Category: More News

THE proposed merging of the two Lord Williams’s school sites, as set out in the Thame Neighbourhood Plan (TNP) has come up against a funding gap. The amount of money expected from the sale of the Lower school site for housing development is lower than the estimated cost of combining the two schools into one site at the Oxford Road (Upper school) site.

The viability of the proposal is being reconsidered and the school is seeking professional advice about how the funding gap can be filled. The Lower School site would be worth more if the Community centre, earmarked for the site as a possible one out of three, were to be located somewhere else. A planning application has to be submitted by 2019 otherwise the proposed merger goes out of the TNP and the housing allocated for the Lower School site, will have to be provided on another, ‘reserve site’ identified in the plan (Site C ?)

It has been suggested by Cllr David Dodds, that Section 106 money from new developments in Chinnor should be allocated to any new schools merger in Thame, as Chinnor children are served by Lord Williams’s school.

AFFORDABLE HOUSING, how it is allocated, the definition and various types of Affordable Housing, the numbers of such properties available in Thame, has up to now been at the very least, obscure, and at most confusing. Following a recent meeting with South Oxfordshire District Council, whose Affordable Housing policy drive’s Thame’s own in the Neighbourhood Plan, a report is now available by the town council that helps to explain the various aspects of this vexatious subject. You can read it here LINK

FACED with almost certain cuts to bus services in Oxfordshire, including several that serve Thame and the surroundiing villages, Officers at Oxfordshire County Council are exploring ideas to cuts costs but still maintain some of sort of a service where they can.

One of the ideas, still in the embryonic stage, is to use school buses, and those transporting the elderly and disabled, in between the regular times of the day they are operating to cover some of the less economic public routes.

Before the new bus stop (dubbed ‘the ghost stop’, because no bus has been seen to stop there) in Howland Road (opposite the DAF site) can be used, there apparently needs to be ‘a risk assessment’ made.

THAME Town Council is to seek ways of filling a gap in available funding for its £2 million Sports Facility Strategy. It currently has available £900,000 developer contributions through Section 106. You can download the Sports Strategy document here LINK  and the report showing where the money is coming from and what it is planned to be spent on, here LINK

THE town council is to recruit a Town Centre Co-ordinator to work with its Town Centre Working Group and other local organisations to action the recommendations of the recent Miller Report into the future ‘vibrancy and vitality’ of Thame town centre.

An action plan is still in draft form but is expected to include such things as transport, signage, parking and tourism.

The council also proposes to employ a full-time Neighbourhood Plan Continuity Officer whose role will be work with the council’s Neighbourhood Plan Continuity Committee which will ensure that the TNP is adhered to across areas such as housing, open-space, employment, environment etc.

A Thame pub has seen a video on its Facebook page, aimed at solving a case of mistaken identity,  go viral with 81,831 views in two days.

It all happened after regulars at The James Figg pub kept asking assistant pub manager, Nathan Swift, AKA Swifty, if he was the guy dancing to his favourite song by the pool in a clip from The LAD Bible which the pub had put on their Facebook page earlier in the week. https://www.facebook.com/LADbible/videos/2726256327421540/

In an act of complete selflessness, Swifty agreed to recreate the video in the pub garden wearing as little as his doppelganger does in the original clip. His version, showing him watering the new beer garden in readiness for this weekend’s bank holiday festivities, was an instant smash, getting to 64.2K views and reaching 130K people in less than 24 hours, the biggest hit the pub’s ever had. And the figures are still rising.

“It all started out as just a bit of fun, after we posted the video on the pub’s Facebook page and everyone kept asking if the Speedo-clad dancer was Swifty,” explained Goldie (Tom Goldsmith), landlord of The James Figg. “Being a big Facebook user himself, Swifty thought it would be a laugh to put the rumours to bed by doing his own version of the dance, wearing not very much at all in the pub garden if he got 500 likes. A popular face behind the bar here in the pub, and well-known in Thame where he was born and bred, he soon got them, and off he stripped.

“As soon as the post went live yesterday afternoon, it went nuts; we were getting a thousand more views every five minutes and people were talking about it right across town. I even met a regular from Wheatley who said his mate in Newcastle had seen it! It’s been the biggest post we’ve ever had as a company – and Swifty smashed it!”

“Now, people are asking how we’re going to top that,” added Goldie. “Could it be the girls’ turn next? Watch this space.”

You can see Swifty strutting his stuff by visiting The James Figg Facebook page here https://www.facebook.com/figgthame/videos/500031796788131/
You can also join in the bank holiday fun this coming weekend, starting with Payday Party with DJ Kristian tomorrow night, live music with Chemical Pulse on Saturday, a Sunday Funday with music and a BBQ on Sunday ending with the Bank Holiday Bloody Mary Monday Hangover Club to finish things off.

The James Figg is at 21 Cornmarket, Thame, Oxon, OX9 2BL. Tel: 01844 260 166. www.thejamesfiggthame.co.uk  twitter: @figgthame

MASTERCHEF 2013 winner, Natalie Coleman, will soon be coming to the Book House in Thame to launch this year’s children’s competition for Thame Food Festival 2016.

Last year’s competition involved Thame’s three primary schools, John Hampden, St Joseph’s and Barley Hill, and the winners from each school were given the opportunity to cook with Natalie on the Chef’s Stage at the Festival.

Thame Food Festival Patron, Lotte Duncan, said: “This year we’ve raised the bar and there are 10 questions for the children in years 5/6 to answer, with a fabulous tie breaker, which is going to allow the children to let their imaginations run wild! Judging will take place in July and the winners will be announced before they break up for the summer holidays.

“The Book House in Thame  has come on board and part of the prize will be some lovely children’s cookery books – plus of course the chance to cook once more with the lovely Natalie on the Chef’s Stage to open the Food Festival this year.

“We are so grateful to Natalie and all of the teachers at the schools for helping us and being involved – Thame Food Festival is there for the community and the people of Thame.”

The Children’s Competition launch on June 11, will be at 3.30pm, and last year’s winners will be at The Book House on the day with Natalie Coleman to launch the competition, plus Lotte Duncan and Alison Isherwood from Thame Food Festival.

THE Conservative party’s ‘Remain on the road’ bus hit Thame this afternoon, bringing a team of ‘Stay’ activists to set up their stall behind Thame Town Hall, chatting to local people about their intentions in the forthcoming referendum.

Joining them was District Councillor Jeannette Matelot Green, sporting a tee shirt with the party’s slogan ‘In Europe for Britain’. The team met a variety of views but generally the feeling reported among the team, was that the majority of people they talked to in Thame, were in favour of staying in the Eurpean Union.

THAMES Valley Police has released an E-fit of a man who carried out a distraction burglary in Longwick, near Thame,  earlier in the month.

At around 8.15pm on May 4, 2016, in Thame Road, Longwick, a man gained entry to the home of an elderly lady, by saying that he worked for the ‘water board’, and told her there was an issue with her water.

Despite being asked for ID which he did not show, the male persuaded the lady to let him in to check the kitchen taps and sink. Whilst he kept her busy, an unknown number of people climbed in through the front, bay windows and searched the house for items to steal.

The victim’s handbag containing money was taken and the offenders then left. The lady was not injured in the incident.

In its press release, TVP stated: “Due to the rural location it might be that the offenders had a car parked nearby.

“The description we have of the man who distracted the victim is of a man of mixed race, a light complexion, aged 25-30 years-old. He was around 5ft 8ins tall, wearing a grey plain woolen hat, clean shaven also wearing soft leather gloves and a jacket.”

Investigating Officer, Det Con Chris Hatton of Force CID based at High Wycombe police station, said: “We are appealing for anyone with information who may have seen a man matching the description or who looks like our E-fit to come forward.

“We are certain that this man was not working alone so if anyone saw a group acting suspiciously, or may have seen people getting into or out of a car on the evening of the May 4, on the Thame Road near Longwick, then please do call us on 101.

“In this case the suspect has been extremely persuasive and would not leave the victim alone. However we would remind people not to let people into their homes who have not shown ID, and we would also remind people to secure windows and doors in unattended rooms if possible.”

A group of storytellers from the Thame area in Nepal, are using their skills to help local people gain engagement and support for rebuilding their earthquake-stricken communities, through telling their own stories.

Saurav Dhakal, the Founder of Storycycle, explained: “Building communities in affected areas will require not just funds and materials but also the proactive support and engagement of local people. Stories inspire people. Effective storytelling will transform people’s behavior and activities.”

In a unique collaboration, Storycycle has been working with Google and the Apa Sherpa Foundation to improve the digital map of the Everest region, collecting 360-panoramic images and overlaying them with the stories of the Sherpa people as part of a cultural mapping project.

They used Google’s Street View facility as a storytelling device to create an immersive experience that includes voice-over interviews, to show people places of local importance. (See LINK)

Saurav Dhakal continued: “When we prepared the stories of the region last year, before the earthquake, and disseminated them to the world, we did not think that the audio/visual material we collected would one day become archive material. We thought the living heritage and the structure of the area would survive for long time. But nature had other plans.

“On April 25, 2015, the land shook violently and, not only brought down man-made structures, but also weakened fragile mountains and hills. Subsequent landslides changed landscapes in many areas and many of the places we mapped are now completely destroyed. As we now brace up to rebuild the Khumbu area, we have realized the importance of the archived audio/visual material.

“It has now become an inportant reference for rebuilding our region. The local community organised a series of workshops in Khumbu region after the earthquake, partnering with international and local agencies at the village of Thame, the home town of Apa Sherpa, the record-holding mountaineer. The local community organised a series of workshops in Khumbu region after the earthquake, partnering with international and local agencies at the village of Thame, the home town of Apa Sherpa, the record-holding mountaineer. He has reached the summit of Mount Everest 21 times, and collected funds to help the rebuilding work.

“At the Camp, locals and experts in areas such as engineering came together for a thorough discussion on rebuilding. As a result, the local people raised their dreams, their aspirations their ideas and their local knowledge of the land, and the engineers and other experts were able to give technical input and the benefit of their past experiences from other places similarly affected.

“We now have a list of priorities and together we will come up with a plan to build earthquake-resistant houses and structures while keeping the cultural and aesthetic beauty of the land alive.”

There are still many challenges ahead for the people of Thame and the rest of the khumbu region, but Saurav Dhakal and Appa Sherpa himself, have confidence in the rebuilding process.

The fund-raising group here in Thame, Oxfordshire, Thame to Thame, has been raising funds to help the people of Thame, in Solukhumbu District, money which it intends to donate to Edmund Hilary’s Himalayan Trust UK,  which is helping to rebuild the area damaged by the earthquake. The children in our primary schools have heard about the plight of the children of Thame, Nepal, and one of Thame to Thame’s members, Charlie Tyson Taylor, who runs a trekking tour business and has visited Nepal many times, gave a talk about the plight of the district to the children of Barley Hill school.

You can see in this video, Thame school, being visited by Appa Sherpa before April 2015, and how it looked just after the earthquake. (See LINK) Also, follow this LINK to read a Brief History of Thame School.

Saurav Dhakal and Thame to Thame, are hoping that stories about their own lives can be exchanged between the children of the two Thame communities.

THE Directors of the Thame & Oxfordshire County Agricultural Association have issued an official statement about their decision to cancel the Oxfordshire and Thame Show this year. The statement reads:

“The Directors of the Thame & Oxfordshire County Agricultural Associationare very disappointed to announce that the ‘Thame Show’ has been cancelled for 2016.

The decision follows a number of years of financial losses and although every effort has been made to control costs over the past few years and we have moved the show date to the summer and back again in an attempt to appeal to our audience, it has become apparent that the public attendance on show day is very weather dependent and cannot be guaranteed or relied upon.

“In order to protect the assets of the Association we will concentrate on letting the showground out to other event organisers for the time being.

“We would like to thank all of the loyal supporters, traders and exhibitors who have visited the Show in the past. Above all the show has provided a meeting place for many people and it is a great shame that we can no longer offer this event for everyone’s enjoyment.” Andrew Duffy, Chairman

NOTE: A totally independent event to that which has been run by the Thame & Oxfordshire County Agricultural Association in the past, is planned for September 15, 2016. See LINK

THAME’S Catholic community welcomed David Hartley, their new Priest on May 11, who is stepping into the shoes (or should that be cassock?) of Father Mark Lagorio.

David has moved from three parishes, Meir, Caverswall and Cresswell, near Stoke-on-Trent. Speaking to Thame.Net, he said: “We have visited Thame occasionally, several years ago when we were living in Oxford. My wife Pat knows she visited when she was a little girl in the 1960s and has a brass rubbing her father made from St Mary’s on the visit!

“We have six in the family, with four adult children in Japan, one in Scotland and one in Staffordshire. Pat is currently working at the JR already as a palliative care nurse.

“I have had a very happy and busy six years caring for three parishes. Now I am looking forward to a new challenge in an area which is changing as new people move in to new homes. The parish is clearly well-run by very committed people, and we have a lovely parish school, so we will all be praying for God’s guidance for the best ways to work together.”

Father Harley’s induction will be at St Joseph’s Church, Thame on June 8, at 7.15pm.

THAME Town Councillors have criticised a proposal to, as one councillor put it, ‘dump’ an additional 565 new homes on Thame.

The new figures feature in a draft of South Oxfordshire District Council’s Local Plan 2032, due to go out for consultation next month. The district council has identified a supply of 12,300 dwellings already in the pipeline to the year 2032, from a calculated total need of 19,500 homes, leaving a shortfall of 7,200. These, SODC propoposes, should be distributed as follows:

Thame 565
Wallingford 400
Larger villages 1,690
Smaller villages 760
Major strategic housing allocation 3,500
Brownfield – OBU Wheatley 300
Brownfield – Culham 500

Cllr David Dodds described the draft report as ‘very disappointing’ and criticised the district council for not deducting ‘windfall’ sites from Thame’s proposed extra allocation – 400 homes that have already gone successfully through the planning process. Instead, SODC have included Thame’s windfall sites in the district’s over-all, total windfall numbers.

“We do not want Thame to become another Bicester,” he added. Cllr Helena Fickling suggested that perhaps Thame Town Council would be better encouraging the building of a completely new town nearer the area where thousands of new jobs are to be provided, at the Science Vale Oxford.

Cllr Mike Dyer told fellow councillors at Tuesday’s meeting of the Thame Neighbourhood Continuity Committee: “This is just the first skirmish.”

Reporting to fellow committee members on a recent meeting with Thame’s MP John Howell, Cllr Dyer said that John Howell had agreed that windfalls should be ‘bottom sliced’ (counted locally). Cllr Dyer added that although the MP has said that he supported the view that owners of Neighbourhood Plans should be able to appeal against planning decisions contrary to their Neighbourhood Plans, Mr Howell had in fact voted against a House of Lords’ Amendment to the Housing and Planning Bill, which included proposals to allow councils local discretion over Starter Homes requirements – and to introduce a neighbourhood right of appeal.

In a passionate outburst against the ‘continous amendments’ to ‘so-called localism’, new planning laws meted out by government and changes in housing numbers, Cllr Peter Lambert said: “It feels as though the goal-posts are being moved wider and wider apart! How are local councils supposed to cope?”

NOTE: The complete SODC report can be read HERE