town Centre at 11.30am

Workshop on Future Housing at 2.30pm

Sunday 9 October
Summary session probably from 11am until 1pm
The team will feed back the initial results from the workshops and drop-ins.

This is not going to be the only consultation event, but it is a really important event in terms of making sure that the issues are well known early on. Other events are planned to follow, for particular groups or sectors, as well as a second major event in November.

The Town Plan will be a major piece of work and the Town Council are looking to have a draft document prepared in Spring 2012.

Further information will be posted on:
The Thame Town Council website (www.thametowncouncil.gov.uk), Thame Facebook Page (www.facebook.com/thametown) and Twitter users can get involved @ThameTownPlan or by using the hashtag #ThameTownPlan.

ANTI-SOCIAL behaviour, shop-lifting, criminal damage, 26 offenders brought to justice – all in month’s work for Thame’s Nighbourhood Crime officers. Here is the latest Thame neighbourhood update from Police Community Support Officers (PCSO) Lucy Thorne and PCSO Jackson:

Priorities:

Our Local Priority for Thame is ASB. We conduct high visibility patrols in and around the town, engaging with members of the public, listening to local people?s community concerns/issues. Where problems are brought to our attention, we conduct home visits with parents present, issue warning letters and work with offenders to encourage them to move forward.

Anti-social behaviour (ASB) Info:

The most common way we can deal with incidents of ASB is by issuing ASB warning letters, acceptable behaviour contracts (ABCs), anti-social behaviour orders (ASBOs), Section 27 orders ? direction to leave locality, and Section 59 orders – contracts issued for using a vehicle in an anti-social manner.

One ASB warning letter has been issued by Thame PCSOs but no Section 59s and/or ABCs have been issued.

We have received reports of ASB in Webster Close, where young people are gathering and creating noise nuisance. There are also some concerns around underage drinking. This will be monitored on our patrols.

Offenders brought to justice:

In September, 26 offenders have been brought to justice, for a variety of offences, including the following:

Seven x Drug Possession Cannabis
One x Fraud by False Representation
Eight x Shoplifting
One x Handling Stolen Goods
Three x Public Order
Three x Assault Occasioning Actual Bodily Harm
Two x Criminal Damage
Following the devastating double murder of two Thame residents, our role as PCSOs was to offer reassurance and support to local residents. We delivered leaflets to all premises in the vicinity and conducted high visibility reassurance patrols in and around the area; answering any questions people had and addressing any concerns. This was a very sad, but isolated incident, and the offender was detained and arrested within 30 minutes.

Crime Mapping

The Home Office national crime mapping website gives the public access to street-level crime information as well as information on their Neighbourhood Policing Teams, Neighbourhood Priorities and Events – details of Have Your Say and other neighbourhood activities. Log on to www.police.uk, type in your local postcode or neighbourhood name and then click on ?Find out more?.

Partnership Activity:

We continue to work with our partners, ensuring that we liaise on a regular basis with the schools on our sector with which we have good rapports. We conduct monthly site inspections with Soha, South Vale Housing and Sovereign Housing, tackling low level neighbourhood disputes.

PCSO Lucy Thorne conducted a site visit with Soha to Moreton following reports of parking issues. This will be monitored and PCSO Thorne is carrying out enquiries regarding land ownership.

We have been engaging with our schools following the summer holidays, and have been updating our contact lists with up to date details, allowing us to make contact with schools easily. This has been organised through the Schools Liaison Officer.

We engage regularly with the local Town Council, picking up any local concerns people raise and also events which are taking place over coming months.

Pubwatch meetings continue to be held every two months and Country Watch meetings are held quarterly.

Non Partnership Activity:

We would like to introduce PCSO Chris Hollis to the team, who joined us in early September. He is an additional PCSO for the town, working alongside PCSO Diane Jackson and PCSO Lucy Thorne.

PCSO Diane Jackson has worked with the Highways Agency to get an illegal sign removed from a roundabout in Thame.

PCSO Lucy Thorne has worked with licensing to create an up to date list of premises that need routine drug swabbing in the Thame area. This allows us to identify where there are drug related issues in the pubs. Where there are problems, we work with the licensee?s to address the issue.

Due to us providing a visible presence for the majority of our shifts, we engage with our local community daily, allowing us to talk with people and deal with any issues they have.

Planned Activity:

We have participated in the following operations during September:

Maginot – this operation continues to run, tackling travelling criminals entering and leaving our area.

Due to an increase in thefts from vehicles in the Thame area and surrounding villages, we have been deploying the Automated Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) device at dedicated times and providing a highly visible police presence aimed at deterring and preventing offences taking place, offering reassurance and assisting in the capture and prosecution of offenders.

ANPR is a powerful tool that can help prevent crime by identifying flagged vehicles.

Benefits of ANPR

ANPR identifies suspect vehicles that may not normally attract police attention.
Unlicensed or uninsured vehicles are likely to be seized on the spot by ANPR equipped officers.
It can be used to gather intelligence on known criminals, and for running pro-active operations using dedicated Roads Policing intercept teams.
ANPR cameras are not safety cameras – they are not used by Thames Valley Police to catch speeding or otherwise law abiding motorists. ANPR cameras are not used to generate money for the Government or other agencies.

Magpie – This operation involves checking parked vehicles in local car parks for valuables left on display.

Mangrove – this is running initially for eight weeks as a result of fuel thefts from heavy goods vehicles over recent weeks in our local area. This operation involves us carrying out static patrols in key areas at key times in marked vehicles.

Moonlight- this operation will be running continuously and is working to protect the night time economy of Thame Town centre by preventing and detecting ASB/violent assaults and managing licensed premises. PCSOs are working with police officers to conduct high visibility patrols in the town centre and are liaising with the pubs, carrying out licence checks.

Good News Stories:

PCSO Lucy Thorne has identified one offender for Criminal Damage, which potentially has three offenders in total. Enquiries are being carried out at present to try and identify the further two.

PCSO Diane Jackson has identified an offender for Shoplifting.

Community Messaging:

This free service provides information to subscribers about crime and police activity in their area via phone or email. It also includes information on what we and our partner services are doing to bring offenders to justice or combat anti-social behaviour, and information on opportunities for local residents to raise concerns with their local policing teams. More information can be obtained via our website, and you can sign up here too: http://www.tvpcommunitymessaging.org/rmwebportal/startup.aspx

Have Your Say online

You can now send non-emergency messages to us using the online form that is available on the Thames Valley Police website. A number of people have already sent their concerns using this method. For you to do that please follow the link: http://www.thamesvalley.police.uk/yournh/yournh-about-nh-pol/yournh-tvp-pol-area-n235-hys. Please allow some time for us to get back to you as we do check our mail box only at certain times of the day.

There is also the opportunity to attend Have Your Say meetings in person. Upcoming Have Your Say meetings are:-

Monday 24 October 2011, 11am ? 1pm at Thame Town Hall with PCSO Diane Jackson
These meetings are an ideal opportunity for local residents to speak to their local police officers and PCSOs about any local issues, no appointment is necessary just turn up and speak to your local officers. Further meetings will be publicised locally and on the force website at www.thamesvalley.police.uk

If you want any advice or would like to contact the neighbourhood team you can call us on the police non emergency number 0845 8 505505 or email ThameNHPT@thamesvalley.pnn.police.uk. Please note this email address cannot be used to contact Thames Valley Police to report crimes or for any urgent matters. Alternatively you can visit the force website at www.thamesvalley.police.uk to view information on your neighbourhood.

MEMBERS of Thame Town Council’s Planning and Environment committee, last night welcomed a proposed policy to deal with what it calls: “Unauthorised signs and structures on the Highway” and agreed that it was “fair, appropriate and necessary.”

It was agreed that an appeals procedure should be included in the policy and that consultation with visually impaired people and local businesses should be carried out before the draft policy was finalised.

PHOTO: ThameNews.Net’s A board which of course is not obstructing the highway!

THAME’S plastic black and white cows, its pigs, ‘A’ boards and other structures, could soon be driven off the streets if Thame Town Council has its way.

The council’s Planning and Environment committee will tomorrow be asked to comment on a draft policy drawn up by town hall staff, to deal with ‘Unauthorised signs and structures on the Highway.’

The council states in its report to councillors that: “In recent years there has been a steady increase of unauthorised obstructions placed within the Highway, and the town council has received a number of complaints from the public regarding clutter on pavement.”

At a meeting of the council’s Planning committee last November, one councillor described the cows as “a bit of nightmare,” adding that they should “be sent to a field.”

At a previous meeting of the committee, councillors said that some boards were causing a hazard to prams and wheelchairs because they are either too large of placed where pavements are too narrow.

The plastic cows and pigs, notably present outside Newitt’s, the James Figg and The Thatch however, have attracted a lot of admirers and there is even a Save-The-Thame Cows campaign which was been launched on Facebook, and has over 500 members signed up. See http://www.causes.com/causes/546214-save-the-thame-cows?m=d1cf7fea

The council says that it will consult with local business “to achieve a workable compromise that not only suits their needs but those using the pedestrian highway.”

The town council will not, it seems, have any jurisdiction over structures placed on private land, away from the official Highway, places like the Upper High Street for instance where the ownership extends out under pavements where cellars are. The boundary can often be distinguished by a change in pavement surface between paving slabs and tarmac or some other different surface.

Tomorrow night’s meeting of the planning and environment committee begins at 6.30pm at the town hall.

WHAT were staff from a pub in Thame doing on a 280 bus giving out cappuccinos this morning?

Both The Thatch and its sister pub, The James Figg, are waiting anxiously to find out whether their attempt at breaking the Guinness World Record for the number of cappuccinos made in one hour has been successful.

This morning, between 10am and 11am, Baristas from both pubs pressed, squeezed and hissed their way through producing 123 cups of coffee – beating the current world record by 17 cappuccinos!

The attempt at the World Record was in aid of The MacMillan Cancer Support World’s Largest Coffee Morning, who will get