Category: Thame news

THE police are appealing for information after a man was found in the early hours of this morning with a head injury, in Rooks Lane, Thame.

The 37-year-old man was found by a passer-by with a head injury, just before 4 o’clock this morning, and taken to hospital where he is in a stable condition.

The police believe that he had been drinking in the Black Horse pub in Thame, and are appealing for anyone who was in the pub on Saturday night and saw two men involved in some kind of argument or altercation, either inside or outside the pub, to contact them immediately.”

Anyone with information that could assist the police is urged to contact Det Sgt Lamboll via the Thames Valley Police Enquiry Centre on 0845 8 505 505
If you don’t want to speak to police and don’t want to leave your name contact the Crimestoppers charity on 0800 555 111

PROPOSED changes to the operation of Thame carparks owned by South Oxfordshire District Council, will soon be introduced if the council’s Cabinet gives the go-ahead.

The changes will affect charges in the Cattlemarket car park and that behind the Co-op store in Southern Road, and will mean that a ticket will have to be displayed, even for the first, free hour.

Cattlemarket

9am to 5pm Mon to Sat, one hour free, 80p up to two hours,

ANTI-Social driving in the town centre, suspicious males and lots of good news to in the latest Thame neighbourhood update from Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) C8966 Lucy THORNE and PCSO C9610 Diane JACKSON:

The Local Priority for your area is:- Anti-social behaviour. This is focused on the town centre car parks and behaviour in the town?s park areas.

We continue to monitor the town centre and business park car parks following reports of anti-social driving in the High Street and car park. Suitable advice has been given to known local young people who gather in cars regarding this matter.

During February, we have had 0 alcohol seizures and 1 Section 59 warning has been issued. Section 59 of the Police Reform Act 2002 refers to vehicles being used in a manner which causes alarm, distress or annoyance. The offender that has been issued with the Section 59 warning has been warned that if they continue to use a motor vehicle in this way then it will be seized.

We have received reports of a male acting suspiciously in some areas of the town. We have targeted the areas by providing local residents with high visibility patrols, these offer reassurance to people living and working in the local area.

1 young male has been issued an Acceptable Behaviour Contract (ABC) following an incident where criminal damage was caused to a window.

We continue to actively patrol the Phoenix Trail dealing with any ASB, fly tipping and neighbourhood concerns brought to our attention.

Offenders brought to justice

In February, 14 offenders have been brought to justice. 4 were for shoplifting, 1 for criminal damage to other buildings, 1 for assault without injury, 1 for assault occasioning Actual Bodily Harm (ABH), 1 for criminal damage to dwelling, 1 for harassment, 1 for burglary, 1 for drug possession and 1 for drug possession excluding cannabis.

Partnership Activities

During February, we have worked with SOHA and secured a skip for local SOHA tenants to use to dispose of any waste. We have secured this for March and it will be located at Van Diemens Road, Thame.

A monthly SOHA inspection is still also being held, where we tackle low level neighbourhood disputes and social housing issues together as a joint agency approach.

Pubwatch meetings are still being held every 2 months.

Non Priority Activity:

Following reports of parking issues in Marston Road, Mitchell Close and Garden City, we are continuing to monitor these areas to ensure that vehicles are parked legally.

PCSO Lucy THORNE would like to take this opportunity to remind young people looking for work, or looking for assistance with finding employment that a Connextions representative is available to speak with at the Young Persons Centre in Thame every Wednesday from 2pm -4.30pm.

Planned Activity:

There are monthly operations for Country Watch.

We will continue to deploy the Speed Indication Device (SID) in the area on a monthly basis, on roads which have been highlighted for speeding. We will also be looking to deploy the Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) device along with the SID to tackle travelling criminals entering and travelling through our area.

Operation Maginot continued to run throughout February, this Operation is aimed at tackling travelling criminals entering and leaving our area by using the ANPR device to identify them.

We also ran Operation Magpie, which involved us carrying out patrols in public car parks and hotel car parks over the Christmas/New Year period looking at vehicles displaying valuables left unattended. Letters were sent out to registered owners to remind them of the implications of leaving valuables on display, especially at this time of the year. We will continue to monitor this.

PCSO THORNE participated in a Roads Policing Operation at Wheatley Park School in February, working with VOSA to ensure that the transport for school pupils is legal.

Good News Stories

PCSO THORNE worked with South Oxfordshire District Council (SODC) to get a vehicle removed from Beech Road which had been parked on the highway with no valid tax on display. It was also slightly obstructing driveways.

PCSO JACKSON has managed to site 2 dog fouling signs along the side of Vane Road/Churchill Crescent and has hopefully also secured a further dog litter bin to be placed on Kingsey Road.

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.

We will be holding several Have Your Say (HYS) meetings in March. This is an opportunity for you to meet an officer in person and raise any concerns that you have. The dates and times for these meetings are as follows:-

Date ? Tuesday 15th March 2011
Time ? 11am to 1pm
Location ? Thame Town Hall, High street, Thame
Officer attending ? PCSO Diane JACKSON

Date ? Monday 28th March 2011
Time ? 4pm to 5pm
Location ? Co-Op Caf

THAME’S under-used and often unloved Elms Park, in Park Street, is to be the venue for an outdoor music event later in the year.

Music in the Park for everyone is the aim of the event being organised by the Friends of Elms Park and Thame Town Council, planned to take place on Sunday, May 8.

The Friends of Elms Park (FOEP) are a small group of Thame residents who want to work towards improving the facilities and increasing the use of this often under appreciated Thame park, sadly more often coming to public attention because of anti social behaviour.

It is hoped that this community musical event will raise awareness of the park and encourage more locals to use its facilities.

Music in the Park will feature different genres of music with two separate stages featuring electric and acoustic music, tribute bands, original music, cover bands, solo performers. The aim is to have a proper music festival in Thame for the people of Thame and surrounding villages. A wide range of bands and performers have already shown an interest in getting involved, as well as local community groups, trade stands etc.

If you would like to perform, book a trade stand, sponsor a stage, band, or workshop, or get involved in some other way, all offers of help, suggestion and support are much appreciated, then we would love to hear from you. Visit the website at: for more information.

LOCAL residents associations and community groups met with consultants for Sainsbury?s last night to quiz them about plans for a supermarket on the current Cattlemarket site in North Street, Thame.

Several concerns were voiced about the implications of such a large store on that particular site, including increased traffic generation in the area, the effect on smaller shops in the town, loss of town centre parking, disturbance to residents from delivery vehicles at night and the affect of such a development on any future community use of the site.

Rob Allaway, Managing Director of GKA, a specialist political and community relations consultancy to the property development industry, explained that his client wanted dialogue with the community to tackle their concerns and to listen to what they want. ?At this stage,? he said, nothing has been ruled in or out? of the eventual proposal. “We want dialogue to learn about your concerns and ideas.”

SHOPPING ‘LEAKAGE’

He explained that, because the results of a telephone survey, carried out at the end of last year (2010), showed that 25% of people from the outlying areas of the town came into Thame to do their main weekly shop and there is ?leakage? from the town to other stores such as Asda, Wheatley, and Tesco, Sainsbury believed that it can make a good planning case for the new store.

Sainsbury?s current store in the High Street, Mr Allaway explained, was only generally used for ?top up? shopping and that the proposed 20,000 sq ft new store would enable more lines to be carried and so encourage people to do their main, weekly shopping there.

He admitted that they would expect to attract people from Waitrose as well as Asda and Tesco but when questioned, pointed out that some smaller shops in the town would benefit from more people shopping at the new store.

WHAT ABOUT THE COMMUNITY?

Several questioners wanted to know what benefits as a whole the community of Thame would get as a result of the proposal, Bob Champion remarking: ?Surely this will be the final nail in the coffin for a sizable community facility within easy reach of the town centre??

Mr Allaway replied: ?The benefits to the town would be the security of the Cattlemarket (Ed. which Sainsbury?s will pay to move to the Thame Show ground) and the long term future of the Thame Show. Also, some traders will see it as a benefit that people from Thame who go elsewhere for shopping will stay.?

SOME BUILDINGS WOULD GO

As well as the demolition and relocation of the Racquets Fitness Centre, already the subject of an agreement between Racquets and Sainsbury’s, it was revealed that the public toilets in the Cattlemarket, which have recently been renovated, are intended to be demolished and replaced by toilets inside the proposed store, and that the demolition of Walkers? building on the corner of North Street and Wellington Street is likely, to create easier access to the site from the town centre.

It was made very clear last night that the over-riding feeling of the local people there, was that a worthwhile community facility or facilities, would be the price that any successful developer of the Thame Cattlemarket site would have to pay.

WHAT?S NEXT

The Town Clerk, Helen Steward, told the meeting that Thame Town Council, as part of the Localism Bill, will be looking at the town?s needs for the next 10-15 years and will be holding a meeting next week to begin work on a Town Plan.

She asked the representatives at the meeting to go back to their groups and get feedback, and that the council would call more meetings to get everyone?s views. She pointed out that there is a local Town Council election in May.

Ron Swanson, representing the newly formed Oxford Road Residents? Association, said: ?We need a town plan linking things together, including this proposal and that for new housing on Site F for example.?

Asked how much a town plan would cost to put together, Helen Steward replied that it would be around

THAMES Valley Police is appealing for information after a 14-year-old girl was assaulted in Thame on Monday, February, 28.

The girl was walking along the alleyway that runs from the Cattle Market car park towards Barley Hill School and into the Lee Park housing estate, shortly after 9pm when the incident happened.

As she walked into the alleyway, she saw a man standing at the entrance, who started following her after she walked past him.

The girl was aware that he was getting closer to her, so decided to run to the end of the alleyway, where she started walking again and took a phone call from her mother.

However, after ending the phone call she turned around and realised the man who had been following her in the alley was behind her again.

The man grabbed her arm and refused to let go of the girl when she shouted at him. The girl eventually managed to break free and ran off along Charles Street and in Ludlow Drive where she was met by her mother and taken home.

The man is described as having dark skin, but not black, in his mid-twenties, 5ft 8ins, and medium build. He was wearing a black hooded top with the hood up, dark-coloured jeans, black gloves and black Nike trainers.

PC Sarah Phillips said: ?I would like to speak to anyone who was in the area of the incident who saw or heard anything, or anyone who may have seen this man around the town.

?I would urge anyone with information to come forward and speak to me as soon as possible.?

Anyone with information should contact PC Phillips via the 24-hour Thames Valley Police Enquiry Line on 0845 8 505 505. Alternatively, you can contact the Crimestoppers charity anonymously on 0800 555 111.

RESIDENTS along the Oxford Road, Thame, unhappy that they were not consulted about where 500 new homes should go in the town, have formed their own residents association.

Spokesperson, Ron Swanson, explained: “The Oxford Road Residents Association covers the dwellings west of Cuttle Brook. A sister group has been formed for the dwellings east of Cuttle Brook and called Priest End Residents Association.

“These residents groups have arisen from the unsatisfactory way in which the decision by SODC was made to change from supporting development on Site D to choose Site F instead. It was clear that nobody truly represented the views and opinions of the residents of Oxford Road in any part of the consultation process.”

ORRA represents residents of Highfield Close, Oxford Road, Jubilee Gardens, Town Farm Close, Cuttle Brook Gardens and any other residents within the catchment area (of Site F) to the west of the Cuttlebrook.

Ron Swanson continued: “We have been in discussion with the other, newly formed Priest End RA and they will represent residents from the east side of the Cuttlebrook.”

In a letter to Thame Town Council and copied to SODC, informing them of the formation of the Oxford Road Residents Association(ORRA,) the ORRA stated:

“The residents in the ORRA catchment area were extremely disappointed at the lack of representation they had at the meeting TTC held with a number of Residents Associations, in the Spread Eagle in September 2010, before the Site D/Site F fiasco that ensued. It was also clear that the RA closest to the west of Thame, Chiltern Vale, did not and does not, represent the views and opinions of the residents within our newly formed RA.”

Representation from the ORRA will be attending a meeting tonight with town councillors and other residents’ associations, to discuss Sainsbury’s plans for the Cattlemarket.

PHOTO: Flashback to public consultation by Thame Town Council last October

DO you take an interest in local politics and would like to have more power to influence what goes on in the town? Then why not put yourself forward as a candidate in the Thame Town Council election in May?

You don’t have to be affiliated to any particular polical party – TTC has had two Independent Councillors for many years, both of whom are stepping down this year.

To help encourage more people to stand for election and vote in local council elections, the National Association of Local Councils (NALC), in partnership with the Electoral Commission, has produced various publications.

The following link takes you to the Booklets and Resources page of the NALC website:

Booklets and Resources LINK

A booklet “All About Local Councils” details the roles of local councillors, answers frequently asked questions on candidacy, and provides information on qualifying to run for your local council. A range of case studies have been provided to demonstrate how a local council and its community can make a difference at the most grassroots level.

The “It Takes All Sorts” publication contains a range of case studies about local councillors who come from all types of background.

Thame Town Council will go to the Polls on May 5, 2011. To become a candidate you need to complete a Nomination Paper and Consent to Nomination form which are obtainable from the Information Centre at the Town Hall in Thame, or from South Oxfordshire District Council.

You must then return the fully completed forms to the Returning Officer, South Oxfordshire District Council, Council Offices, Crowmarsh Gifford, Wallingford OX10 8PH BY NO LATER THAN NOON ON MONDAY, APRIL 4, 2011.

STUDENTS from John Hampden Primary School in Thame recently donned their hard hats and quizzed management at David Wilson Homes about the new Windmill Place development in the town. All captured by local film company Thame TV, the students were armed with questions about the 99 new homes currently under construction on the site of the former football ground.

Site Manager, Dave Tolmie, and Sales Director Paul Moran, were questioned on everything from the number of bricks used to build the homes to the eco features of the properties that were launched last week.

Jo Tiddy from John Hampden Primary School commented: “The children absolutely loved their visit to Windmill Place and I?m sure they will remember the experience for a long time. The pupils were extremely excited to be filmed by Thame TV and are very much looking forward to watching the finished report.”

The interviews, filmed by Emma Lowndes at Thame TV, can be viewed on: www.thametv.co.uk

Following the interview, the pupils were given an opportunity to lay a brick and have a look at the houses and the construction machinery in action.

Paul Moran, Sales Director for David Wilson Homes Southern comments: ?We very much enjoyed having the pupils on site, answering their questions and giving them the chance to lay their own brick wall. It?s important for children to understand how properties are being built today and why energy saving features such as those at Windmill Place are important in the future of housebuilding.

“We were very impressed the well thought out questions that we were asked and their brick work too. Who knows, maybe in a few years that they might even be interested in a career in construction themselves.?

Windmill Place is a new development of 99 two, three and four bedroom houses in Thame. For further information or to register interest please call 01844 260000 or visit www.dwh.co.uk

SOURCE: Press release

THAME residents and others in South Oxfordshire will pay little or no more in council tax next year – though increases are on the way for the following two years.

Next year an average band D property owner in Thame can expect to pay