Category: Thame news

ORGANISERS of this year’s Thame Carnival report that planning is going really well and if your organisation or business has not already expressed an interest in being part of the parade or Fete, it’s not too late.

The theme for this year is ‘Carnival’ and entries for both walking and motorised entries are beginning their planning too.

Watch out for details of a poster competition for younger people during the Easter holidays. Entries will be displayed in the town hall and judged during the annual town meeting on April 21. The winning entry will be used on the front cover of the festival flyer publicising the event.

Details

All walking entries will need to gather at 12 o’clock (confirmation on exactly where the procession will start to come). All vehicle entries will need to assemble at 12 o’clock at the Station Yard Industrial Estate, Thame.

Vehicles will drive past and collect the walking entries from their start point. The parade will go down the High street and turn left into Southern Road (by the Rising Sun pub) ending at the Recreation Ground where the Fete will be held.

Everyone taking part needs to let Kathryn Osman: k.osman@tiscali.co.uk – know the following details:

Name of group / business
whether you are walking or on a vehicle
Title of entry (if you have one)
Any other information that will help with the planning (e.g. the organisers will try and spread out any entries that have music playing)

Kathryn told ThameNews.Net: “We are, as in other years, hoping to support local charities with any money raised this year and this will be discussed in more detail at our next meeting planned for April 20th.
“For any organisations that have already confirmed an interest in the Fete this year, the Rotary Club of Thame are currently coordinating this element of the day. Your details have been passed onto them and they will contact you in due course.

“Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you require any further information and I will contact you all again when I have a confirmed start point for all walking entries.
“Thank you for your support so far and we are looking forward to a great day!”

Photo: Flash back to Montesson carnival, 2007

A THAME man and another from Aylesbury, who allegedly robbed a Thame Off Licence, have appeared in court this week.

Jonathan White, aged 24, from Van Diemans Road in Thame, and Jason Morgan aged 28 from Cotteslowe Road in Aylesbury, were charged following a robbery at Whittall’s wine shop in Thame, on Friday, February 20, during members of staff were forced to hand over cash.

The two men were ordered to return to court on May 18, to enter a plea.

Also in court yesterday, March 24, was Robert Newitt, from Thame, who is charged with causing grievous bodily harm following an incidentin Thame High Street on Friday, December 19, 2008, during which a 31 year-old man was hospitalised with an arm injury.

His trial will begin on July 20.

THAME Air Cadets were on hand last Saturday to help Thame shoppers pack their bags.

Young people from the 594 Air Cadet squadron helped shoppers in the Thame Co-op store put shopping in their bags, in return for a donation, and raised

BARLEY HILL school in Thame has passed the first hurdle in gaining planning consent to demolish three, temporary classrooms, which are long past their intended life-span and to build six new classrooms.

Thame Town Council’s planning committee this week agreed to recommend approval of the plans for a two storey extension onto the existing hard play area.

After objecting to a previous plan for new signage at the Co-op store in the High Street, back in February, the committee on Tuesday (17/03)recommended approval of an amended plan for white and orange signs in timber.

Photo: 37 and 38 Park Street, the subject of planning proposals to form driveway parking with dropped kerbs.

Members expressed concern that the signage above Martins, which the committee has objected to, and which has been the subject of an enforcement order for some time, is still not settled.

There was much discussion about the problems of parking in Park Street, where two applications for new driveway parking and dropped kerbs were under consideration.

Cllr Mike Dyer, who is a resident of Park Street, told the committee that at least 10 parking spaces in the street had been lost through the formation of a Pelican crossing, chicanes and drives that had been bricked over. There are 75 cars owned in Park Street, but only 31 parking places, he said.

Cllr Dyer’s contention was that two more dropped kerbs would take away two more public parking places in an area where there is a recognised shortage.

Cllr David Dodds was concerned about the safety of school children from the John Hampden school opposite the two houses concerned, walking along the pavement past the two proposed driveways.

The committee agreed to write to Oxfordshire County Council’s Highways department requesting an
urgent visit to the site during morning school hours, 8.30-9am, to assess the safety of this application in a very congested area.

A Thame landmark house, Whitehound, that stands back from the corner of East Street and Upper High Street, was also the subject of much discussion at Tuesday’s meeting.

The owner wants to demolish the house and have it replaced by nine new flats and shared offices. However, both the Area Conservation Advisory Committee and members of Thame Town Council’s planning committee were of the opinion that bringing any new structure to the edge of the footpath would, in the words of Cllr David Dodds, “..change the street scene massively and be very intrusive. Other councillors thought that the new offices would have an impact on parking in the area which already a problem.

The committee voted to recommend refusal of the application on the grounds of: Over-development of the site, traffic generation, parking and safety near a very busy junction and not in keeping with the character of the area.

PLANS for the annual visit to Thame of our French friends from Montesson are well underway, for a great Bank Holiday weekend May, 1 – 3, 2009.

The weekend will include a day out to Stratford-Upon-Avon on Saturday, May 2, and a buffet Sunday lunch get-together for all guests and hosts on Sunday, May 3.

This year, more people from Montesson than ever want to come to Thame, including a party of young men who will be staying at The Spread Eagle Hotel, where staff will be providing the seven of them and their two carers with Bed and Breakfast.

Because of the increased number, 59 in all, more host families are needed this year and whilst 47 of them have been catered for, there is still a need for 12 more beds as of today (19/03/09).

Anyone who would like to join in, what is always a very enjoyable weekend, and can offer to host either a single person or a couple for the two nights, or who would like to find out more before committing themselves, can contact Moira Burnside on: 01844 217880 or email her: moira.b@btinternet.com

Photo: Visitors from Montesson during a wet visit to Oxford last year – Let’s hope that this year, the weather will be kinder to us! But, whatever the weather, the Twinning weekend is always one of fun and friendship.

A MOBILE life education classroom that teaches Thame’s young children about the dangers of mis-using drugs, alcohol and cigarettes, has received a boost to its funds.

Thame Town Council has doubled its grant to Life Education Centres Thame Valley, from

THAMES VALLEY POLICE – Press release

THE Police are asking the public to check their sheds and out-buildings to see if they have had any property stolen.

This advice follows the execution of a warrant at a property in Roxburgh Drive in Didcot on March 7, where officers found a large quantity of stolen property.

PC Maria Morrisey, from Abingdon police station said: ?We carried out a comprehensive search of the property and found a large number of stolen items, mainly garden equipment, including rotavators and strimmers. Now we need to identify where is has been stolen from.

?There is an unusual ?pony and trap? harness, along with a bridle and lead rope which would be used for a large horse and we are keen to trace their owners.

?The warrant came as a result of a recent spate of burglaries in sheds and outbuildings across the Vale.?

Anyone who has recently been the victim of a burglary and thinks that we might have recovered some of their property should telephone Thames Valley Police on 0845 8 505 505. If you have information about a crime and don?t want to talk to police and don?t want to leave your name call the Crimestoppers charity on 0800 555 111.

A 63-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of theft and is currently on police bail.

FLUSH with the success of its redevelopment of the Southern Road Recreation area in Thame, now known as the South Pole, Thame Town Council is setting its sights on Queen Elizabeth Circle, off Roundhead Drive.

A Project Officer has been employed, Lauren Wright, and she wants to hear from Lea Park residents, particularly children, about what they think should happen in the play area.

In a letter to residents, the town council says: “The play area is currently used to its maximum capacity, which has in turn made the equipment dated and in need of replacing. We would like the play area to appeal to a wider age range by offering imaginative, adventurous and motivating equipment for a prolonged period of time. The area has the potential to be expanded, developed or changed completely.”

Comments and designs can be sent by Friday, March 20, 2009, to the Town Hall, High Street, Thame, OX9 3DP or emailed to lauren.wright@thametowncouncil.gov.uk

FOLLOWING the district council Cabinet’s approval of the so-called Core Strategy for the future development of South Oxfordshire (see previous article – 850 new homes for Thame? – March 11, 2009), an exhibition is to be held in Thame as part of the the consultation process.

The consultation period will be from Friday, March 20 until May, 01 2009, during which time South Oxfordshire District Council will be holding a series of exhibitions of the ‘Preferred Options? for where significant areas of housing and employment growth will take place in the district up until 2026. The one for Thame will be held at the Barns centre, off Church road on March 31, from 1-7pm.

To find out more and how you can get involved, visit LINK
or phone planning policy on 01491 823725.

Photo: Copyright Bob Clay

THAME’S Councillor David Dodds, has defended the district council’s plans to micro-chip new wheelie bins to be introduced in June.

Cllr Dodds, who is also a District Councillor responsible for Waste, denied today on local radio that information collected about the amount of waste householders put in their wheelie bins, will lead to them being penalised and said that there are no plans for billing by weight.

Cllr Dodds said that the chips will be used to weigh the amount of waste to make sure that the vehicles used for collecting the waste are not overloaded, but admited that if there is too much rubbish not being recycled by certain streets or areas, those residents will be leafleted about the benefits of recycling.