Thame.net

Author: Sonja Francis

  • 17/10/10…..Senior Cup first round victory for Thame United

    MATCH REPORT – Thame United 3, Woodcote/ Stoke Row 1. On Saturday, 16/10/10 – Oxfordshire Senior Cup 1st Round.

    A Stuart Braun hat trick secured victory For Thame United at Wallingford last Saturday, when they defeated Reading Senior League outfit Woodcote and Stoke Row 3-1. This entertaining game was however closer than the score suggests as the visitors controlled long periods of the second half.

    Opening play was fairly even with Woodcote looking dangerous. As the game progressed, Thame gained the upper hand and went ahead in the 21st minute. They won a corner on the left which Aaran Rogers hit to the far post for the unmarked Braun to comfortably head home from close range. The visitors had a good chance to equalise a few minutes later when their impressive striker Toby Nowell had only Thame keeper Milan Barisic to beat, but his lobbed shot was high. United?s second goal came in the 28th minute when Adam Rhodes pulled the ball back from the right by-line for Braun to finish confidently from 15-Yards. The home side controlled the remainder of the first half without increasing their lead.

    Woodcote came out fired up after the break and immediately put Thame under pressure. This paid off in the 52nd minute when Nowell met a corner with a well-placed 25-yard volley, into the bottom left of the goal, giving Barisic no chance. The visitors continued to attack as Thame struggled to reassert themselves and Stuart Barr did well to clear the ball of the goal line when a shot rebounded off the post across goal. Minutes later, Nowell hit a strong goal bound shot only to see it blocked by one of his teammates. The on-form Barisic was kept busy but Thame fought their way back into the game and Braun completed his hat trick when, with 8 minutes remaining, he met a Rogers corner with a low 15-yard header, which somehow found its way through a packed goalmouth and beat the visiting keeper. The gutsy visitors were by now a spent force and United controlled the final few minutes.

    The next round will be played on 20th November when Thame are at home to Hellenic Division 1 West club Clanfield.

    Thame United: Barisic, Meredith, Newell, Saulsbury, Brown (N. Rhodes), Cowan, Barr, A. Rhodes (Jones), Braun (Connelly), Rogers, Ricketts.

  • 16/10/10……..This week at Thame Cinema 4 All

    THIS week’s film at Thame Cinema 4 All, Nelson Street, Thame, is Exit Through The Gift Shop, UK / USA 2010, 86 minutes, 15 certificate, Directed by Banksy, Thierry Guetta.

    This very funny and very clever ‘documentary’ manages to combine laugh out loud humour with serious questions about art, authenticity, and the venality of the contemporary art scene. Thierry Guetta, apparently a one time friend and associate of art prankster Banksy, is the subject of what initially appears to be a documentary about street artists. Thierry has a lucrative vintage clothing business in Los Angeles, but in his spare time he obsessively films pretty much everything on videotape. He establishes relationships with a network of street artists, and begins to follow their nocturnal activities with the intention of making a feature length documentary about subversive public art statement.

    The film, intercut with talking head contributions from a hooded “Banksy”, follows Thierry’s increasingly bizarre trajectory, as he abandons his miles of un-useable tape and decides to become a street artist himself. In pursuing the efforts of its rather hopeless protagonist, the film nonetheless succeeds in arguing the cultural significance of seriously good street art. It is art that is funny and tongue in cheek but that succinctly tackles important political and cultural issues on a conspicuous scale.

    It is very rare to have a night at the cinema that manages to be challenging without sermonising, and that allows you to leave the cinema with a spring in your step, laughing and puzzling over what you have seen. Cheeky and priceless.

    To be preceded by award-winning autobiographical documentary: Thank you Skinhead Girl.

    THE words ‘Oxford’ and ‘history’ might conjure up science or the English civil war, CS Lewis or JRR Tolkien. But there are other Oxford histories seldom told: more recent, those about the experience of marginal cultures. Oxford film maker Sharon Woodward, joins us to share her own slice of Oxford history – her award winning autobiographical documentary Thank You Skinhead Girl. followed by a Q&A with Sharon before Exit Through The Gift Shop,

    This Saturday 16th October
    Doors open 7.30pm Thank You Skinhead Girl 8pm. Admission

  • 16/10/10….Action group formed against Site F

    A NEW Action Group of residents against the development of site F for housing, a hotel and a school, in Thame, has been formed.

    A letter in response to that sent in to the Editor by Town Cllr, Mike Dyer, is published here

  • 16/10/10…Letter in response to Cllr Mike Dyer re new site for new homes

    Dear Mr Dyer, Is Thame Town Council not concerned that the meeting taking place on the location of 530 new homes is only 4 days before the deadline for all resident?s comments to be received by SODC?

    Up until now the residents of Thame have received no information on the change of preference of Thame Town Council for site F. The Gazette article rushed in this week will be the first time the majority of residents have been informed of the council?s new site preference.

    Surely the deadline of 29th October has to be extended to allow time for fair and proper notification and consultation on this new development.

    Yours sincerely,
    Jill Swanson

    P.S. If anyone would like to comment on this tight deadline in light of the changes, and also if anyone has concerns about the site choice of F, The Pig Farm, then as well as contacting Thame Town Council and Ann Ducker at SODC to air your views you can also contact a new action group that has been formed at:

    blotonthame@hotmail.co.uk

  • 15/10/10….Madge is back in Thame – tra la la!

    POPULAR singing teacher and impresario, Madge Stephens, is back in Thame from her travels in Europe, fired with enthusiasm to pass on her great knowledge and experience of singing.

    As well as having taught many promising young singers, some of whom formed the nucleus of her first opera company, Oxford Opera, Madge was a well-known part of the very popular BBC programme, Music For You, hosted by the legendary Eric Robinson.

    Madge will be giving individual singing lesson at The Thame Barns Centre on Saturdays, but would like to invite anyone interested in improving their singing and acting, to go and see her at the Barns Centre on October 23, for an informal discussion, between 10am and 1pm.

    MORE ABOUT MADGE

    Madge started her career in her home country of Australia, performing in stage opera and on television and radio. She came to England to further her career and quickly became a very popular young soprano, appearing in opera, oratorio and concerts working with the BBC on radio, in prom concerts and televised operas.

    As well as Oxford Opera, in London Madge formed Opera Venture which gave many semi-professional singers the opportunity to perform and display their talents to the larger opera companies.

    PHOTO: Experienced classical singer and teacher at the highest level, Madge H Stephens

  • 15/10/10……Housing consultation causing ‘distress’

    Dear Editor, Having read the previous letters I would like to add two points: Firstly, I dont think Cllr Mike Dyer appreciates the distress this consultation is causing his constituents. Stop defending this flawed consultation. You have been elected to protect Thame so fight to increase the consultation period, help us to understand the issues and get as many people involved as you can. I know Facebook is the trendy way to contact people but in my view a piece of paper through the door is much more effective if you want people to know what is going on. SODC needs to give us time to digest and consider what is proposed and I know for a fact that there are many people who know nothing of this consultation let alone its true implications.

    Secondly, do people really think this is about 520 homes? Ask yourself – If the Lower School is relocated what will happen to the land it currently occupies? Im guessing that original target of 850 houses might be reached after all. Im surprised this hasn’t been added to the list of ‘Site F Positives’ on the Town Councils ‘Comparison of site D and F’.

    Yours
    Sue Bishop

  • 15/10/10…..Housing consultation ‘too little, too late’

    Dear Editor, I am appalled to hear that Thame Town Council have chosen to simply dump 500+ houses, a hotel, and a new school on one site ? a huge development – with no regard to the views of the people of Thame.

    Furthermore, they tried to deny our chance to comment by failing or choosing not (?) to make the news public. None of this would have come to light but for a chance conversation by a neighbour, just a week ago. This prompted SODC to send just 30 or so letters to our immediate neighbours. Then only after repeated requests for information, the Town Council has finally offered some information, and an 11th hour public meeting.

    It?s too little, too late ? with a deadline of 29th October.

    WHY? Thamenews.net published an article based on a press release from SODC on 1st October. Thame Council would have had this information well before this date, but chose to sit on it and keep it for discussion behind closed doors.

    WHY? Were just a handful of representatives of residents committees invited to comment- none of these from the affected area?

    WHY? In just 4 months has there been a complete reversal of the decision to build on Site D? This previous, balanced, well discussed decision was based on information from many in-depth, expensive surveys and reports assessing the pros and cons of all the various sites. Has the ?sweetener? of the offer of a small piece of land to LWS clouded their judgement? In the current climate, there will be no money to build a new school for up to 20yrs. It will remain an empty site for years, if it is not then used for more housing.

    This development, as proposed, would change Thame forever. The prominence of so many houses, & a hotel on this raised site will be a Blot on The Landscape. Thame will no more be ?An Historic Market Town?, but ?Milton Keynes- on Thame?.

    My 16yr old daughter took one look at the plan and immediately said, ?That will look awful?. Why can she see that and Town Councillors cannot?
    Liz Wiles.
    Oxford Road
    Thame

  • 15/10/10…..Milton Keynes -on-Thame??

    STRONG views expressed in Letters to the Editor continue to stimulate discussion about Thame Town Council’s handling of the current public consultation on where a proposed new housing development should go in the town.

    To read today’s letters from Thame resident, see LINK

  • 14/10/10…..Town Councillor responds to ‘lack of public consultation’

    DEAR Editor, May I be the first Town Councillor to put his head above the parapet by responding to letters featured on your web site over the last couple of days.

    Both Mrs Guy and Mrs Jenson are openly critical about the lack of public consultation on the siting of proposed new housing development in Thame, when in fact the opposite is true. Since the original consultation there have been many fundamental changes -not least a change of Government, the abolition of regional spatial strategies, and the eagerly awaited Localism Bill – which have opened up the opportunity to reappraise the options.

    In the meantime Thame Town Council have been campaigning and lobbying to influence the number of houses planned for Thame and have been highly
    influential in reducing the original 850 down to 530 for the fifteen year period to 2017. It is partly due to this significant reduction that we have been able to reconsider site F, which was originally overuled because it would not accomodate the numbers being suggested.

    It is only in the last couple of weeks that the Town Council themselves have been aware of the revised numbers and that SODC have launched a new round of
    consultation, and during those couple of weeks Councillors have discussed the issue at length and have attended a number of hastily arranged meetings
    with SODC Planning Dept. We have also been putting together as thorough a consulatation process as is feasible within the time constraints imposed by
    SODC, and this is now taking place with an exhibition in the Town Hall from next Monday, a stall at next Tuesday’s market, a poster campaign, a detailed
    option appraisal in next weeks Thame Gazette, and a Public Meeting at St Mary’s Church on Monday 25 October.

    There is also the opportunity to comment through the Facebook Group ‘Thame Location 530’ which has gone live this week and which includes a balanced appraisal of the positive and negative factors relevant to both site D (favoured by SODC) and site F (favoured by
    the Town Council).

    The Town Council are most certainly not presenting a ‘fait accompli’. We are eager to get a concensus of views from the residents and businesses in the
    town and Council Officers have been working hard to launch the consultation process as quickly as possible. I am particularly bemused by Mrs Jenson’s
    comment that Thame Town Council want to make a decision on political grounds rather than for sensible planning reasons, and Mrs Guy’s comment that the
    Council are trying to move the preferred site by stealth. There is absolutely nothing political about this process, with Town Councillors of all political persuasions coming together to present the facts and the options to the people of Thame and to invite input and opinions which will enable us to best serve the interests of the community in planning any
    future growth of the Town.

    I can speak for all of my colleagues on Thame Town Council in declaring that none of us are overtly political in relation to local issues and that we put ourselves forward for election because we care enough about this community to give a substantial amount of personal time and commitment to representing its best interests. Our efforts to facilitate a wide ranging public consultation, despite severe time restraints imposed upon us, surely evidence this and we look forward to lively discussions at the Market Stall and at the Public Meeting, and to receiving comments through the Facebook Group and other media. Nothing would please us more than for the whole community to fully engage with this important issue.

    Yours Faithfully
    Mike Dyer (Thame Town Councillor)

  • 14/10/10…..Councillor responds to criticism over housing consultation

    TOWN Councillor, Mike Dyer, has responded to recent letters sent to ThameNews.Net, criticising the council’s handling of the public consultation on future housing development in the town.

    The consultation is being carried out by South Oxfordshire District Council who are seeking local views, through town and parish councils and residents’ Associations, as well as from individuals, on two possible sites, Site F (preferred by Thame Town Council) and Site D (the preferred site of SODC).

    Letters page

    Core Strategy review for Thame