OXFORDSHIRE County Council have published Travel disruption detail – Description; Installation of 15m poly duct in carriageway, 50m poly duct in footway, at BANDET WAY, THAME: Location – FROM CHINNOR RD JCN TO FACTORY B ON BANDET WAY, THAME View on map
Road works planned for Thame Park Road
Type: Mayrise Delay: Severe Planned start: 21/01/2015 00:00 Planned end: 29/01/2015 23:59 Diversion Route – Diversion in force: No Contractor: BC005WP00100500159106709, 0030, BT, 005, BT
You can use the filters HERE to find out about more projected, future traffic disruptions.
THE Mayor of Thame, Jeannette Matelot Green, rode on the foot plate of a steam locomotive on Saturday (10/01), when the Mayor of Didcot, Cllr Scott Wilgrove, hosted an event for mayors of local towns and other council leaders to visit Didcot Railway Centre.
Thame Mayor, Cllr Matelot Green, is first left, front row
The group travelled in a 102-year-old railway carriage, No 92, and took turns to ride on the footplate of 75-year-old pannier tank locomotive, No 3650 which was hauling their train.
In this photograph of the group with 3650, those wearing chains of office in the front row are, right to left: Cllr Scott Wilgrove, Mayor of Didcot; Penny Wilgrove, Mayoress of Didcot; Cllr Anne Purse, Leader of Oxfordshire County Council; Cllr Helen Pighills, Deputy Mayor of Abingdon-on-Thames; Cllr Jane Titchener, Mayor of Wallingford; Mark Savery, Mayor of Wallingford’s Consort; Cllr Margaret Turner, Deputy Leader of South Oxfordshire District Council; Michael Turner, Margaret Turner’s Consort; Cllr Des Healy, Deputy Mayor of Didcot; Cllr Jeannette Matelot-Green, Mayor of Thame.
The group also had a tour of the carriage works and of the locomotive works to see restoration projects in progress. Scott Wilgrove is a member of the Great Western Society, and a volunteer guard at Didcot Railway Centre.
THAMES Valley Police has been congratulated by the Minister for Crime Reduction, MP Lynne Featherstone, during a Parliamentary debate, for managing to cut crime while also working to become more efficient.
Chief Constable of Thames Valley Police, Sara Thornton (right) during a visit to Thame Police Station, with the then, Constable Russell Hounslow
Thame’s MP, John Howell, drew the Minister’s attention to the 30 per cent reduction in crime in the Thames Valley force area between June 2010 and June 2014, as published in the Independent Crime Survey for England and Wales.
The Minister paid tribute to the Force for “rising to the challenge of driving efficiency and cutting crime.” He added:
“Effective policing plays a key part in reducing crime, as does tackling the underlying drivers of crime.”
The exchange occurred during a House of Commons debate on crime reduction last Wednesday, January 7.
A prolific Oxford shoplifter has been sent to prison for several offences, including stealing from shops in Thame.
Simon White, 35, of Moorbank, Blackbird Leys, Oxford, admitted stealing aftershaves and perfumes worth £729.50 from Boots, in High Street, Thame, on September 7, 2014. He also admitted stealing makeup worth £773.04 from Superdrug, in High Street, Thame, on October 19, 2014.
White also admitted stealing sunglasses worth £200 from Boots in Broadway, Didcot, on September 18, and stealing perfume worth £160 from Lloyds Pharmacy, in Market Place, Wantage, on September 30. He also admitted stealing perfume worth £120 from the same store on October 15, He admitted stealing children’s toys from KP Stationers, in Market Place, Wallingford, on October 27, stealing champagne worth £81.99 from Co-Op store, in High Street, Dorchester, on October 29, and two sets of pyjamas and a gilet worth £51 from Next, in Cornmarket Street, Oxford, on December 3.
White admitted possessing cannabis, a class B drug, in Abingdon on October 31. He has been sent to prison by Oxford Magistrates for a total of 34 weeks and ordered to pay a victims’ surcharge of £80.
OPEN Business Network meeting – This Thursday, January 15, 2015 from 9am – 10.30am at The Spread Eagle Hotel, Cornmarket, Thame, in the AJR Room at the rear of the Restaurant.
WITH both sides coming in to the fixture in good form an entertaining match was anticipated, and so it proved to be on Saturday (10/01), when Thame Utd beat Bracknell town 2 – 0.
Playing with the strong breeze in the first half, it was the visitors who started the strongest and for much of the opening ten minutes United were unable to secure any meaningful possession in the opponents half. When they did, however, Captain, Adam Morris, went close with a 20-yard drive on 10 minutes before, three minutes later, Luke Ricketts burst in to the box but was well tackled as he was about to shoot. Ben Gray volleyed over shortly afterwards, but the opening goal arrived on 16 minutes when Gray scored from close range. Bracknell then pressed and, on 26 minutes, a Sam Whiting free-kick for the visitors crashed off the post from 25 yards after a foul by Ollie Lynch.
Whilst Bracknell continued to press, United went close to extending the lead in the final five minutes of the half, first via a Gray header that went over from a Ricketts cross, and then a Dan West drive two minutes later.
United opened the second half in more determined mood, pressing their opponents and, as a consequence, enjoyed more possession. However, opportunities for both sides were limited, with Tapping in the Thame goal doing well to smoother a couple of shots, and United unable to trouble Aulsberry in the Bracknell goal. Nevertheless, on 75 minutes, United won a corner and Dan Jones, who had worked tirelessly all game, crossed for Ellis Hercules to head home from eight yards. The same routine nearly worked twice more in the next five minutes, but Hercules was unable to find the back of the net. A Morris effort was then blocked before a West cross evaded the on-running strikers and was cleared.
As it was, United held on in the last few minutes to claim their 12th consecutive league win – a win that maintained their fourth place position but saw them close the gap on Highmoor Ibis and Kidlington who drew in a top of the table clash.
United: Tapping, Evans, Hall, Hercules, Mulholland, Lynch, Jones (Kedzierski), Morris, Gray (Hodgkins), West (Gledhill), Ricketts.
THAMES Valley Police is appealing for information after a road traffic collision on the M40 near Lewknor yesterday, which left a lorry driver seriously injured.
Between about 3.15pm and 3.20pm yesterday (9/1), two goods vehicles travelling southbound between junction 6 and 5 on the M40 at Lewknor were involved in a collision.
The driver of a white Scania with blue curtain sides, was injured and taken to the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford. He is currently in a serious condition.
The driver of the white Mercedes vehicle was uninjured.
Investigating officer, PC Paul Thomas of the Force’s Roads Policing Department said: “If you saw either vehicle before the collision, or witnessed the collision itself then please contact police immediately via 101.
“If you don’t want to speak directly to the police you can contact the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online at www.crimestoppers-uk.org. No personal details are taken, information is not traced or recorded and you will not go to court.”
A revised planning application for the proposed Thame Solar Farm at Stonepits Farm near Towersey aims to reduce the site area by over 70% — from nearly 24 to just over 6.6 hectares — and specifies more native tree and hedgerow planting to make the site less visible to the public.
Sheep grazing on a Solar Farm at Wadebridge
The revised plan removes almost all of the site’s ‘best and most valued’ (BMV) agricultural land, which will continue to be conventionally farmed. Continued agricultural use of the solar farm itself is also proposed, in the form of grazing sheep, while surrounding areas will be enhanced to support wildlife and biodiversity by planting wildflowers and installing beehives.
The new plan, submitted by developers Big60Million, Luminous Energy and Belectric UK, is intended to address local concerns about visibility from neighbouring properties, roads and footpaths. Drawing on consultations with local residents and feedback from South Oxfordshire District Council (SODC), it will be considered by SODC’s Planning Committee at the end of January.
As part of the substantial scaling down of Thame Solar Farm, the solar arrays will now be set back to leave a 140-metre-wide corridor between them and Windmill Road, and the existing hedgerow will be allowed to grow to a height of 3 metres, further restricting views from the road. A long lost native hedgerow along the western edge of the solar farm will be re-established, screening the site from any redevelopment of the currently derelict Stonepits buildings.
Along the eastern boundary, the solar arrays will be set back an average of 30 metres from the bridleway, which will itself be improved to increase accessibility and prevent deterioration of the trail. As recommended by the Environment Agency, and in keeping with local landscape character assessments, existing willow trees alongside the path will be pollarded. The resulting branches take root rapidly when pushed into the ground and will be used along with under-storey planting to fill in gaps and strengthen the hedgerow. Compared to the original proposal, 60% less of the bridleway will now be adjacent to the solar farm, so overall visual impact will be hugely reduced.
The reduced site area means that solar arrays will be no closer than 45 metres from the public footpath to the north of the site and a proposed native hedgerow will be planted along this boundary to further soften and filter the view.
Belectric’s development manager, Mike Rogers, commented: “Early last year we identified Stonepits Farm as potentially suitable for solar power generation because it’s largely flat, inconspicuously located and, crucially, has a 9000 kVA grid connection adjacent to the site. Since then, we’ve been talking to and listening to local people and the planning authority, and working hard to address their concerns. We’ve scaled back the project by more than half, greatly increased the buffer zones between the solar farm and public rights of way, and worked up landscape plans to minimize any residual visual impact.
“Solar farms are usually photographed from the air — precisely the angle from which they look biggest and most intrusive. At ground level, surrounded by trees, hedgerows and wildflower margins, they blend in much better than people might expect. Besides generating clean energy, our plans for Thame Solar Farm include sheep grazing between and beneath the panels, and working with local wildlife experts to provide habitat for birds, small ground dwelling mammals and pollinating insects. In the future, we hope local people will want to become involved with community projects based around our solar farm concept.”
THAME Town Council has begun the process of searching for a new Town Clerk, following a decision by the current Clerk to retire at the end of March.
Helen Stewart, who has been Thame’s Town Clerk for 11 years, was awarded an BEM in the Queen’s Birthday Honour’s List 2014, ‘For services to neighbourhood planning in Thame, Oxfordshire’. SEE LINK
The town council will begin advertising the post from January 23, with a closing date of February 13, holding interviews in the week beginning February 23. All the information relevant to interested applicants will be available on the Town Council’s website or available at the Town Hall from January 23. Anyone wishing for an application pack to be posted to them can register their interest by emailing info@thametowncouncil.gov.uk.
