Thame.net

Author: Sonja Francis

  • 16/02/11………..Latest Thame Neighbourhood crime update

    POSITIVE news about crime in Thame, here in the latest Thame neighbourhood update from Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) C8966 Lucy Thorne and PCSO C9610 Diane Jackson. (pictured left to right)

    CRIME mapping shows a decrease in anti-social behaviour (ASB) from 23 incidents to 17 in the period between September and November 2010, compared to the same period for 2009. This is a 26.1 percent reduction. Through engaging with our community and listening to people?s concerns, we are able to conduct high visibility patrols at key times in the key areas where ASB is occurring. We know our problem areas and incorporate these areas into our patrol plans, ensuring that they are well policed and any anti-social issues are addressed accordingly and dealt with in an appropriate way. If a young person comes to our attention, we conduct home visits with parents present, and we work closely with schools and our ASB co-ordinator to tackle ASB with warning letters and Acceptable Behaviour Contracts (ABC?s) if necessary. We engage with young people on a regular basis, attending schools and youth clubs when possible and welcome anybody along to our HYS public meetings to discuss local issues or raise concerns.

    More information on crime mapping can be found on the Thames Valley Police website under local crime mapping www.thamesvalley.police.uk

    Anti-social Behaviour (ASB) Info:

    During January, we have had no alcohol seizures in Thame and no Section 59 warnings (where we have had to issue contracts for using a vehicle in an anti-social manner) have been issued by Thame?s PCSOs.

    Anti-social driving in carparks etc:

    Following recent reports of anti-social driving in the High Street, car parks and the business parks, we would like to remind members of the public that we are taking this very seriously and offenders will be dealt with by way of a Section 59 warning. Suitable advice has been given to known local young people who gather in cars regarding this matter.

    Stone Throwing:

    We have also received reports of stone throwing at windows following the Christmas period. One young person was dealt with and was served with a Youth Restorative Disposal. We have obtained some good information regarding the description of further possible offenders/associates. Therefore, we will continue to work from the intelligence we have received and urge people to come forward with information if you have anything further to add.

    We continue to actively patrol the Phoenix Trail dealing with any ASB, fly tipping and neighbourhood concerns brought to our attention.

    Community Messaging:

    This free service provides information to subscribers about crime and police activity in their area via phone or email. It also includes information on what we and our partner services are doing to bring offenders to justice or combat anti-social behaviour, and information on opportunities for local residents to raise concerns with their local policing teams.
    More information can be obtained via our website, and you can sign up here too:
    www.tvpcommunitymessaging.org/rmwebportal/startup.aspx

    Offenders brought to justice:

    Fourteen offenders were brought to justice last month. These disposals included four arrests for shoplifting, two arrests for criminal damage, one arrest for burglary, two arrests for drug possession and one arrest for assault occasioning actual bodily harm (Sec 47).

    Partnership Activities:

    PCSO Thorne organised a cycle post coding event at John Hampden School on 13 January. This was very well received by pupils and their families and we coded over 40 cycles and scooters. The school did a very good job at advertising this event in-house. More post coding events will be held and will be advertised as soon as they are organised.

    PCSO Jackson attended a Citizen Community Day on 18 January at Lord Williams Lower School, engaging with Year 8 students, looking at areas where they live and local concerns.

    A monthly SOHA inspection is still being held, where we tackle low level neighbourhood disputes and social housing issues together as a joint agency approach.

    Pubwatch meetings are still being held every two months.

    Non Priority Activity:

    PCSO Lucy Thorne would like to take this opportunity to remind young people looking for work, or looking for assistance with finding employment that a Connextions representative is available to speak with at the Young Persons Centre in Thame every Wednesday between 2pm and 4.30pm.

    Planned Activity:

    There are monthly operations for Country Watch.

    We will continue to deploy the Speed Indication Device (SID) on a monthly basis on roads which have been highlighted for speeding.

    We also ran Operation Magpie, which involved us carrying out patrols in public car parks and hotel car parks over the Christmas/New Year period looking at vehicles displaying valuables left unattended. Letters were sent out to registered owners to remind them of the implications of leaving valuables on display, especially at that time of the year. We will continue to monitor this.

  • 16/02/11…Help to end HGV nightmare on country roads

    LOCAL MP, John Howell, has welcomed Government plans to help end the nightmare of HGV lorries being directed along roads in the constituency deemed unsuitable.

    John said: ?I have received many complaints from constituents about this issue. The residents of villages such as Aston Rowant, Kingston Blount and Chinnor have been campaigning relentlessly to stop HGV lorries trying to get to Thame along the B4009 after coming off at Junction 6 of the M40. This is a chance to make our views count and I urge everyone to participate in the consultation.

    “Under new proposals, the power the Department for Transport only to set a road classification eg an A or B road, will be swept away. Local councils will be given the power to downgrade a road or to up-grade one if they think it makes better sense for that road to be used as a primary route. Councils will no longer have to get approval from the Department for Transport.”

    John added: ?Local people are best-placed to decide the classification of local roads. This could help councils beat the pockets of congestion we all know exist. However, it also needs action to be taken to make sure that Sat-Navs reflect this and do not send lorries down routes that are not suitable. I am glad, therefore, that the consultation on these proposals is asking for ideas to solve this problem. I understand major Sat-Nav producers are keen to solve this problem as well, but, at present it seems to take too long for Sat-Navs to change when a member of the public reports a route as unsuitable.?

    Local authorities will be required to send a formal record of any changes to its road network to DfT but reporting will be streamlined, with the current eight forms replaced with one.

    The consultation can be found at: http://www.dft.gov.uk/consultations/open/2011-02/ and will continue until May.

    SOURCE: Press release 03/02/11

    PHOTI: Copyright APEX – This driver got wedged in a coutry lane when he followed the instructions given by his SatNav. Full story – Mail On Line: http://tiny.cc/btyup

  • 16/02/11….Police seek help tracing missing woman

    THAMES Valley Police is seeking the public?s help in finding a missing woman last seen in Wycombe yesterday (Feb 15).

    Petra Sinclair, aged 41, of West Wycombe Road, High Wycombe was last seen at about 11.25am yesterday (15/2) by her partner when she was dropped off in High Wycombe town centre, near the bus station, on her way to meet a friend.

    Police are growing concerned for Miss Sinclair?s welfare as it out of character for her not to return home.

    She is slim, 5ft 8ins, with long, straight dark hair and was wearing a grey and blue jacket, black jumper, black leggings and knee high boots when she was last seen.

    If you have any information about Miss Sinclair?s whereabouts, contact Thames Valley Police via the 24-hour police enquiry centre on 0845 8 505 505 and quote URN 1192 of 15 February 2011.

  • 15/02/11…….Half-term Balls & Squash Camp (22/02/11 and 23.02/11

    RACQUETS Balls & Squash Camp – February 22 and 23. For all juniors 7-15 yrs-old; ALL WELCOME.

    Time: 10am to 3pm – Call 01844 261754, or visit Racquets’ website: Link

  • 15/02/11……..Pen pal wanted for French boy

    DO you have a 15/16 year-old studying French, who would like to be a pen-pal to a young French student?

    Hello,
    My name is Nicolas and I am 16. I am French and I live in Bezon, near to Paris. I?d like to find an English pen-pal from my age to chat and perhaps meet her/him and invite him/her to my home and go to her/his home. I want to improve and enrich my English and I can help her/him in French. I love cinema, music, aquatic sports and trips. I am very interested in English, American and Australian cultures. If you want to meet me you can email me at: nico95870@live.fr

  • 15/02/11………Thames Path Epic Walk (Contributed)

    THE staff, volunteers and friends of John Masefield House will be walking a section of the Thames Pathway from Friday, March 25 until Sunday, March 27, in an effort to complete the fundraising for a Biometric Computer System, and start fundraising for a new single-wheelchair vehicle.

    The money raised from this fun-walk will help our residents participate in a range of enjoyable activities by using a specialist computer system which develops hand/eye coordination and muscle control and also help fund a new vehicle that will be used to take residents to events and places of interest within the local community.

    We are hoping to attract as many sponsored walkers as we can and have a really fun time along the route. Fancy dress is optional, but participants are invited to join in with our theme of doctors and nurses. The walk will start in Henley at 9am on the 25th March and finish in Oxford on the afternoon of Sunday 27th March. All dog walkers are welcome and there will be refreshment points along the route.

    If you would like to take part, whether walking for a mile, an hour, part of a day or even the whole three days, sponsorship forms and further details can be obtained from:

    David Williams, Volunteer & Fundraising Coordinator on 01865 340324 or e-mail david.williams@lcdisability.org

    Alternatively, sponsorship forms and route details can be collected from Lorraine Sands at John Masefield House reception.

  • 15/02/11……..Have your say on local health provision

    NHS Oxfordshire is inviting local people to comment on: Healthy lives, healthy people: a strategy for public health in England, a consultation by the consultation manager, Julia Stackhouse.

    The consultation can be accessed at the following LINK

  • 15/02/11…Thame hotel provides temporary home for local U3As

    AT the end of last year, the two local U3A organisations, Thame & District and Greater Thame, were faced with a dilemma when they learnt that St Mary’s Church was to be closed for a time for repainting. This caused a problem as the U3As met at the Church for their main meetings. Both organisations have an attendance of about 160 people to their meetings.

    After some discussions between them it was decided to approach The Spread Eagle, Thame, to find out if they could help out in this time of need.

    “Much to the groups’ relief, the General Manager, Peter Farquhar, assured us that for the months of January and February he could accomodate us and so a weight was lifted off our shoulders,” said Frank Metcalf, Chairman of the Greater Thame U3A.

    He continued: “The meetings went ahead as planned and were a great success with the help of Peter and his staff. The U3As wish to publicly thank Peter and his staff for all the help they gave us; nothing seemed to faze them and they met our requests with a smile and a ‘not a problem’. Without the help from The Spread Eagle the meetings for January and February were in jeopardy but now we wondered why we were concerned. Many thanks to The Spread Eagle.”

  • 15/02/11…..Thame’s budding house builders go behind the scenes!

    A GROUP of pupils from John Hampden Primary school in Thame, donned hard hats and fluorescent jackets just like real builders this afternoon, during a visit to David Wilson Homes to see a housing development building site for themselves.

    The group, from year six of the school, asked some very searching questions of Sales Director, Paul Moran and the Site Manager, David Tolmie, including: “If you stood every one of the houses you are building here at Windmill Place, one on top of the other, how high would it be?” And: “How many bricks does it take to build that many houses and how much did they cost?”

    The children were particularly interested in the ecological and environmentally friendly aspects of the new homes and learned that many of them will have solar panels, warm air convertors that capture the warmth from the air outside to heat water, and re-cycled cavity wall insulation.

    After the interview session the six pupils were shown how to use mortar to build a wall for themselves and the whole thing was captured on film by Emma Lowndes of ThameTV.

    John Hampden School is currently working on a design for the garden in the Windmill Place showhouse garden, which it is hoped will be open sometime in March/April.

    For more information about David Wilson Homes and the new homes they are building at Windmill Place, Thame, visit: http://www.dwh.co.uk/Find-A-Home/New-Developments/H4944-Windmill-Place/

  • 14/02/11………..The end of Thame’s short, unbeaten run

    HOME LEAGUE MATCH- 12/02/11; Thame United 0, Binfield 2; MATCH REPORT (Contributed by Bob Dixon)

    THAME United ended their brief unbeaten run at the ASM Stadium on Saturday when they were defeated 0-2 by Berkshire based club Binfield. This was also the score when Thame visited Binfield in September. This was no fluke – the visitors were simply the better side.

    The writing was on the wall when Thame keeper, Milan Barisic, was forced to make a good save in the opening minute of the game. The first ten minutes were fairly even, but from there on Thame were forced to defend for the remainder of the first half. The home side gave away several free kicks just outside the box but United?s man of the match Barisic was on good form and made several fine stops. The teams went in for half time with the game goalless, but the visiting keeper untested.

    United started the second half better and Alex Stewart had a half chance when he got a foot to a cross from the right but the ball went high. United?s best chance came on 58 minutes when Luke Ricketts nodded the ball down to Stewart, whose hurried shot hit the post. Binfield came back and it seemed only a matter of time before they scored. Their opening goal came in the 62nd minute when Carl Davies met a long free kick at the far post to head in from close range.

    The visitors continued to control the game and, with United?s wingers Ricketts and Ben Connolly closely marked, Thame chances were few. The final goal came in the 83rd minute when a cleared corner was knocked back to Ian Davies who turned and hit a 15 yard shot pass Barisic.

    Thame United: Barisic, Barr, N. Rhodes, Saulsbury, Brown (Meredith), Cowan, Connelly, Braun (Jewell), Stewart, Rogers (Hayes), Ricketts

    PHOTO: Thame United’s Man of the match, goalkeeper Barisic