Thame.net

Author: Sonja Francis

  • 11/01/13…..Friday Thame news round up

    THE second Councillor to resign in two months leaves a vacancy on Thame Town Council in the North Ward. Marius Ciortan has stepped down and the vacancy will be filled by election if any ten local government electors submit a written request for an election, to be held to fill the vacancy, to the Returning Officer within 14 days. MORE DETAILS HERE……..

    Marius was instrumental in organising the The Thame Swimathon and for setting up a petition against a Superstore being build on the Cattlemarket. He is an active member of the Thame Rotary Club.

    Volunteers needed for Music in the Park 2013

    MUSIC in the Park 2012 was a huge success and built on the achievements of the inaugural event in 2011. It consolidated the event’s position as a fantastic day out for the whole community, with a wide range of music and other great attractions. The Music in the Park team aim to keep improving the event year-on-year. A large part of Music in the Park’s success is down to a small band of enthusiastic volunteers working behind the scenes in the months leading up to the event.

    The team now needs some additional volunteers for 2013, and is keen to hear from anyone interested in joining them. In particular they need people to help in areas such as stall holder coordination and advance ticket sales. If you are interested in volunteering, drop an email to Nigel Champken-Woods, who, in addition to being Thame’s Mayor, is the Chair of the Management Team, at ngcw@btinternet.com

    Reaching peaks for Alex

    ENTRY forms are now available for Nigel Pattinson?s ?Reaching Peaks for Alex? fund raiser, for Alex Wood, who was severely disabled in a rugby accident. Details about the challenge and how to sign up can be found HERE Read more about Alex HERE

    Schools ? last chance to sign up for sign2sing Guiness record breaker

    THAME schools are this month being offered the last chance to sign up for a charity record breaker for the most young people signing and singing a song simultaneously.

    Teachers, parents and children from the town are being invited to register for SignHealth?s sign2sing world record breaking attempt on February 6, by Wednesday, January 23. More than 900 schools, including St Joseph?s Catholic Primary School in Thame, have so far signed up for sign2sing but the organisers are hoping around 1,200 schools will participate to ensure that the current world record of 114,277 is broken. LINK HERE

    Community Loan scheme

    SOUTH Oxfordshire District Council has

  • 11/01/13…..Is your business less than two years old?

    ALONG with a great team of sponsors, South Oxfordshire District Council is once again running the Southern Oxfordshire New Business Competition. It’s open to any new business (less than 2 years old) operating in the south of Oxfordshire.

    Top of the prize podium is a FREE furnished office for a year in a Jennings Business Centre, worth around

  • 11/01/13…..Late kick-off win for Thame Utd

    BLUEFIN Sports Supplementary Cup – 08/01/13 – Thame United 4, Reading Town 0 – Thame united secured a place in the next round of the League Supplementary Cup at the ASM Stadium on Tuesday evening when they defeated Reading Town 4-0. Due to traffic delays the match kicked off almost 20 minutes late, and the visitors were forced to field a weakened team for the first half, as four of their players did not arrive until half time.

    United controlled the game from the start by immediately putting pressure on the visitor?s goal with Thame keeper Lee Farrow mainly a spectator. The home side went ahead in the 26th minute from their 5th corner. Mitchell Meredith met the ball and headed it down towards goal where Niall Hodgkins managed to get a touch and scramble it over the line. The second came 10 minutes later and was a beauty. During a rare Reading attack the ball was cleared and found Ben Gray near the half way line who ran at goal on the right before squaring the ball to Hodgkins who finished confidently from 15-yards.

    With a strengthened Reading team the second half was closer, and they were unlucky 10 minutes after the restart when a long shot grazed the Thame goalpost. The game ebbed and flowed and United brought on all 3 substitutes including Alex Stewart who has been injured for several months. With five minutes remaining James Way came on and immediately made an impact by making a run on the right wing and crossing to Luke Ricketts who, due to a Stewart dummy, was in enough space to hit a well-placed 15-yard shot to claim United?s third goal. The final goal came with a minute of normal time remaining. Again the ball was crossed from the right, this time by Meredith, and found Stewart at the edge of the box, who celebrated his return by hitting a hard shot pass the keeper.

    Thame United: Farrow, Meredith, Hall, Hercules, Rhodes, Jewell, Connelly (Barr), West, Hodgkins (Way), Gray (Stewart), Ricketts.

    Both the first team and reserves are without a fixture next Saturday 12th. The next home game in on Saturday 19th January when Thame again meet Reading Town, this time in a league fixture.

    SOURCE: Contributed

  • 10/01/13……. Police seek Thame shop-lifter

    THAMES Valley Police has released an image of a man they would like to speak to in connection with a shoplifting incident in Thame.

    Between 12.30pm and 12.45pm on Friday, December 28, a man entered the Steamer Trading Cook Shop in the High Street. He walked around the shop then picked up a box of Le Creuset saucepans and left the shop without paying for them.

    The man police would like to speak to is white, approximately 6ft, medium build and has receding black hair. He was wearing a green padded jacket, long blue scarf, white shirt, blue jeans and dark shoes.

    PC Andrew Smith, from Thame police station, said: ?I would like to hear from anyone who can help identify the man in the image.?

    Anyone with information should call the 24-hour Police Enquiry Centre on 101 and ask to speak to PC Smith.

    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 crimestoppers-uk.org.

    No personal details are taken, information is not traced or recorded and you will not go to court.

    Join us on /www.thamesvalleyalert.co.uk/ to receive local crime and safety messages.

  • 10/01/13….Help for home-based businesses

    SOUTH Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse District Councils are currently conducting a short survey for owners of home-based businesses to see whether there is appetite for further networking hubs.

    There is already a group established in Chalgrove – but would any other venues suit businesses better? The venues provide an opportunity for networking and a chance to get together with like-minded business owners to solve problems – or just to have a chat!

    The results of the survey will be published on SODC’s website when the survey closes at the end of February.

    A link to the survey is:

    http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/WTBJ6JP

    IMAGE; Courtesy of http://www.mumpreneursonline.com

  • 10/01/13……Chinnor ‘delighted’ as new sports pavilion approved

    THE people of Chinnor had the best Christmas present for a long while, when they heard that planning permission had been granted for a brand new Social and Sports Pavilion in their village.

    Everyone involved in the project, including Parish Councillors, representatives from the various sports clubs in Chinnor and Local project management and architectural design firm, PCMS, were delighted to hear just before Christmas that planning permission had been granted by South Oxfordshire District Council.

    The modern, purpose-build facility will replace the old sports and social pavilion on the recreation ground off Station Road, which is in a very bad state of repair. The site currently includes has a number of adult and junior football pitches and tennis courts, and is also used for cricket during the summer.

    The new building will include a suite of fully equipped changing rooms, and will also act as a social meeting place with kitchen, bar area and function rooms. The Parish Council is also considering an office move to the new building. The design is for a single storey L-shaped building with a low roof profile. On-site parking will be improved. New male and female changing facilities have been carefully designed so as to provide easy access to the pitches, and there will be a servery and externally accessed WCs.

    The aim is that the whole community will benefit in some way from the new facilities. Parish Cllr Steve Bird said: ?We are delighted to have secured planning permission with PCMS?s help. This facility will be a great boost for the football club as well as others in Chinnor.? Chinnor Parish Council is presently fund raising and applying for grants, and is hopeful that the work on site can begin later this year.

  • 09/01/13…….Fancy singing Mozart? Singers wanted (no audition)

    IF you haven’t yet made any new year’s resolutions, how about taking up singing – or may be rekindling the joy of singing you once had, may be in the school choir?

    Professor Graham Welch, Chair of Music Education at the Institute of Education, University of London, has studied developmental and medical aspects of singing for 30 years. He says: “The health benefits of singing are both physical and psychological. Singing has physical benefits because it is an aerobic activity that increases oxygenation in the blood stream and exercises major muscle groups in the upper body, even when sitting.

    “Singing has psychological benefits because of its normally positive effect in reducing stress levels through the action of the endocrine system which is linked to our sense of emotional well-being.

    “Psychological benefits are also evident when people sing together as well as alone because of the increased sense of community, belonging and shared endeavour.”

    Thame Choral Society have been going for over 50 years now and there next concert on May 4, will be Mozart?s Requiem and rehearsals start tonight, and are every Wednesday in term time, from 7.30pm to 9.30pm, at Haddenham Methodist church.

    The choir is would like to encourage more singers to join this term so that they can make a really full sound with the orchestra, so please tell your friends and spread the word. No audition is required.

    To find out more about Thame Choral Society, visit the website: http://www.thamechoralsociety.co.uk/

    PHOTO: Members of members of Thame Choral Society joined forces with Wycombe Choral Society and sang to an audience of 38,000 people at Twickenham recently

  • 09/01/13….Lack of green space, inadequate affordable housing & health facilities highlighted for Thame

    SOUTH Oxfordshire District Council formally adopted its Core Strategy 2027 Development Plan Document just before Christmas, on December 13, 2012, and includes some big ideas for Thame. The policy’s publication comes finally after extensive public consultations, hearings, re-draftings and an independent assessment by the planning inspectorate.

    The introduction to the Thame section declares: “The strategy for Thame, in accordance with the vision and objectives, seeks to enhance the economic role of the town and make sure it continues its key role of providing employment opportunities and services.”

    The issues the policy seeks to address relating to Thame include:

     Whilst the retail function of Thame is currently performing quite well, our Retail and Leisure Needs Assessment highlights the real risk that the continued expansion of competing centres such as High Wycombe, Aylesbury and Oxford will put pressure on Thame to maintain its market share. Thame needs to make sure it continues to perform well.

     Parking is a problem in the town centre, particularly on market days.

     Residents often raise the lack of leisure and community facilities as an issue.

     Some of the employment areas need upgrading. The Employment Land Review 101 noted that there was some deterioration and poor upkeep at Thame Industrial Estate, the depot and works on Rycote Lane, Station Yard and at the industrial site on Aylesbury Road.

     The need to identify the new services and facilities required to support development and when these should be in place. A number of the town?s facilities need improvement, for example health facilities and the fire station. Some of the services such as the secondary school are at or close to capacity and there may be an opportunity to explore alternative sites for some facilities. Opportunities for this can be explored in relation to the sites for housing development in line with community aspirations.

     The Open Space, Sport and Recreation Facility Assessment 102 showed there were areas for improvement and a striking deficiency of 13.4 hectares for parks and gardens.

     There is a need for more affordable housing. The Housing Needs Assessment indicated in 2008 that 317 households in need of affordable housing would like accommodation in Thame in the next three years. The main reasons for choosing Thame were the quality of the neighbourhood, to be nearer family and for employment purposes.

    The full document and associated documents, maps etc can be found on SODC’s website at: http://www.southoxon.gov.uk/services-and-advice/planning-and-building/planning-policy/core-strategy/adopted-core-strategy The section relevant to Thame specifically are pages 80- 85. (South Oxfordshire Core Strategy – second document down)

  • 09/01/13….Mystery of road closure solved

    WITH no reports of road traffic collisions over Monday night (07/01), the reason for a road closure just outside Thame earlier in the evening, became the object of speculation.

    The Kingsey Road, between the Haddenham turn and Longwick on the A4129, was closed from around 8.30pm, and traffic diverted. Following enquiries, the police have this evening been able to explain that they were called at 8.30pm on Monday to the Thame Road, Kingsey to reports that an elderly man was having breathing difficulties in his car.

    When the police arrived, the man was being treated by paramedics and the road was temporarily closed while they transported him from his car to the ambulance (as it?s a fast road and they wanted to be safe). Officers then checked the road to see if any other car had been involved in the incident. It was then established there had been no other vehicle involved. The man was taken to Stoke Mandeville hospital and the road was fully open again by 10.30pm.

  • 09/01/13……Thame lose tempestuous game against Slimbridge

    LEAGUE GAME – 5/1/13 – Thame United (Home) 1, versus Slimbridge 2; Thame United were narrowly defeated 1-2 by promotion hopefuls Slimbridge at the ASM stadium last Saturday in a bad tempered, and often physical game. The visitors came into the game on a run of nine games without defeat. After two weeks weather-enforced rest, Thame were at full strength and played well but it was simply not their day.

    Thame players and management will be frustrated that the visitors managed to take the points despite not scoring a goal in open play.

    United started brightly and went close after five minutes when Nik Rhodes met a corner with a header which hit the goalpost. Ben Gray then forced a couple of decent saves from the visiting keeper before, against the run of play; Slimbridge went ahead in the 17th minute. They were awarded a free kick on the left and knocked a high ball into the box which, during some header bagatelle, the ball was deflected into the net by a Thame player. The visitors grew in confidence as the half proceeded and Thame Keeper, Lee Farrow, was kept busy.

    United came out fired up for the second half and shortly after the restart, Ben Connelly hit the crossbar. Thame were playing well and deservedly scored the equaliser in the 63rd minute. Dan West took a corner which was nodded towards Gray whose spectacular close range overhead kick found the roof of the visitor?s net. The parity only lasted for three minutes, as during a Slimbridge attack, Matt Willet was harshly judged to have unfairly held an opponent back and a penalty was awarded. Stuart Gates took the spot kick well, giving Farrow no chance.

    Thame pressurised the visitor?s goal for the remainder of the match and, with a few minutes remaining, Farrow left his goal and joined his teammates in the Slimbridge penalty area for set pieces. Just before the final whistle Ben Connelly hit a quality cross which beat the goalkeeper and defenders, before falling to Substitute Matt Johnston but frustratingly his header flew over the bar.

    Sadly, both Luke Ricketts and Dan West received injuries during a physical last 20 minutes, and are doubtful for Tuesday?s cup fixture.

    Thame United: Farrow, Willett, Hall, Meredith, Rhodes, Hayes, Connelly, West (Johnston), Hodgkins, Ricketts (Barr).

    Both the first team and reserves are without a fixture next Saturday 12th. The next home game is on 19th January when Reading Town are the visitors.