Author: Sonja Francis

THE Chair of Thame Town Council’s Planning Committee is urging Thame residents to take part in South Oxfordshire County Council’s consultation about where at least another 3,600 new homes should be build across the district, between now and 2031.

Chair of Thame Town Council’s Planning Committee, Helena Fickling, said: “The most important thing is for EVERYONE IN THAME to respond to the consultation individually because there were very few responses from Thame in the first rounds of the consultation.

“Pressure for Thame to accept more houses is not going to go away, but as we saw from the response to the Preferred Options stage of the Core Strategy, the opinions of the people of Thame can make a difference.

“This is particularly important in view of the deadline of April 2.”

 

Full details of the updated options, and how you can have your say, can be found here:

http://www.southoxon.gov.uk/news/2015/2015-02/have-your-say-new-housing-options-south-oxfordshire

THE family, friends and teachers of 18 year-old Megan Biddle, of Thame, have been paying tribute to the Lord Williams’s School pupil who tragically died suddenly on Monday, March 2, 2015.

Megans many friends and her family have been posting memories and tributes on social media ever since the news of her death became known, and a Twitter hashtag #thingsbiddid (‘Bid’ being Megan’s nick name) has been created for them to share their memories of Megan.

Peter Butt, a family friend, and a fellow trustee with Megan’s father, Iain Biddle, of The Thame Youth Memorial Trust, posted the following on the Trust’s website: “Megan…..was a lively, caring and selfless daughter, known to many of us as a friend and, very much a part of the efforts to fundraise for the creation of the Youth Memorial.

“Our thoughts and heartfelt sympathies are with Iain, Alison (Megan’s mother) and Jack at this most difficult of times.”

Megan’s younger brother Jack, posted on twitter: “An amazing, joking and caring sister, to the last minute and forever.”

In a statement today, Lord Williams’s Head Teacher, David Wybron, said: “Our school community has been deeply saddened and shocked on hearing the news of Megan’s tragic death. Our thoughts are with Megan’s family and friends at this very sad time. ”

Megon’s Head of Year, PennyLowe, said of her: “Megan was a wonderful, outgoing and exceptionally popular member of Year 13, touching the lives of so many. She had an effervescent personality, a fantastic sense of fun and a great sense of humour. Her smile was infectious and could light up any room. Megan always found the positive in everything and this was an attribute she brought in abundance to everything she turned her hand to.

“Megan would always put others first; coming to the support of her friends whenever needed. She was a creative and hard working student who possessed a lively and imaginative mind. Her loss will be felt by so many and it has left such a huge hole not only within the year group but across the school.

“She will be greatly missed by staff and students alike.”

Megan’s friends have made a special place at the Southern Road recreation ground, for people to visit, in memory of Megan and at the Thame Youth Memorial, Which both Megan and her father did so much to raise funds for, candles have been placed in the shape of the letter ‘M’ along with flowers and other ‘Bid’ memorabilia.

PREPARE to roll up your sleeves, dig out your community spirit, get a few friends and neighbours together and help smarten up the town, on Thame Tidy Day, on April 19.

Two Thame businesses has stepped up to the plate and have offered to sponsor ‘Thame Tidy Day 2015’. Unicarriers UK Ltd, in Jane Morbey Road, Thame, will be providing two skips where those involved in the big clean up, can deposit the litter and other rubbish they clear up on the day. Thame Tidy Day Co-ordinator, Sue Martin Downhill, therefore needs everyone taking part, whether you are a local organisation like Youth organisations, residents association, church groups, schools, or just a willing individual, to contact her and tell her where they will be working on the day, so she can work out the best places to site the two skips.

ASM Auto Recycling, in Rycote Lane, Thame, will once again be providing two men and a van to go round and collect bags of rubbish, and Andy Ford and some of his colleagues from Thame Fire Station will be picking up large objects that have been dumped. Nick Shott has volunteered to organise a clean up of the Chiltern Vale, Thame Leisure Centre, Cuttlebrook and the Phoenix Trail areas at that end of town.

Christine Dyroff will be co-ordinating a clean up of the old Long Crendon bridge and would welcome a few more volunteers with spades or shovels to help. Lea Park Residents Association are already organising for their part in Thame Tidy Day and would welcome more volunteers to help on the day.

CONTACT: sue@racquets-fitness-centre.com to register your interest in helping, and follow Thame Tidy Day 2015,  on Facebook

THE shocking findings revealed today of an independent Serious Case Review into Child Sexual Exploitation in Oxfordshire, found that Thames Valley Police and Oxfordshire Social Services made serious errors in failing to protect an estimated 300 young girls from sexual abuse, prostitution and trafficking, many of them in the Care system. Today, Sarah Thornton, Chief Constable of Thames Valley Police, issued the following statement:

“We have contributed fully to the review and accept its findings. The independent review highlighted that agencies including Thames Valley Police could have identified the exploitation between 2004 and 2010 earlier than it did and many errors were made.

“The review acknowledges that we have been willing to learn and change. We have examined what went wrong and we are doing all that we can to put things right.

“After the 2013 trial, I personally apologised to the victims and their families for not identifying the systematic nature of the abuse sooner, that we were too reliant on victims supporting criminal proceedings and that it took too long to bring the offenders to justice.

“I want to reiterate that apology today. The Force has made significant progress in the way we prevent, identify, disrupt and investigate Child Sexual Exploitation. Recent Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary inspections have recognised us for our track record in addressing so-called ‘hidden crimes’.

“Since the 2011 financial year, we have invested £3.5m in dedicated resources to tackle this kind of exploitation. In addition one of our Major Crime Teams, who have traditionally investigated murders are now entirely focused on Child Sexual Exploitation investigations.

AGENCIES NOW WORKING TOGETHER

“In Oxfordshire, we have a dedicated unit, the Kingfisher team, where police officers, social workers and health and education professionals sit side by side in order to safeguard children from Child Sexual Exploitation. The success of the Kingfisher team has been recognised as best practice nationally by winning a number of awards including the Alarm Award 2014 for People Risk, the Municipal Journal Award 2014 for Best Children’s Services and the Thames Valley Shrievalty Award 2015.

“There has been a huge emphasis on training frontline officers and staff in order for us to better prevent, identify, disrupt and investigate Child Sexual Exploitation. All frontline officers and staff, including PCSOs, constables and sergeants, have been attending mandatory training since 2013.

“We continue to work with one of the six victims from Operation Bullfinch to deliver training to frontline officers and new detectives and inspectors in order for us to better identify potential victims and suspects. She talks about her experiences with the police in order for us to learn from mistakes made prior to 2011.

“The independent review found that ‘Operation Bullfinch and subsequent prosecutions have shown concerted and vigorous action’.

“Since the 2013 trial at the Old Bailey, we have successfully charged 47 offenders in connection with 201 Child Sexual Exploitation offences and will continue to do so.

SHAME

“We are ashamed of the shortcomings identified in this report and we are determined to do all we can to ensure that nothing like this ever happens again.

“Safeguarding and protecting vulnerable children and robustly and vigorously investigating those who prey on them, is the responsibility of every officer and member of staff in Thames Valley Police.”

The statement containing Sarah Thornton’s apology, went on:

LOOKING OUT FOR THE SIGNS OF ABUSE

“Across the Thames Valley more than 100,000 school pupils have been taught about child sexual exploitation. In addition, more than 600 businesses, including pubs, fast food outlets and hotels, have also been trained to look out for the signs of abuse. Thames Valley Police also continues to work with one of the six victims from Operation Bullfinch to deliver face to face training. She has worked with more than 200 new detectives, sergeants and inspectors to talk about her experiences with the police.

“The victim, who was known as Girl 1 during the trial at the Old Bailey, said: “I have been working with the police to deliver training sessions on CSE and sharing my experiences. I feel young people are finally being seen as victims and not simply nuisances who make ‘bad life choices’. I had a newly promoted sergeant apologise to me for all the young people they felt they had let down in the past and that was very touching. I feel that Thames Valley Police has failed me so terribly in the past. However, they have apologised for this and not made excuses about it.” ”

If you think you have been a victim of sexual abuse, or are worried about someone, please phone 101, quoting URN 165 18/2/15.

For further information and advice on CSE click here: LINK

THE COUNTY COUNCIL’S RESPONSE

Jim Leivers, Oxfordshire County Council’s Director for Children, Education and Families, said: “Like the whole community we are horrified at what happened in Oxford. We fully accept that we made many mistakes and missed opportunities to stop the abuse.

“After the trial, the council apologised to the girls for not stopping their abuse sooner, and I do so unreservedly again today. They suffered dreadfully at the hands of these violent men, and despite many attempts we failed to keep them safe while they were in our care. Since then we have been determined to make improvements and have worked hard to ensure that everything possible is done to make children safer in Oxfordshire. We are totally committed to tackling this abuse and the county council has already implemented all the recommendations for improvement, which the report acknowledges.

“The report describes ‘concerted and vigorous action’ by all agencies to tackle child sexual exploitation and concludes: “Oxfordshire has made very significant progress from the time in 2011 it was finally realised there was a pattern of organised child sexual exploitation (CSE) and multiple victims”.

A charity to fight Bladder cancer, founded by a Chinnor bookshop owner, has helped launch a new campaign, Shout Out About Bladder Cancer, to raise awareness about the disease.

Bladder cancer is the seventh most common cancer in the UK, affects both men and women, young or old, and has one of the highest recurrence rates of any cancer. Despite this, nothing or very little is seen or heard about in the media. Andrew Winterbottom’s charity, along with two others Action on Bladder Cancer and The Urology Foundation, have joined forces to bring bladder cancer into public general knowledge, and also to GP’s and other medical facilities.

The website www.shoutoutaboutbladdercancer.org  is full of information about the disease, where to get help etc, and about the three charities involved.

You can read more about the opening of Andrew’s charity book shop, The Wee Bookshop, by Jefffrey Archer, and the inspiration behind Andrew’s idea for the bookshop here https://www.thame.net/archives/17338 and follow The Wee Bookshop on Facebook HERE

The Wee Bookshop is at 19 Station Road, Chinnor.

RESIDENTS across South Oxfordshire, who face the need for 3,600 more homes to be built across the district, on top of an adopted Local Plan for 11,400, can have their say about where the extra homes should go. Some of these additional homes need to be built in Thame, on top of those accounted for in the Thame Neighbourhood Plan.

The district council (SODC) has said that the need for even more homes between now and 2031, was identified in the publication last year of the Oxfordshire-wide Strategic Housing Market Assessment (SHMA). It is the distribution of those extra homes that the planning authority, South Oxfordshire District Council, has to decide upon and is consulting on.

Thame Town Council has previously told SODC that the town has already been allocated its ‘fair share’ of new homes, and has questioned the validity of the way the new figures were arrived at. SEE:  https://www.thame.net/archives/16024

More than 1,000 responses received in a consultation last summer, on a number of options for distributing these houses across the district, along with other evidence and guidance, have been used to produce a smaller number of revised options. People can now have their say on these new options and give their opinion on how they think the additional housing could be shared across the district.

SODC has said: “The revised options reflect the council’s belief that the majority of the new homes should be distributed in the Science Vale area and in the towns and larger villages, while a more flexible approach could be considered for our smaller villages.

“Communities in the larger villages of Chinnor, Cholsey, Crowmarsh Gifford, Goring and Nettlebed – the ones which aren’t currently developing their own Neighbourhood Plan – have also been consulted to identify where in their villages they think the best housing sites would be. ”

About Thame and the other market towns, the consultation documents, which can be read in full here: http://tiny.cc/zadxux , state:

“Our market towns and largest villages have an important role to play providing jobs and services locally, and these too would probably benefit from having a reasonable share of the additional housing growth. This would help make sure they remain viable and vibrant service centres for the district, and are able to make use of brownfield site opportunities as they come forward for re-use.”

Later in the document: “We therefore propose that most of our own housing need is allocated to these places – we would like you to think about the appropriate balance between the different areas, bearing in mind that we need to plan for at least 3,600 more new homes to meet our district’s need.

“Are there particular places within or around the market towns and larger villages where some of the additional growth could be located, how much housing would be appropriate and what positives would you like to see the development bring?”

Much is said about Chinnor’s expected contribution to providing some of the new housing: HERE

All the consultation documents and how to comment are available here: http://tiny.cc/zadxux