THAME’S award-winning Neighbourhood Plan, feted by government and The Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI), and promoted as being ‘enshrined in local planning policy’ and ‘with the force of law behind it’, is now likely to have to be reviewed to include 600 more new homes – on top of the 770 catered for in the Neighbourhood Plan.
Thame Town Hall – Image Courtesy of Mark Percy
South Oxfordshire District Council has commenced a public consultation on its latest Local Plan which will set out plans for new development across the district to 2032.
Thame Town Council remains opposed to the additional 600 new homes which it believes will threaten the viability of Thame’s facilities such as education, medical provision and recreation facilties, and turn Thame into what one town councillor called a ‘conurbation’ rather than a Market Town.
‘No evidence’ that further growth is needed
The town council had previously challenged the draft local plan, back in March 2015, when one councillor declared: “… there is no evidence that further growth is necessary to maintain vibrancy and, indeed, such may well harm the built heritage, character and structure of the town.”
In its draft plan, SODC states: “If a review of the neighbourhood plan does not adequately progress with allocating sites (and has therefore at least been submitted to the Council) within 12 months of adoption of this local plan 2032, planning applications for housing in Thame will be supported…” Or as one town councillor put it at last night’s Thame TC Neighbourhood Plan Continuity Committee: “We are being threatened with allowing developers a free-for-all.” (Read the complete Draft Plan HERE – chapter 10 relevant to Thame)
‘Flood the foyer’ urges councillors
A public consultation meeting is to be hosted by SODC on Saturday, July 2, in the committee room at Thame Town Hall, and the Continuity Committee is urging all Thame residents against any change to Thame’s new housing numbers to ‘flood the foyer of the Town Hall’ on Saturday (11am) and support the town council in it’s objection to ‘dumping more houses on us!’.
THME Town Hall (aka Causton Town Hall) was the setting for a highly successful Midsomer Workshop last Wednesday, June 22, attended by over 50 local businesses and residents with an interest in developing Midsomer tourism in Thame.
Patsy Baker (2nd Left) and Karen Clark (2nd Right) of Thame Barns Centre, share ideas about what Thame can do to attract more of the ‘Midsomer’ market
Thame is one of the most-filmed locations in the globally popular ITV detective series, Midsomer Murders, with eight episodes filmed in the town. The purpose of the workshop was to help local businesses attract more visitors to Thame because of its associations with Midsomer.
Attendees, who included hotel and guest house owners, shops, pubs, cafes, and others involved in the tourist industry, heard from Douglas Watkinson, one of the original script writers of the show, how Midsomer tourism is a huge success and still growing, with its twentieth year approaching in 2017, and that it has been watched by a billion people across the world.
Capitalising on one of the UK’s biggest TV exports
Sarah Osborne of Tourism Angles, revealed that 6.5 million people watch Midsomer Murders in the UK and millions more in over 100 countries worldwide. The series is one of the UK’s biggest TV exports – rating in Denmark’s top three and Australia’s top 20. People see it on TV and want to come and visit the beautiful towns and villages of ‘Midsomer’ for themselves.
The event was opened by the Mayor of Thame, Cllr Linda Emery. She commented: “People were really surprised to learn how many episodes Thame has been in. We have around 15 specific filming locations, as well as a lot of recognisable street scenes from the show. Midsomer visitors can take selfies with our Causton Town Hall sign and enjoy a Barnaby Bun at Rumsey’s Chocolaterie, and the workshop produced lots of other great ideas we want to explore.”
Jean Gamester from Semaphora Consulting, who facilitated the workshop discussion groups, said: “There was a fantastic buzz, and it was great to see such enthusiasm and energy. I’m looking forward to seeing how Midsomer develops in Thame, including tours, merchandise, food and drink offerings.”
Neil Ainsworth, owner of the Argyll pub in Henley, another Midsomer location, told of his success with Midsomer ale and new products like Midsomer Pickle. He reported that one 40 seater coach load of visitors spent £1,000 in his pub in two hours when they made a pitstop on their way to Oxford! While Tim Soar, owner of Long Crendon Manor which receives many Midsomer visitors, said he would like to see Thame offering more to attract his Midsomer tourists to the town. Chris Behan, author of Roaming Midsomer, published this year, mentioned that Midsomer plaques are currently being developed with a view to putting them up at filming locations in the town, to add to the attractions for visitors to Thame.
‘I could murder a Barnaby Bun’
Mary Rumsey runs Rumsey’s Chocolaterie in Thame. She was one of the first Thame businesses to jump on the Midsomer bandwagon, when people started coming into her shop having learned that it was a Midsomer location. Mary developed ‘the Barnaby bun’ – a cross between a rock cake and scone, served with jam and cream, which has proved very popular with visitors and locals alike. She told the audience how her company will now be revamping its website to better reflect the Midsomer connection and include links to the Midsomer website and information about local accommodation etc, something any local business could do very quickly and at no cost. One enterprising attendee came up with the slogan: “I could murder a Barnaby bun!”
Sarah Osborne concluded: “To benefit from the Midsomer effect, you don’t have to be a filming location; two thirds of tourist expenditure is made in shops, pubs and eateries in towns such as Thame. Village partners are also very important as part of the experience, and it’s good to see representatives from Long Crendon and Haddenham here today. Attracting tour companies will be crucial in developing Thame as a hub and getting the maximum benefit from Midsomer tourism.”
Get a free, professional consultation about benefiting your business
Ten local businesses took up Sarah’s offer of 1-1 sessions with her to discuss how they can make the most of the Midsomer phenomenon to help their business, and since the workshop, sarah has extended the invitation to any Thame business that didn’t fill in her yellow request form on the day (Contact details below).
Sarah Osborne – Image by Caroline Flint
The Midsomer Workshop was co-funded by Thame Town Council and the Rising Star prize fund from the Great British High Street Competition, that Thame was awarded last year, and organised by members of 21st Century Thame.
For more information about Midsomer or how to take part in developing the Midsomer experience in Thame, contact Sarah Osborne, Tourism Angles, on 07787 122050 or email sarah2108@msn.com or Helen Johns, 21st Century Thame, on 0771 743 4983 or email helen.johns39@gmail.com.
For more information about Semaphora Consulting and their facilitation of workshops, contact Jean Gamester on 07877 970250 or email jean@semaphora.com.
TIME: 19.24 hrs – LOCAL people are reporting that all the main routes out of Thame remain gridlocked, as traffic from the M40 tries to find alternatives routes following an overturned lorry on the M40 just after midday.
The overturned lorry on the M40 being removed
Oxfordshire County Council Fire and Rescue Service were called to a report of an overturned lorry on the M40 near Lewknor on the southbound carriageway between junctions 7 and 6, at 1225 pm today, Thursday June 23, 2016.
Image courtesy of Oxfordshire Fire & Rescue
Thames Valley Fire Control mobilised three fire engines from Wheatley, Thame and Slade fire stations, along with a specialist Heavy Rescue Unit from Kidlington and environmental protection unit from Didcot.
On arrival firefighters immediately assisted paramedics from South Central Ambulance Service to treat the driver of the lorry which had overturned and blocked lanes of the north and southbound carriageways. Firefighters then rapidly used salvage equipment to soak up / stop diesel and oil that had leaked from the lorry, entering watercourses. Initially the whole southbound carriageway was closed and two lanes of the northbound, whilst crews made the incident safe. Thames Valley Police and Highways England assisted with traffic management and providing further spill kits to soak up the diesel. The driver was taken to hospital for treatment by ambulance.
The hard shoulder was reopened and used to allow traffic flow on the south bound carriageway soon after arrival. Lane restrictions will remain until recovery of the lorry, crash barrier repairs and road surface cleaning takes place later today.
THAME Town Council is to spend up to £6,250 to keep the Vale Travel local bus service 120/121/123/124 running for a year, from July 20, 2016, when it would otherwise cease due to cuts in the county council’s subsidies to uneconomic routes.
This sum would mean that this vital life-line for people living at the Eastern end of Thame and some out-lying villages, would at least continue to get people to and from Thame on Tuesdays, market day.
If a bus company insists that it will only run the service for a minimum of two days (as Vale Travel has), this would require a subsidy of £15,000. The town council will seek contributions from other parish councils whose residents benefit from the service.
‘Urgent’
Cllr Mary Stiles, who with Thame’s Town Clerk, Graham Hunt, has been trying to work out with the bus company a feasible plan to keep the service going, has been given the brief to persue the efforts further with other bus companies.
Cllr Stiles told fellow town councillors at their meeting on Tuesday (June 21), “Disabled and elderly people who cannot afford taxis, rely on this service and would otherwise become isolated and lonely, which we know can affect mental health. This matter is now urgent as the service ends on July 20. Keeping the service going is also good for Thame’s continued vibrancy and contributes to the economy of our shops.
“We also need to take into consideration the new houses at the Eastern end of the town,” she added.
‘Thin end of the wedge’
Cllr Nigel Champken Woods feared that subsidising buses in this way could be ‘the thin edge of the wedge’. “This should be funded by Oxfordshire County Council. What are they going to dump on us next? They cannot keep cut, cut, cutting and expect us to take up the slack. What are they spending their money on, since they keep cutting?”
THAME’S Neighbourhood Policing Team has claimed victory over anti-social behaviour in the town and surrounding villages, after listening to complaints from local people. In its latest monthly update, the team reports:
“In Thame, you said there were young people causing anti-social behaviour (ASB) in Southern Road. The Thame NHPT have acted on this information, carrying out regular patrols, we have identified the individuals and disrupted their behaviour by issuing tickets where necessary and issuing warnings in relation to the manner of their driving.
“In Chinnor, you reported that young people were taking drugs in White Field and the Dug Outs in Station Road, Chinnor. The NHPT have responded to this by asking the community to call us as the incident is happening. We have been carrying out high visibility patrols to disrupt this offending and been gathering intelligence to identify who is involved. We have responded to these calls and located four young people. Stop searches were conducted following reasonable grounds to believe the young people were in possession of drugs. Two of the young people were found to be in possession of drugs and have been dealt with by officers and received cannabis warnings which will be recorded on Thames Valley Police systems.
“In Wheatley, you reported fly tipping on Waterstock Road and that there is CCTV available. We viewed CCTV and someone was seen dumping takeaway rubbish out of a car door. We tracked down the owner and paid them a visit and provided suitable advice.
“In Wheatley, you reported a group of rowdy students hanging around a bus stop, near to a residential cul-de-sac where there are a lot of elderly residents, at the end of school day. The young people were banging on windows and tipping over bins. We contacted the school who had a teacher stand with the students at the bus stop after school. Subsequent to this, you reported that when the teacher wasn’t present the students would start to misbehave again. We attended the bus stop and gave the students suitable words of advice and there have been no further issues since.”
You can read the complete June 2016 Update from the Thame Neighbourhood Policing team HERE
IT was a proud night for Thame at the Oxfordshire Business Awards on Friday (18/06), where Thame-based StuartBarrCDR walked away with the Apprenticeship of the Year Award, its MD and former Apprentice, Stuart Barr, was named the Shaw Gibbs Young Business Person of the Year 2016, AND Thame Food Festival received the Heart Cultural Event and Tourism Award.
The Stuart Barr team celebrate after receiving their double award
Accepting his award, Stuart said: “Thank you for recognizing that what we do is fantastic. We believe our apprentice scheme is great and it’s an honour to have this seal of approval. Watching the video clips on the big screen of our apprentices makes us realise how far our apprentices have come – it’s a feeling of great satisfaction. Many of our previous apprentices are now in key roles within the business, with huge responsibility; they really are our future. Thanks again, this means the world to us.”
Alison Isherwood (Left) and Lotte Duncan show off their certificates at the Oxfordshire Business Awards 2016
Lotte Duncan, posting on the Thame Food Festival 2016 Facebook page, said: “we are over the moon! This the second time we’ve won this award and it’s a great recognition of all the hard work our team, supporters, volunteers and sponsors do.”
Around 500 people attended the Awards Dinner at the Four Pillars Hotel in Sandford to celebrate the best of Oxfordshire business.
OXFORDSHIRE Fire and Rescue have confirmed that they are currently attending a fire at a large thatched dwelling in Great Haseley, Oxfordshire.
The service has been on the scene for over three hours and GM Jason Crapper has reported that it is expected that firefighting crews are likely to be working through the night dampening down the property.
THE police have confirmed that the body of a 72-year-old woman was retrieved from the river Thame this morning.
The Police were called to the river Thame, at the end of Priest Way behind St Mary’s Church, at 11.40am after receiving a report that a woman was thought to have gone into the water there.
The Ambulance and fire service, as well as a police helicopter also attended the scene and began searching for the woman.
Connie Primmer, a spokeswoman for Thames Valley Police, is reported to have said that the woman was recovered from the water but had sadly died. Her next of kin have been informed and an investigation is under way. The woman’s death is being treated as ‘unexplained’ at this time.
FIRE crews from across Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire poured into Thame High Street on Friday evening (June 10) as children and their families were enjoying a Street Cricket event in the area.
Firecrews attending to the fire in Thame High Street on Friday evening around 6.45pm
The fun continued despite the drama being played out just along the High Street, at the rear of the Treacles Cafe. Incident commander at the scene, Andy Ford from Thame Fire Station, told Thamenes.net that it appeared that a fire in a bedroom of a first-floor flat at the rear of the property, had spread to the roof space.
“Fortunately, there were no casualties,” reported Andy, “and fire crews wearing breathing apparatus were able to extinguish the fire to prevent it spreading, though extensive damage was caused to the bedroom.”
An investigation into the cause of the fire is on-going.
