Category: Thame news

THE following NIBS are from the recent meeting of Thame Town Council’s Policy and Resources committee, and includes the health of the council’s investment pot, a pop at smoking councillors and finding a temporary home for visiting Thame fair operatives and their families.

After severeal warnings about the future of the economy, including the possibility of ‘a double dip’ recession in Europe if Greece goes bust, and the liklihood of a VAT increase soon, the town council’s investment managers reported that TTC’s investments are worth

FOLLOWING three recent generous donations of Art books to the Thame Oxfam Book Shop, the shop has launched a major refit giving more space to Art books.

The Oxfam Bookshop’s new Art and Arts section now has 12 metres of display space, providing almost 70 feet of shelving for this section.

So, whether it’s a monograph of Monet or a price guide to that valuable antique hidden in your loft, check out the shop’s range of almost 1000 titles.

STEPHEN Sandison, who was missing from his home in Mill Lane, Chinnor on Wednesday (19/5) was found safe and well in Warwickshire on Saturday (22/5).

THE winner of last weekend’s cake competetion to celebrate the 25th anniversary of a Thame cake decorating business, was a quirky piece indeed and caused quite a stir.

Jackie Kelly’s masterpiece entitled Snail, won the Quirkiest Cake class and the Best in Show as voted for by the visiting public. Rosie Burr also took a junior double, coming second in the Junior section, 12-16 years and winning the Best Junior piece, also as voted for by the public.

Jenny Walker, co-founder with Norma Laver of A Piece of Cake, in Upper High Street, Thame, told Thamenews.net: “We had about 45 entries which we were extremely pleased with. As well as local cake decorators we had entries from as far away as Bristol and London.

“Norma and I opened A Piece of Cake on May 7, 1985. From small beginnings we now have a large mail order department and send cake decorating equipment all over the world. To celebrate our 25 years we decided to hold a Cake Competition but we wanted to make it a bit different to the usual cake competitions.

“We intended it to focus on the fun element of cake design with cakes not being judged on their accurate execution but by subjects such as The Prettiest Cake and The Quirkiest Cake.”

The judges were Alan Dunn, Tombi Peck and Tracey Mann, all top cake decorators and authors. (Tracey lives in Longwick).

Jenny continued: “Due to the overwhelming generosity of many of our suppliers, we were able to give away some marvelous prizes. Bundles of goodies were given to all the winners and all those that didn’t win were given a goodie bag and a certificate of appreciation.”

After my partner, Norma’s recent illness, it was so good to have her there giving out the prizes, which made some of the speeches at the prize giving very emotional – there were lots of tears!”

A full list of prize winners is as follows:

The Prettiest Cake
1ST KAREN CAUDWELL
2ND JACKIE SCOTT
3RD NELL KING
The Quirkiest Cake
1ST JACQUI KELLY
2ND SARAH KING
3RD SARA ALLEN
The Most Retro Cake
1ST JACQUI LLOYD
2ND MATTHEW GOLDSMITH
3RD CLAIRE WILLETS
Best use of a Mould on a Cake
1ST KAREN CAULDWELL
2ND HEATHER JENNINGS
3RD ANURADHA P BHOGAITA
Best use of a Novelty Cutter
1ST JACQUI KELLY
2ND ANGELA TIPPING
3RD JACKY NIXON
Best Sugar Flower Arrangement
1ST GILLIAN GRAY
2ND KAREN CAUDWELL
3RD GILLIAN GRAY
The Best Porcelain Piece
1ST ROBERT HAYNES
2ND ROBERT HAYNES
3RD ANURADHA P BHOGAITA
Junior under 7 years
1ST 1st THAME RAINBOWS
2ND ALAYNE AINDOW
3RD 2nd THAME RAINBOWS
Junior 7-11 years
1ST COURTNEY GALAGHER
2ND TAZ POTHECARY
3RD ELLEN SMITH
Junior 12-16 years
1ST IMANI MILLER-BYGRAVE
2ND ROSIE BURR
3RD

Best in Show JACQUI KELLY

Best Junior Piece ROSIE BURR

Angela Tipping, Heather Jennings and Nell King all work at the shop.

THAME Volunteers Day will this year be marked on Saturday, June 5, by an exhibition in the Upper Chamber of Thame Town Hall from 10am to 1pm.

The event will include stands showing the work of local charities and how they serve the community, to hopefully encourage other local people to volunteer.

Entry will be free and refreshments will be available.

There are a few places still available for locally based charities who may leave a note expressing their interest at the Town Hall for either Cllr B Laver or Cllr B Dobie.

THAMES Valley Police are appealing for witnesses and reminding residents to be vigilant after a distraction burglary in Haddenham yesterday (19/5).

The offender approached the resident of a property in Willis Road, Haddenham at 10.50am and stated he was working for the electricity board and needed to read the meter.

After the offender left, the victim discovered his wallet, containing credit cards, a driving licence and

GREENER Thame ? Greener Future; That?s the theme of the Carnival this year, June 12, 2010, which will mark the official launch of the Greening Thame campaign.

To join in the campaign, choose five ‘Green’ challenges for yourself and then display them in your window for everyone to see.

The parade will start at 12.15pm from Station Yard Industrial Estate and pass through the town centre, finishing at the Southern Road Recreation Ground where the f

THAME Town Council is not happy about goldfish being offered as prizes at the town’s fair, due in September and October.

A report presented to the town council’s Policy and Resources committee last night (18/05/10) said that whilst it is legal for a goldfish to be given as a prize, it is illegal for a goldfish prize to be given to persons under the age of 16 who are not accompanied by an adult. The report continued:

“The RSPCA does not recommend the use of any animal as a prize as it causes unnecessary stress and suffering. Fair arrangements at Witney and St Giles concur with Thame’s agreement.”

TOY GUNS

Toys guns also came under scutiny by town councillors. They have agreed with local police that any toy guns to be presented as prizes at the fair must be considered at a pre-fair meeting where the police will decide which items are obviously toys and therefore acceptable as prizes.

PUNCH BAGS

The use of punch bags at the fair is also to be restricted because, says the council: “They have been found to encourage aggressive behaviour within the fair environment.

“Security personnel and Guild Stewards must agree to enforce any requirements for closing down or removal from the site of the punch bags should problems arise from their use. This type of amusement is out of place at the October Fair and the restriction remains for that event.”

ACTIONS AGREED

The committee agreed that goldfish may be offered as a prize on condition that legal requirements are followed, and that punch bags may be located at two sites within the September fair, subject to close monitoring, but must be removed immediately if requested to do so by the Police or a council officer.

IMAGE: For illustrative purposes only (Courtesy of home-and-garden.webshots.com

SOUTH Oxfordshire District Council is reported to have said that it will press ahead with deciding where it will build hundreds of new houses, despite previously postponing its decision while the general election was on.

The council is reported to have told MP Ed Vaizey, a minister in the new coalition government, that waiting for any change in the government’s planning policy, was not possible.

The leader of South Oxfordshire District Council, Ann Ducker, has confirmed that the Core Strategy of the Local Development Framework, which includes 850 new homes for Thame, would be discussed SODC’s Scrutiny Committee meeting on Tuesday, June 1, and voted on by the council cabinet two days later.

According to an article published by The Herald Series newspaper on its website today, Mrs Ducker is reported to have said “that delaying a vote in the hope of buying time for the new Government to change planning policy could allow big developers to ignore local concerns and build homes where they liked.

“She said it was her responsibility to prevent that and the council had to press ahead with the process.

“She said: ?If we do not have a core strategy and our five years? land supply, we would be extremely vulnerable for developers developing sites that would be most unsuitable.

?There is no room for delay. We are already behind some councils, and all the advice we have is that we should have something in place. Otherwise we are extremely vulnerable.?

The article continues: “In March, the council postponed voting on the core strategy until after the General Election, saying it could become a political issue in the campaign.

“At the time, Mr Vaizey suggested a Conservative Government could halt the process of allocating sites on the edge of Wallingford for new homes, while the party’s Green Paper on Planning, prepared by Henley MP John Howell, suggested housing targets for South Oxfordshire could be cut.

“However, there was no mention of planning policy in the deal struck between David Cameron and Nick Clegg in the days following the election.

Mrs Ducker added, says the article : “If this new coalition Government comes out with alternatives, then, obviously, we will review that at that time. We would like a review of planning policy, but the bottom line is that houses are needed in South Oxfordshire.?

Recently, a group of Thame Residents’ groups collected more than 800 signatures on a petition against building as many as 850 homes on the outskirts of Thame.

TO READ ALL BACKGROUND STORIES ABOUT THE CORE STRATEGY AND ITS IMPLICATIUONS FOR THAME, put the words Core strategy in the Search box top right of this page.

THE owners of a golf course near Wheatley have received suspended jail sentences for failing to remove waste from Green Belt land following a legal action brought by Oxfordshire County Council.

Brothers, Ronald Charles Wyatt, 67, and Michael Wyatt, 72, were found guilty of contempt of court after failing to clean up more than 100,000 cubic metres of builders’ waste and overburden from Waterstock Golf Course, near the river Thame.

The pair received jail sentences of six and four months respectively, both suspended for a 12-month period. The judge ordered that within this period, the brothers make realistic efforts to meet the terms of a July 2006 court order, which they had failed to comply with.

The brothers were also ordered to pay the county council’s legal costs at the High Court hearing.

DECISIVE ACTION

Oxfordshire County Council’s Head of Sustainable Development, Chris Cousins, said: “This is the latest and hopefully the last in a long line of successful actions taken by the council to require the owners of this site to remove the unlawfully deposited waste.

“Waste was tipped onto this green belt land without planning permission. It?s important that people know that Oxfordshire County Council does not tolerate such disregard for the environment and will use its powers to enforce planning rules.”

Mr Cousins added: “Failure to comply with a High Court Order is a very serious offence and if the Wyatts do not make substantial progress toward compliance in the next few months they will find themselves in prison.”

CASE HISTORY

According to a statement by OCC, waste was originally tipped at the golf course, near Thame Road, without planning consent in 1994 and also occurred more recently during 1996-8.

The county council took enforcement action in 1997 to have the unauthorized waste removed and this action was backed by the Secretary of State when the Wyatts appealed.

Following this, council officers tried to negotiate a compromise scheme with the brothers, which would have allowed a small amount of waste to remain on site as part of an additional nine-hole golf course. However, an acceptable scheme was not forthcoming.

The Wyatts failed to comply with the enforcement notice and in July 2006 the High Court ordered that the waste be removed from the site by March 2007, and the site restored to its former appearance by April 2007. This did not happen and there remained around 100,000 cubic metres of waste on the land.

Instead of removing the waste, the Wyatts moved it around and grassed it over. The council’s Planning and Regulation Committee agreed in the spring of 2008 that the brothers’ failure to comply should be taken back to the High Court, resulting in the committal hearing on Wednesday, May 5, 2010.

IMAGE: Courtesy of www.waterstockgolf.co.uk

Submitted: 18/05/10