Thame.net

Author: Sonja Francis

  • 24/04/13…….Childrens’ safety issues raised at Thame town meeting

    TWO separate safety issues were raised by residents at last night’s annual Thame Town Meeting, one concerning Harrison Place, Lea Park, and the other the entrance to Elms Park in Park Street. The Chair of the the Lea Park Residents’ Association, Angela Wilson, described how young cyclists and skateboarders were ‘hurtling’ into the road in the Harrison Place area of Lea Park.

    When the Mayor, Cllr Nigel Champken Woods replied that the council would make finding a solution to the problem one of its priorities in the next administrative year, another resident asked for it to be dealt with ‘as a top priority now’ pointing out that these were young children between four years-old and nine affected.

    The same resident said that he had written to the council three times about the problem, including copying in the Mayor on one of the emails, but had received no response. “This is not acceptable,” he concluded. “This is a safety issue and the council should take it seriously.”

    The Mayor replied that he had not seen any correspondence but offered to talk to the resident about the matter outside of the meeting.

    The second safety issue, also involving possible danger to children, involved the on-going debacle about the the missing, side access gate at the entrance to Elms Park, in Park Street, Thame. (See LINK and LETTERS PAGE )

    Richard Jeffries, who lives opposite the park entrance, said that he had sent four correspondences to the council dating back to July, 2011, with what he called, ‘unsatisfactory results’. He wanted to know why the gate had not been installed as per the council’s original plan.

    The Mayor replied that it had been four years since the gate had been changed, since when several RoSPA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents) inspections had been issued, stating that the risk level at the site was low. “We intend to address the issue,” said the mayor, and promised that the council’s CLR (Culture, Leisure and Recreation) Committee would be considering the matter at its next meeting in June, and would look into the possibility of installing a barrier there.

    Mr Jeffries concluded by offering to help the council implement the solution.

    MORE from the Thame Town Meeting tomorrow

  • 25/04/13…..Is the Neighbourhood Plan indeed ‘a plan’ ?

    DEAR Editor, Regarding the Thame plan, I hope you will publish the following, which follows up on my very brief interview today (yesterday 24/04/13) on Radio Oxford.

    The ‘plan’ is not a plan really. It is a list of objestives. Many obvious like more green space, more community facilities, employment opportunities etc. Some objectives are indeterminate because, like the possible consolidation of the Lord Williams senior and junior schools on one site, that decision is the responsibility of other agencies and has yet to be fully studied and decided.

    Also as an example, the statement that the Thame cattle market would like to move to the show ground is simply a statement of a desire that has existed for a great number of years. Where is the plan that says it can happen and how achieved?

    Secondly the plan (in inverted commas), assumes that Thame must find space for 775 new houses as required by SODC. That is its core element.

    This is unacceptable considering the source of the figure. I suppose it all started with the not-much-revered John Prescott?s desire to concrete over southern England, but the 775 figure originates from the assumption by the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) that South Oxon must find room for some 3000 new homes. SODC were given the job of allocating these across the district and dumped 775 on Thame. But, SEEDA is, or rather was, a QUANGO which was wound up by the present government in, I think, March 2012. Its figures were based on an assumption of increased immigration – whereas current policy is to reduce immigration.

    It is surely illogical that the defective forecast of this defunct agency should remain in place.

    Thirdly, Despite what Cllr Dyer said on BBC Radio Oxford today, the plan gives no additional powers to local and district councils. It provides future guidance only. All new development continues to go through the existing planning procedures and presumably councils can remember for a few months where they don?t want development to go.

    Yes, the ‘say yes’ to Thame group have threatened that a No vote will lead to a vast estate, universally agreed to be undesirable, being forced on Thame by SODC. This casts SODC as arrogant idiots. Also, the threat that a No vote is pointless removes the whole purpose of a referendum. Why ask if you insist on the answer?

    The ‘plan’ is presented as something to be accepted in its entirety whereas it should be offered as a series of topics where majority opinion could accept or reject all, or accept some and reject others.

    Moreover, it is stated blithely that acceptance of the plan will lead to a nice present from the government of

  • 25/04/13….Author Charlie Higson talks zombies with Thame pupils

    LORD Williams?s School had the privilege of hosting the very first leg of acclaimed author and comedian, Charlie Higson?s ‘The Sacrifice’ tour.

    Charlie Higson is a highly successful author, actor, comedian and writer for television and radio. He wrote the phenomenally successful Young Bond series and has just released book four of his Zombie series, The Sacrifice, which started with The Enemy, a former winner of the Oxfordshire Book Award.

    In three separate sessions Charlie used his well-known dry humour to engage and inspire the children of Years seven, eight and none, as well as the Year six children from two of the Partnership Primary Schools, St Joseph?s and John Hampden. At the end of each interactive session students had the opportunity to ask questions followed by book signings.

    In response to student requests following this successful event, the school library has doubled its stock of Charlie Higson books!

    *****HERE’S pupil, Nathan Cartwight’s description of Charlie’s visit to his year group, year Nine:

    “On April 22, 2013, a shuffling creature crawled into Lower School. Its name, Charlie Higson. He came to speak about his career, his life and of course ZOMBIES!

    His books are dead famous, from Silverfin to The Fear. He explained that he had been writing from a young age and that however much girls may fancy Robert Paterson Vampires, they were stuck with zombies, as that is how he describes teenage boys!

    Charlie went on to explain how his own kids decided that every character he introduced into his Young Bond books should be decapitated and destroyed in some gruesome and disgusting way. He also explained how he couldn’t scare his eldest with the sample chapters of The Enemy, and so determined to make him wet himself with fear, he upped the scares until, one night, he burst into the room cold and frightened. Charlie thought, as he put it: “A ha! got the little b*%

  • 25/04/13….Limited places for Thame 10 km 2013

    THAME’S largest mass participation sporting event, the Thame CPM 10km Road Race, will this year take place on Sunday, June 30, 2013.

    The organisers are emphasising that there will be NO ENTRIES ON RACE DAY and that the race will be limited to 1000 entries to maintain a safe and enjoyable day for everyone. They expect entries to fill up fast so are encouraging people to register as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

    This popular event has been run since 1985 and has grown to be one of the key sporting fixtures in Thame with 1000 runners pounding a course through the town centre to Towersey and back along the Phoenix Trail. Thame Runners organise the race and allocate any surplus funds to local charities. Last year approximately

  • 23/04/13….Meet the candidates No 3 – Nick Carter hopes to make it a hat trick

    NICK Carter has been one of the two County Councillors for the Thame & Chinnor area since 2005, when the Conservatives won control of Oxfordshire County Council after 20 years of coalitions.

    ?Since then,? he says, ?my colleague David Wilmshurst and I have worked hard to make a difference for our lovely part of the county and give it a loud voice at the Council.?

    Nick holds regular surgeries in Thame and describes his role as: ?acting on people?s concerns, cutting through red tape by pulling the county, district, town and parish councils together, and achieving the best outcomes for individuals.? He is also a member of the Council?s Cabinet, where policies are set and key decisions are made.

    Nick lives in Thame and has worked as a newspaper editor, then ran his own publishing business and subsequently began freelancing. He and his wife Hilly each have two children, and he says: ?We know that efficient local services can make a real difference for both family and business life.?

    He adds, ?The County Council?s activities have an important impact locally ? on our families? health and welfare, our children?s education, our safety from crime and accidents, our reliance on decent roads and transport systems, our shopping and leisure facilities.

    ?The electors have two votes each and can be assured that David Wilmshurst and I are committed to representing everyone tirelessly on all these issues.?

  • 24/04/13….Thame Utd beat lowly Reading Town

    LEAGUE GAME – Home – 23/04/13 – Thame united 2, Reading Town 0 – MATCH REPORT (Contributed) – WITH several key players injured, Thame United were forced to field a weakened side on Tuesday evening, at the ASM stadium, for their fixture with lowly Reading Town.

    The situation was made worse when Ben Gray withdrew after being injured during the warm up, leaving United without a recognised striker. Despite this, Thame went on to win the game 2-0.

    Both goals were scored in the first half, the first after 11 minutes play and the second three minutes later. The first came after a fairly even start, when Mitchell Meredith received the ball and hit a 25-yard shot cross from the left which surprised the keeper and found the top right hand corner of the goal. A minute later Jake Dell was unlucky when his shot hit the side netting. The second goal was created by a well placed diagonal cross from Ian Pykett which was met near the far post with a strong, first time shot from Matt Hall.

    Possession was 50/50 but the visitors were unable to create any real chances as United were quick to close them down. About 10 minutes before the break there was almost a repeat of the second goal when Pykett hit another cross which Hall met, this time with a strong diving header, but the keeper made an excellent save.

    The second half was uneventful with neither keeper really troubled. United?s best chance fell to Nik Rhodes who had joined the attack to meet an Ellis Hercules free kick and, as the ball ran loose, he hit a strong goal bound shot which was just blocked.

    Thame United: Farrow, I Pykett, P Pykett, Hercules, Rhodes, Mitchell, Connelly, Dell, Jewell, Johnson (Stallwood), Hall (Way).

    United play their last home game of the season next Saturday (27th) when second placed Wantage Town are the visitors.

  • 23/04/13…Chinnor ‘Seconds’ retain cup with clean sweep season

    A thrilling Cup victory crowned Chinnor RFU Seconds’ annus mirabilis on Saturday, ending their unbeaten season’s run by overcoming OURFC Greyhounds 27-9.

    The Club’s Honorary Secretary, Carol Bradbrook-Taylor, was obviously delighted, saing: “What a result for the Chinnor Seconds! We asked for 25 out of 25 and you did us proud. The club salutes each and every one of you.

    “In total the boys scored 1013 points with only 319 against – what an outstanding record!”

    MATCH REPORT

    Oxfordshire Final’s day finally arrived and Chinnor seconds arrived at Iffley Road for their game against Oxford University Greyhounds, who last competed for this cup in 1979. Greyhounds have had a good season to date, and were sporting a number of blues in the side with Chinnor?s acceptance. The pressure was on!

    Chinnor seconds had been unbeaten in the 24 games they had played so far this season, and were determined to win to keep and produce a clean sheet. There wasn?t much more that could really have them fired up for this one, until you add the indomitable team spirit that has become such a trade mark for the seconds. It had to be worth 10 points in any game.

    Chinnor had the dream start with Trevor (The General) Powell going over for a try, converted by Sam Angel within two minutes, exactly the same start that they had against Henley last year. The following 38 minutes produced nothing but penalties infuriating the Chinnor supporters with Chinnor not getting the rub of the green.

    Greyhounds were successful with two penalties and Chinnor had to work hard with their defence. During this period it appeared that every time that Chinnor got the ball they were penalised. But the boys proved their worth as always with a defence so good that Greyhounds had no choice but to kick their points instead of going for the tries.

    The rugby played was good rugby but it was sadly felt that the Referee took the shine off it by being over generous with his issue of yellow cards.

    The first half finished seven points to six in Chinnor?s favour. The second half started with the Chinnor forwards dominating the scrums and the pick and drives stamping their dominance on the pitch. They were duly rewarded with a great try by Tristan Corpe and converted by Sam Angel, increasing their lead to 14 points to six.

    This was followed five minutes later by the ?ever green? Simon Matthews who scored Chinnor?s third try giving a good lead of 19 points to six.

    Greyhounds had no answer for the forwards and were having less and less ball to play with. The Referee was still happy to share out the yellow cards to both sides, but fortunately Chinnor was still able to enjoy great rugby played by both teams.

    Greyhounds added another penalty to their score and Harry Hillier replied with a try, making it Chinnor?s fourth. Sam Angell followed shortly with a successful penalty with the last kick of the game, and the final score was 27 points to nine, giving Chinnor four cup wins in a row.

    This was a game in which 40 players gave their all and provided the spectators with good rugby from both sides – a credit to both clubs. Well done both teams!

    As so often is the case, trying to single out anyone for Man Of the Match was tough, Max Williams, Nick Harrison, Trevor Powell or Tristan Corpe and many others would have fit the bill. But finally it was decided that Man of the Match was to go to Ed Vickers.

    SOURCE: Contributed
    PHOTO: Paul Murphy, President of the RFU looks on delightedly as Ed Vickers shows off the Cup

  • 22//04/13…..Neighbourhood Plan means Thame can ‘manage expansion’

    DEAR Editor, I should like to respond to Ms Warren’s recent letter in the local press. Most of us would share Ms Warren?s concern that the imposition of 775 new houses over the next fifteen years is a threat to the unique character of Thame, but she seems to have missed the point that this is the very reason for our Neighbourhood Plan.

    The houses are coming whether we want them or not, but at least the Plan gives us a chance to manage this expansion in a way that seeks to protect everything that we value in our community. One of the fundamental principles in establishing the Neighbourhood Plan is the overwhelming sense of community that Thame has to offer, a community that we wish to preserve.

    Thame Town Council did not acquiesce to the government?s housing numbers, rather fought tooth and nail over a period of two years opposing the housing allocation in the South East Plan. Admittedly, some larger councils chose not to accept the housing figures, favouring locally determined housing numbers but, despite their opposition, have subsequently had them imposed anyway. Through the Neighbourhood Plan, we can exercise some control over where the houses go and can resist the burden of a single large estate on the edge of town.

    None of the proposed sites in and around Thame are designated as ?Green Belt? land, or subject to any national landscape designation (such as Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty). The sites are simply open countryside, granted valuable in its own right, but not subject to the same constraints as Green Belt/AONB.
    That said, the Neighbourhood Plan was methodical in grading landscape value and seeking to avoid development on higher value landscape areas. Of the land available around Thame, the allocated sites are the least versatile and valuable in agricultural terms.

    It would be impossible to accommodate 775 houses in Thame without utilising some greenfield land, and we are further restricted in the choice of sites because Thame is surrounded by the flood plain. The addition of 775 homes inevitably means developing greenfield sites and one of the early consultation findings was an aspiration to move away from the high density, town ‘cramming’ and ?garden grabbing? that we have seen in the last decade, and a move back towards lower density schemes with decent sized gardens, off-road parking, and good standards of privacy.

    Vaughan Humphries
    Cornmarket, Thame

  • 22/04/13…..Meet your prospective County Councillors

    WITH the county council elections due on May 2, 2013, there are nine candidates for Thame & Chinnor seat. In the first of a series biographies of the local candidates, the first is of Mary Stiles, who is currently a Thame Town Councillor.

    Mary has lived in Thame for 45 years and before retirement worked in education with the community in Thame, Chinnor and the surrounding villages for several years and so she knows the division well. She is a trustee of four local charities, a school governing body Chair and Chair of the local Children?s Centre advisory group, as well as being a town councillor in Thame and a director of the local partnership, 21st Century Thame, which includes the surrounding villages.

    She is active in, and supported by, the Co-operative movement and currently is working hard as a town councillor to investigate the possibility of co-operative housing schemes, which can provide genuinely affordable homes for local people. Having worked with young people for much of her working life, Mary was appalled when the Thame Youth Centre closed in 2011 and the qualified youth worker was made redundant. Having secured a one-off grant from Thame Town Council, she is now delighted that the Youth Caf

  • 22/04/14…County Council elections: ‘Passionate environmentalist’ hoping for the green vote

    IN the second on our series looking at the various candidates for the County County elections on May 2, we feature the Green Party candidate, standing for the Thame and Chinnor Seat.

    Colin Grenville has lived in South Oxfordshire for forty years, the last eighteen in the Chinnor area. He is an energy and environment professional, delivering renewable and energy efficiency consultancy to businesses and the public sector nationwide.

    A passionate environmentalist, he co-founded in 2011, and currently chairs, the Greening Chinnor Campaign to deliver environmental projects: resulting in over 600 hours of community volunteering in 2012 alone.

    A strong awareness of the imperative need to rapidly transform our society to one which lives within its means led Colin to the Green Party, the only party, he believes, with credible policies to deliver such a change whilst creating employment. He is also active in other community groups in Chinnor and in Kingston Blount.