Category: Thame news

A NEW scheme to protect the county’s residents from con men and rogue traders has been launch by Oxfordshire Trading Standards service.
The Buy With Confidence Scheme will mean that trades people can be selected from a list of businesses that have been rigoursly checked for compliance with consumer laws, helping to promote honest traders and protect the public from cowboys.

To be approved each business must pass a tough assessment by Oxfordshire County Council’s Trading Standards Service. Once approved, a business is added to a directory available to consumers and can also use the ?Buy with Confidence? logo to promote its services.

A list of reputable and accredited gardeners, plumbers, builders and many other types of business in Oxfordshire that can be found by visiting 29/01/2009

THAME could miss out on thousands of pounds worth of funding for regeneration if the relationship between town councillors and the rest of its partners in 21st Century Thame, cannot be improved.
The split came into sharp focus on Tuesday, when the town council’s Policy and Resources committee was scheduled to consider a list of proposed projects that the partnership had drawn up, from which to select those to go forward in a funding application to SEEDA, the South East Economic Development Agency.

However, it soon became clear that some councillors were not happy that their own particular ideas seemed not to have been taken on board when drawing up the list. Councillor Nigel Champken Woods was particularly concerned that a town-wide Wi Fi scheme was still on the list when his understanding had been that the feeling of the partnership’s Steering group had been to reject it. He questioned whether certain paid officers within the partnership had a disproportionate level of influence within it.

After what became a long and sometimes vehement outpouring of bad feeling, in which most councillors nevertheless praised the work of the volunteers in the partnership, the Mayor, Cllr Don Butler, seemed to sum up what is behind the apparent lack of cohesion in 21st Century Thame, when he said: “The control should be from here (the Council).”

21st Century Thame itself, which was formed out of the Market Town Health Check five years ago to oversee the resulting Thame Vision and Action Plan, seems always to have struggled to accommodate the differing views of what ‘partnership working’ means between elected members and volunteers.

Cllr Adam Buckland told the committee: “We cannot go on like this. There are some good things happening in the town and there are a lot of good people with some good ideas who need to be encouraged. We need to harness that enthusiasm. The council cannot do everything.”

The committee was not happy that the list of proposed projects did not include any business plans or suggestions of where the match funding needed would come from.

It was agreed that the Town Clerk would contact the district council representative on the partnership, Economic Development officer, Caroline Woods, for her view on whether the partnership was able to provide such information before it, the Policy and Resources committee, could consider taking a view on the proposed projects.

THE wife of a man found dead in the River Thames last week, has spoken today of her ‘car mad’ husband of three years who appears to have taken his own life.

Liz Verchase-Manger told Thamenews.net today how she had been amazed by the number of people connected to her husband Keith Manger, who had been so kind, particularly her work collegues and those of Keith at Opentext, Beaconsfield, where he was an account manager.

“We shall probably never really know why Keith did what he did,” said Liz. “But luckily I have had the support of fantastic friends and people I hardly know have been phoning me up.”

Liz spoke of how Keith loved nothing more than his regular track days and his two young daughters, Danae and Delphi by a previous relationship.

“Fortunately I have a really good relationship with them and their mum and we are all supporting each other.”

“Keith was born not far from Windsor and he loved the water. He would always go to the river or the seaside to do his thinking,” she added.

An inquest into Keith Manger’s death will be held on April 2, and his funeral is on Friday at the Chiltern Crematorium.

Liz would like it known that anyone who knew Kieth would be welcome to attend the funeral, but she has requested no floral tributes. Instead, the Co-op Funeral service in Thame is collecting donations to the Under 17’s drivers club, a cause very close to Keith’s heart.

CRENDON Chamber Orchestra has landed a real coup by attracting a world-famous cellist to play with the orchestra in its next concert.
Raphael Wallfisch will be performing one of the most well-known contemporary compositions, John Taverner?s The Protecting Veil, for solo cello and string orchestra, premiered at the 1989 Proms.

Raphael Wallfisch enjoys a world-wide career playing with such orchestras as the London Symphony, the London Philharmonic, the Philharmonia, the BBC Symphony and the English Chamber Orchestra, the Hall

WAITROSE store in Thame, was evacuated this morning following a gas leak.
At around 9am this morning, staff and customers of the supermarket had to stand outside in the cold and wet after a strong smell of gas became apparent in part of the store.
A firecrew from Thame was soon on the scene and after satisfying themselves that gas levels in the atmosphere were not flammable, entered the premises and were able to shut the gas off. A pipe had apparently been ruptured accidentally when something was moved.

Once the building had been ventilated, the shop was reopened at around 10.20am and the feed-road to the car park reopened to traffic.

Station Officer, Andy Ford, told Thamenews.net: “The store management’s procedures worked very well which made our job reasonably easy. All we had to do was to isolate the leak, make sure the premises were safe and re-ventilate the building. At no point was anyone in any danger.”

FIRECREWS from Thame and Wheatley worked together recently to release an injured man from his car, when it became stuck under a lorry trailer following a collision.
The collision between the man’s car and the lorry happened last week, January 14, close to junction 8A of the M40.
Paramedics were only able to attend to the man after the roof of his car had been cut off by the firecrew. Although the man was taken to hospital by ambulance, his injuries were not serious.

Relating to road traffic collisions and other emergency situations, Thame fire officers are reminding everyone about the ICE scheme, introduced after the 9/11 terrorist attack. The idea is to enter the phone number of next of kin into your mobile phone under ICE rather than a name, which stands for In Case of Emergency. This helps emergency services to quickly contact next of kin in the case of accidents or any other emergency where casualties may not be able themselves to tell emergency services who to contact.

AFTER the much heralded prospect of the removal of police controlled Traffic Wardens in towns in South Oxfordshire during 2008, it now seems that the introduction of private wardens is not now likely – at least for a while.

According to a report from Thame Town Council’s Traffic and Transportation Working Group, no date “in the foreseeable future” has been set by the district council, because it is not seen as a priority at this time, “because of the amalgamation of SODC and Vale of White Horse DC.”

Decriminilisation is due to start in West Oxfordshire in October this year, 2009, and is expected to take place in the Cherwell District Council area in October 2010.

The prospect of so-called ‘Decriminilisation’ of parking has been cited by Thame Town council and South Oxfordshire District Council for a lack of progress in resolving the thorny issue of residents’ parking in the town centre.

That there is insufficient parking for people who live in the town centre, came out of a survey carried out by 21st Century Thame three years ago. Since then, residents have lobbied the town council and a survey was carried out by a private company in 2007, at the behest of the town council, but no action on the findings has been taken to date.

NB It was suggested some time ago by the then Chief Executive of SODC, David Buckle, that the new Community Wardens, expected to be introduced in April 2008 in Thame, may have eventually take over parking enforcement, but they have failed to materialise.

OXFORDSHIRE students, including those of Lord Williams’s school, Thame, have made significant progress in GCSE results, according to figure released recently.

The proportion of students performing well, based on the key measure of five A* to C grades, including English and mathematics, at 50.5 per cent is above the National Average of 47.6 per cent. Oxfordshire students have made a 2.4 per cent improvement which is double the national improvement.

On the five or more grades at A* to C overall measure, Oxfordshire students made a significant improvement, achieving 63.0% compared with last year?s figure of 57.4%. This is again above the national rate of improvement.

Both Lord Williams School, Thame, and St Gregory the Great Catholic School, Oxford, made gains of over 13 per cent on both measures of GCSE attainment. On the overall measure of five or more grades at A* to C,
Banbury School recorded an improvement of 27 percentage points and Matthew Arnold School has improved by 18 percentage points.

Among the best in the country

Several Oxfordshire schools are now among the top performing schools nationally. Four schools are in the top 25% of all schools for five or more grades at A* to C, including English and mathematics: Lord Williams School, Thame, Bartholomew School, Eynsham; Gillotts School, Henley and Matthew Arnold, Oxford.

Five Oxfordshire schools are in the top 25% of all schools for the progress made by pupils from age 11 to age 16 (Contextually Value Added (CVA) measure based on progress between the pupils joining the school and GCSEs). These schools are: Banbury School, Cheney School, Oxford; The Cherwell School, Oxford; Matthew Arnold School, Oxford and Woodeaton Manor Special School.

Encouraging improvements

The county council?s Cabinet Member for School Improvement, Councillor Michael Waine, said: ?These results show very encouraging improvements. I congratulate all the students, teachers and headteachers who have worked so hard to make these gains.
?I am delighted that several Oxfordshire schools are now amongst the best in the country. I am also pleased to see the record improvements at Banbury School and St Gregory the Great.”

He added: ?At the same time I am disappointed to see that some schools have made less good progress. We are working to support and challenge those schools which need to make greater advances.

?There are now more than 20 outstanding schools in Oxfordshire when only three years ago there were very few. It is clear that things are moving in the right direction.”

?This all represents a welcome improvement this year but there is still some way to go in our journey of improvement.”

Photo: Flashback to last summer’s GSCE excitement!

FRIENDS of the late Denis Manners MBE, who passed away on Friday, January 02, have issued an invitation to those who knew him to join them on a coach to attend Denis’s funeral.
Nigel Cox of Towersey Morris said: “Denis touched many people?s lives through his passion for Folk music, Morris Dancing and his lifelong commitment to world peace and a fair society for all.
“We will be celebrating his life on January 23, at 2pm at Bramcote Crematorium, Nottingham. Do join us to give him the send off he deserves.
No need to wear black ? this is a celebration.”

Coach (pick up Princes Risbrough, Thame and places in between.) Times depending on the travel operator to be at Bramcote for 1 – 1.15pm then to the Pub and returning at the latest leaving Nottingham 6 – 6.30pm may be sooner.