Author: Sonja Francis

THE trial has begun today of an outdoor pursuits company, following the drowning in 2004 of a man from Haddenham.
David Proctor, the owner of Bethania Adventure, denies charges under the Health and Safety Act relating to the buoyancy aids given to the late Mr David Phillips and his wife Brenda, to Mr Proctor’s safety sweeps of the lake and to his monitoring of the lake’s boundaries.
Read the full story from BBC News, BBC News

Photo: Lake Vrvwy, where Mr Phillips drowned in 2004
(Copyright Tony Parry)

FOLLOWING several complaints to Thame Town Council, its planning committee is to consider how to discourage the obstructing of pavements by advertising or ‘A’ boards in the town centre.
At a meeting of the council’s Planning committee last night (05/08), councillors said that some boards were causing a hazard to prams and wheelchairs because they are either too large of placed where pavements are too narrow.

Since it took over responsibility for verges in the town, the council feels that it has a duty to “strongly advise business owners to remove them” or to offer advice as to where they may be placed and what size boards in relation to the width of pavement, may be used.

Cllr David Bretherton, Chair of the Planning committee, is to present a report of the committee’s options to a future meeting.

Photo: ThameNews.Net’s ‘A’ board – which is not causing an obstruction.

A THAME man who complained to the Highways authority about the resurfacing in North Street, has labelled the county council’s response as “a load of waffle.”
Andy Ford, of Seven Acres, Thame, a local fire officer, wrote to complain about the work after his wife was hit by a stone whilst walking on the pavement in North Street and he had his fog light broken by a flying stone chip.

Mr Ford wrote to the council:
Dear Oxfordshire county council, Highways and local MP

I have this time not been able to sit back and wait till someone gets hurt.

Again our roads (that we pay more than enough road tax for) are being surfaced in chippings in an extremely poor attempt at covering the deteriorating surfaces!

Again the surface is covered with stone chips, and the larger pot holes are still so evident as no attempt to repair has been undertaken? In some places the surface is worse that it was before, none of the excess chipping have been swept up and I dare say they will join the leftovers on the pavement from the last attempt (what was it ? 3 mths ago ) that has not even lasted a year !!!!
In some places a road surface that has taken a couple of hours to lay, has already disappeared?

Can someone explain how this is sensible spending of tax payers money? No way can such an incompetent attempt at resurfacing be deemed either safe, cost effective or even practical!

So far I have got a smashed fog light, had to remove a wheel to remove stones from my suspension. I dare not ride my motorbike or bicycle on these roads.
My wife has been hit by flying stone chips whilst walking on the pavement!

I can assure you I will be sending the costs of repairs to the council and also forwarding Photographs to the press and government.

I do beg the question; how can these road repairs be fit for purpose? are we becoming third world country, even in Kenya the road repairs are better than here and theirs are far worse in the first place.

Some where along the line someone has to be held accountable this is basic incompetence!

regards
Mr A. D. Ford

This was the reply Mr Ford received from Brian Purcell-Smith, Deputy Area Engineer, Oxfordshire Highways:

Dear Mr.Ford

Thank you for your e-mail on the subject of surface dressing on roads within Thame.
I do appreciate your concerns relating to the surface dressing process which has just taken place along some of the roads within Thame and other roads within the county.
It is a process which has been used for many years on the highway network by many highway authorities across the country.It provides good value for money,especially in times when highway authorities are facing ever decreasing maintenance budgets.We can resurface many more lengths of carriageway in comparison to conventional resurfacing.
Surface dressing is not only economical it also extends the life of a road surface for quite a few years and also improves the texture of the surface providing better grip for all users.
The process is not ideal when laying,there are excess chips for the few days after surfacing.The contractor is contracted to sweep the carriageway during this bedding down time and the 10mph signs are in place while this process is going on.
One of the major problems within Thame and other urban roads, is the presence of parked cars.When the surfacing is laid, cars are prevented from parking for obvious reasons.However,after the surface is laid it is difficult to stop cars from parking along these roads, preventing proper sweeping of the road surface,thus excess chips build up in the gutters and on the footpaths.We do inform the contractor of this, and he attempts to clear these areas to the best of his ability.We have over the last year regularly asked the contractor to return to these roads and carry out additional sweeps,but again with the presence of parked cars this can make the operation difficult.
We will try to ensure these new sites are swept on a regular basis during the next few weeks.

Yours sincerely,

Mr Ford was so incensed by this reply, that he answered the letter from Mr Purcell-Smith:

Thank you for your reply

BUT to be blunt -What a load of Waffle

I have seen many roads repaired this way in the past and can not deny that if laid properly then I agree it is an economical temporary way of extending the life or our roads.

I have however, not seen before such poor attempts in applying this method as in recent times. The surface is already coming up and no attempt to repair pot holes was carried out before resurfacing. In fact in some areas of North Street the surface is worse than before, with ridges and rifts caused by the poor resurfacing using this method!

The A418, North St and East Street are just the recent examples in the Thame area of poor resurfacing that is just not fit for purpose. It can by no stretch of ones imagination be called cost effective!!!
East St. was only stone chipped last year and it did not last 3 months before breaking up. Now its been done again and no better attempt has been made?

Its about time tax payers got value for money, not cheap poor service, I have taken a while before complaining but it has reached a point where I feel things are getting dangerous. As a cyclist and motorcyclist I can categorically say our road surfaces are getting dangerous. The rifts, ridges and potholes are a major hazard and are an embarrassment to this country.

regards
Andy Ford.

LET THAMENEWS.NET KNOW what you think about this method of resurfacing our roads.

THAME business woman, Hilary Handley, a self-confessed high heels, handbags and hair dryer kind of girl, shocked pretty much everyone she knew, when she decided to walk 80 miles of the Dales Way for charity recently.
Taking such an enormous stride out of her usual comfort zone was Hilary’sway of raising money for Choko, a community linking project between areas in South Oxfordshire and South Africa.

The current fundraising project is a special needs centre in Kodumela, the World Vision Area Development Project where Hilary and her husband David, sponsor two children. A visit there in 2007 fired Hilary?s determination to help the people who live in an area where need is great, work is hard and hope is high.

After months of training walks in and around the Chilterns, Hilary took on the Dales Way from Ilkley to Bowness and raised

A NEW, independent toy shop is to open in North Street, Thame – run by one of the assistants made redundant when the Pied Pedaller closed recently.
‘The Spinning Top,’ as the new shop is to be called, will not however, be opening on the site of the Pied Pedaller toy shop which closed last month to make way for a new library.
A young couple from Thame, James Butler and Helen Sellwood, have bought the lease on the vacant shop that was ‘Craftie Sue’s, opposite the cattlemarket in North Street.
It is the couple’s first business venture and they hope that their shop, which will concentrate on less expensive, ‘pocket money’ toys, will be supported by local people even though it is somewhat off the beaten shopping track.
James, who with his partner Helen, and the drummer from his band ‘The Rockets’ is doing all the painting and shop fitting working himself, told ThameNews.Net: “We are very confident that the shop will fill at least part of the hole left by the demise of the Pied Pedaller, and even though we are a bit further down North Street, we are on the walking route for many people from Lea Park and from Barley Hill school. Also, there is free parking in the Cattlemarket opposite.”

As well as things like traditional, metal spinning tops, James and Helen will be stocking the collectable yet affordable ‘Charlie Bears’ range of jointed teddy bears.

James and Helen hope to open ‘The Spinning Top’ in around two weeks time, before the end of the school holidays.

EX LORD WILLIAMS’S school students, building their careers out in the wider world, have been facing very differenct national audiences this week.
One of them, Journalism graduate, Mark Ansell, from Thame, appears on the Channel 4 news website, where a news video he made involving the threatened closure of an English speaking school in Wales is featured. Mark’s extensive experience in radio broadcasting includes stints with Radios Oxford and Sheffield and is currently working with Three Counties Radio.
Follow the LINK
to see Mark’s work in the ‘Showcasing new talent’ feature on the Channel 4 website.

Meanwhile a comedy trio going down a storm at the Edinburgh Fringe festival, includes two ex Lord Bill’s students, Anna Emerson, and Lizzie Bates who with their friend, Catriona Knox, make up ‘The Boom Jennies.’

The Boom Jennies
: Shindig is variously being described as “inventive, quirky, bite-sized sketch comedy to make you happy. Bring your mum – she’ll love it. ‘Gleeful wordsmithery’ (SuchSmallPortions.com).
‘Inspired … cleverly kooky’ (Fringe Report).
‘Hilarious … fluid comedy genius’ – ”

This is the talented trio’s second year at the ‘fringe; last year they appeared to high acclaim with Cirque de Sabotage.