Author: Sonja Francis

KATH Daly, who lives in Thame, has been appointed as the Acting Chief Officer of the Chilterns Conservation Board. She will take up her new duties in January 2015 for a six month period following the retirement in December of Steve Rodrick, who has held the post since 1994.

Ian Reay, the Chairman of the Board, said: “Kath has been the Board’s Countryside Officer since 2005 and we are delighted to announce that she will take over from Steve early next year. The next three months will provide a valuable opportunity to organise a smooth handover. In the first half of 2015 Kath will have a key role in working with the Board to review how we manage the organisation. We expect to make decisions about the long term next June.”

Steve Rodrick welcomed the appointment: “Kath will do a great job and enjoys the full confidence of the staff, Board members and, importantly, our partners. Kath is well known to many of those we work with and the continuity she will provide will be a real bonus in what remain challenging and changeable times.”

Kath has a degree in Environmental Science from Southampton University. After graduating she worked on wildlife projects in Central and South America followed by several years in South Wales as a Community Services Manager. Prior to joining the Conservation Board in 2005 she had been the manager of the Brecks Countryside Project in Suffolk.

Kath herself told Thame.Net: “This is an important moment of change after 20 years of Steve’s leadership. I’m excited about working with Board members, partners and staff over the next few months to help shape the course for the future.”

To find out more about the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Beauty, visit the website:  www.chilternsaonb.org

INSPECTOR James Willis, Head of Diversity at Thames Valley Police, believes it could be and throughout October, his force is raising awareness about disability hate crime and encouraging victims, friends, family and support workers to report any incident where they believe they, or another person is being targeted because of their disability.

Inspector Willis said: “Last year, just 106 disability hate crime incidents were reported to Thames Valley Police. While low crime figures may be seen as encouraging, in reality we think there are disability hate incidents and crimes which are going unreported.

“This could be due to fear of repercussions after speaking to the police, not realising that what is happening to them is a crime in the first place or victims could believe nothing will be done to support them. Most astonishingly of all, I am aware that some people genuinely believe that being targeted because of their disability is just a way of life for them.

“This is absolutely not the case and I want to encourage people to report any incident where they have been targeted and they believe it is because they have a disability.

“Thames Valley Police will not tolerate any hate crime or incident and police are able to intervene in these incidents but it is important that the incidents are reported in the first place.

“I want to encourage anyone who may be suffering as a victim or who may be witnessing this type of crime to please report it to police as soon as possible by calling 101.”

If a victim or witness feels unable to report the crime to police for whatever reason, they can contact independent charities such as Stop Hate UK and True Vision in confidence.”

There is more information about disability hate crime, how to spot the signs someone may be a victim, how to report disability hate crime and how to obtain support for victims and witnesses on the Thames Valley Police website:

http://www.thamesvalley.police.uk/aboutus/aboutus-ead/aboutus-ead-hate-crime/aboutus-ead-disability-hate-crime.htm

THAME Town Council is not happy with the new layout of the junction at Wenman Road with Thame Park Road, fearing that the existing road network will not be able to cope with the extra traffic generated from the new housing development coming soon close by.

Though the council has said that it will continue to support the proposals for the site, known as Site C in the Neighbourhood Plan, it has asked the developer who will be building new houses in the fields close by, Taylor Wimpey, for ‘further clarification’ on how the roads around the area would be able to cope with the increased traffic movement.

The council’s recommendation to approve the proposed development and amendments, with its additional comments, will now be sent to South Oxfordshire District Council for its Planning Committee’s decision.

THE Rotary Club of Thamec’s stall at the Thame Food Festival last Saturday (27/09), attracted much interest in the group’s activities and raised some very useful funds for local charities too!

A raffle for some great prizes, including hampers of fine foods and wines donated by Waitrose and The Co-Operative store in Thame, was manned by  Thame Rotarians and members of Thame’s Inner Wheel, and raised just under £500. The money will be shared between Thame-based Sharing Life Trust’s Foodbank and Thame Rotary’s own local charities of 2014-2015: Thame Skate Park Project,TCC2 and SAFARI.

The public had the chance to find out about the main events organised by the Rotary Club such as the Thame Swimathon on Sunday, October 12, and the Thame Art Show between December 5 and 7.

Marius Ciortan, spokesman for the Thame Rotary Club said: “The raffle prizes were the main attractions at our stall, but not the only ones. We also had a great interest in the Thame Swimathon when teams representing Thame Town Council, Barley Hill School, Thame Players, the Thame CAB and many others will swim at the event and raise money for charity. From this year the teams have got the option to request the Rotary Club of Thame to donate half of the money raised towards their local charity of their choice.”

The Thame Food Festival was also an opportunity for the Rotary Club to launch another project which involves collecting any unused foreign currency – notes and coins. The profits from selling the collected foreign currency are to be donated to Rotary’s charities.

For more information about the Rotary Club of Thame’s activities and membership opportunities,  visit: www.thame.rotaryweb.org or  facebook.com/thamerotary or ring/text: 07764 85 49 49

LITTLE Ollie Coulcher-Porter from Thame, continued to make his intentions clear on the squash world last weekend (27-28/9).
Ollie is just eight years-old but he is aiming high! Building on his E grade win at the Racquets Open Graded Squash Tournament the previous weekend, Ollie entered the Under 11s Oxfordshire County, Closed Tournament held at Abingdon Squash Club.

Oliver’s first match of three games was against Rory Richmond who is Number 22 in the Great Britain rankings under 11.

Oliver started off well and at one stage was leading but his opponent’s excellent serve and experience helped him to win eventually in straight games.

After a period of dejection between matches, Oliver harnessed his determination to win his next two matches in straight games, dropping only a few points on the way. This combination of results placed him into the Under 11s semi-finals.

Oliver drew the Great Britain ranked number 11 in the semi-final, where he managed to gain a meaningful number of points from this opponent and’ kept a stiff upper lip’ throughout. His opponent, Luke Perkins, ultimately won the tournament.

Oliver went through to play the 3/4th play-off which was an exciting match between him and Oxford’s Number One, Under Nine, Felix Loeffen. The match went to five sets. It was neck and neck and had a crowd of people watching intrigued by this match between the two youngest members of the whole tournament. Felix edged the match 3-2.

Oliver’s mum, Jane, said: “We are so proud of Ollie who is extremely keen and highly competitive, and to come fourth in his first tournament outside of Racquets is an indication of the work that he has put in for the past year.”

Both boys’ coaches have promised that these two will meet again regularly to have friendly ,competitive matches in order to create a friendly rivalry that will hopefully last for many, many years.

Squash Coach at Raquets, Thame, Sue Downhill Martin, said: “Ollie’s performance, along with Ben Hedger (Under 17 champion) and Nick Harbour (Under 15 champion), is testament to the junior coaching available at Racquets Fitness Centre where juniors can learn the game on four days of the week in public groups, and private coaching which can work around school commitments.

AFTER a heated debate and noisy contributions from the public gallery, Thame Town Council voted unanimously at a meeting last night (30/09) to recommend Refusal of a planning application for 45 homes at The Elms, and for a plan to make changes to Elms Park itself.

Speaking on behalf of the Elms Petition Group who want the site removed from the Thame Neighbourhood Plan altogether, Tom Marianczak, referring to, what he called, the council’s “orchestrated refusal” the previous week to remove The Elms from the Thame Neighbourhood Plan, agreed with the council’s objections, and accused the Developers of ‘pushing the boundaries’ in their plans to build 45 homes on the site.

He emphasised that the streets around the proposed development, Nelson Street and Southern Road particularly, would be unable to cope with the increased traffic. Mr Marianczal described the plans for the Elms Park itself as ‘deplorable’ and said that there had been no proper public consultation adding: “The people of Thame have not said that that they either need or require any changes to the park.”

He told councillors: “It is your duty as our elected representatives, to act against this development. We the Petition group, will continue to campaign for the site to be removed from the Neighbourhood Plan.” At this point the packed audience clapped loudly and the Mayor of Thame in Chair, Jeannette Matelot Green, had to bang her gavel twice to restore order.

No councillors opted to ask Mr Marianczak any questions following his presentation. The Mayor then revealed that a letter had been received from Barton Willmore, the Developers’ agent, stating that further discussions had taken place recently, and indicating that changes were being made to the plans to address the town council’s concerns. (These can be found in the report here: http://www.thametowncouncil.gov.uk/images/6___Report_-_Land_at_The_Elms.pdf)

Cllr David Dodds remarked on the ‘immense amount of documentation’ sent out to councillors in respect of The Elms, and declared: ” I still feel that I am not in a position to support the situation at The Elms. I am totally against it.” Again, the public gallery errupted into a hearty clap and some cheers.

Cllr Peter Lambert said: “This has been our only opportunity to speak. We have had no chance to defend ourselves. We have been baraged by email and some of us referred to as ‘traitors’. We did listen to the majority of the people of Thame when we held the referendum. There are always going to be pockets of people in Thame objecting to building behind their homes.”

Cllr Nicola Dixon said: “At the meeting on November 8, 2012, it was said that there would be around 10 units for seniors; something small and sustainable, something with very little impact. Since then it has turned into something totally unacceptable – a blight!”

Much discussion took place around traffic generation in the roads around the proposed site, Cllr Mike Welply describing the current situation as ‘a nightmare’ to which the public gallery applauded. Several councillors said that this aspect should be included in the council’s objections to the plan. Cllr David Dodds pointed out that the town council had previously objected to other planning applications in the vicinity on the grounds that increased traffic generation would have an adverse effect on people living in that part of the town.

The Town Clerk, Helen Stewart, gave an assurance that all comments from councillors, petitioners etc would be forwarded to Tibbalds, the council’s Consultants, before any future discussions with the developer or meetings about the proposed development took place. She also pointed out that although traffic and transport would be a consideration, any objections could be overridden by either Oxfordshire County Council or South Oxfordshire County Council.

“But we will press as hard as we can on transport issues,” she concluded.

The council voted unanimously to recommend rejection of the planning application for land at The Elms, based on the objections in the report referred to above. It also voted to object to the plans for changes to Elms Park (See detailed objections the report Appendix 1)

After the meeting, Cllr David Dodds clarified his position. He told Thamenews.Net: “I was unable to take part in the process of the Neighbourhood Plan because of family connections with the owners of Site C. My feeling now is that it is very regrettable that we have included The Elms in the Neighbourhood Plan. It’s there, so we have to accept that. I also regret that the council affirmed the plan in the Neighbourhood Plan at the last meeting (see LINK https://www.thame.net/archives/16866). But quite frankly I don’t think there is a ‘hope in hell’ of changing that.

“The position we find ourselves in is quite unique. My feeling is that now it’s (The Elms) is in the plan (the TNP) and has been affirmed by the town council, they have to make sure that the impact on the town is the least we can get. Let’s hope that the developers can meet the town half-way.”