Thame.net

Author: Sonja Francis

  • Thame Councillor dropped after failing to attend meetings

    A THAME town councillor has been dropped because she did not attend enough meetings.
    The council said that because Claire Walker “failed to attend meetings throughout a period of six consecutive months, under Section 85 of the 1972, she ceases to be a member of Thame Town Council.”

    Claire Walker, a Conservative party candidate, was elected to Thame Town Council at the last local elections in May last year, along with her husband, District Cllr, Richard Walker. He resigned from the town council last week but will continue to carry out his duties as district councillor.

    The couple run a pub in Thame and have two young children.

    At an Extraordinary meeting of the town council last night (15/04), the town clerk, Helen Stewart said: “Had there been an apology before the six months, a Leave of Absence could have been considered.”

    Following the publication of a notice of the vacancies by the town council today, 10 voters in the South Ward must submit a written request to the Returning Officer, Council Offices, Crowmarsh Gifford, Wallingford, OX10 8PH, within 14 working days, that they wish a By election to be held. Otherwise the council can co-opt two new council members themselves.

  • Opposition to new Thame football stadium fails to win the day

    A NEW football facility for Thame came a step nearer last night, when Thame Town Council’s planning committee unanimously voted for amendments to plans already approved by them. The decision came despite representations from residents in the vacinity of the proposed new development, and members of the Lea Park Residents Association, who feared increased noise levels, parking problems in residential streets, vandalism, litter and light pollution from flood lighting.

    The committee were discussing amendments to the original plan, amendments which removed a planned Marquee and relocated the East stand and turnstiles.

    Tim Green, Chairman of the Thame Football Partnership, told the opposition: “We have been working alongside local councils for two and a half years. We believe that this proposal makes best use of the area and that we have taken into consideration all your concerns. We believe it is in the best area and will keep a very strict eye on noise levels etc. All of our children do need somewhere to play their recreation and this is the best location available to us.”

    Cllr David Laver summed up the feelings of most councillors when he said: “We are sympathetic with some of the concerns and there is little doubt that there will be a slight increase in traffic. We were not happy that there was enough car parking in the original plans but we have been assured that there will not be many late-night functions – the removal of the planned marquee will help there.
    “There will inevitably be some noise on match days, as there was in Windmill Road but with modern flood lighting, as has been installed at the rugby club, that should not be such a problem. The Partnership has gone some way to address some of our concerns and we should support this application.”

  • Arson suspected following car fire

    FIRE investigators suspect that a van fire in Long Crendon over the weekend, was the result of arson.
    Shortly after 8pm on Sunday evening (13/04), a fire crew from Thame was sent to deal with a van fire at Chearsley Road, Long Crendon.
    It appears that the vehicle, a two year-old white van, was full of builder’s equipment and had been abandoned behind a barn in the village before being set alight.

    Photo: for illustrative purposes only

  • Thame Players at Thame Museum

    THAME’s museum, situated in the old Magistrate?s Court, has invited Thame Players to mount a display in the community room.
    The exhibition is on show at the museum until Sunday, May 11. There are hundreds of pictures as well as costumes and props from various shows. It covers the history of the Players from the late 1940s to the present day and shows how costumes, props and sets are designed and constructed.

    Tony Long, chairman of Thame Players, said: “We were delighted when Phil Williams, secretary to the museum trust, invited us to mount an exhibition. We hope that anyone with an interest in our theatre will visit the display and enjoy looking round.”
    The museum is open from 10am to 4pm on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays.

  • Chinnor works its magic on Esher (Contributed)

    Chinnor RFC Seconds – Match Report – April 12 – Chinnor seconds v Esher thirds; Away League game.
    SCORE: Chinnor 2nd, 26 Pts vs. Esher 3rd 5 Pts
    Tries: Thad Cooper and Bob Baker
    Conversions: Thad Cooper X2
    Penalties: Thad Cooper x 6

    THAD THE SORCERER
    It took just nine minutes for Thad Cooper and the Chinnor Apprentices to start weaving their magic at Esher last week. Visiting the National League One club to face their development XV was going to be a well-matched game on paper, So it proved.

    Chinnor seconds were fielding another eight youngsters from the recently extinguished Academy. Once again they all performed with good skill and excellent attitude in difficult conditions and against testing opposition. After Cooper?s initial try which he converted, Chinnor defended well against spirited ESHER pressure, deservedly rewarded with a try in the 34th minute. Cooper converted a penalty just before half time to take the score to 5 ? 10 to Chinnor at the break.

    After 40 minutes of strict but fair refereeing by the first lady referee many of the players had experienced, it was became obvious that the laws of the game were going to be well administered.
    The second half would call for controlled discipline.

    Esher failed to take this on board and were penalised not only by the referee but if in kicking distance Cooper would add three points. The back line of Williams, Woodhouse (making his 2?s debut) Riley, Cooper and front row heir apparent Picket on the wing always looking capable, kept the EHSER defence tested. It was 18-year-old Prop Bob Baker coming from the bench to the unaccustomed loose head position to touch down after 75 minutes. Cooper with 6 out of 6 converted.

    Another promising performance from the youngsters was pulled together by the experience of Andy Millburn and captain Fenwick. Tim Sutton back at scrum half and Luke Wellbelove back after 2 weeks. Chinnor proved too strong for Esher in the end to win 26 points to 5. Man of the match with an excellent game at the back of the scrum was Phil Scot Priestley.

    NEXT WEEK CHINNOR Two?s ARE AT CANTERBURY
    By Steve Halson

  • Ex Thame school boy to swim for his country after all

    INTERNATIONAL swimming record holder, Simon Burnett, from Tetsworth, has been selected to swim for Britain in Beijing, in the 4x100m freestyle relay team along with Adam Brown.
    Simon lived in Chinnor as a child, later moving to Tetsworth, from where he attended Lord Williams’s school.
    He failed to qualify for any of the individual swimming events and is awaiting the results of blood tests in an attempt to find out if there is any underlying reason while he was under par.

    Photo: Courtesy and Copyright of Sky Sports

  • Body found in field

    THE body of an elderly woman, believed to be that of 84-year-old Molvie ?Molly? Chambers, was found in a field near Wheatley at around 7am yesterday morning (13/4).
    Molly went missing from Headington on Friday evening (11/4), after wandering off from her carer during a shopping trip.

    She was seen at approximately 5.10 pm around the A40 at Thornhill Park and Ride, walking towards London and then again at 6.55pm on the London Road towards Asda, having just passed Church Road.

    Molly was black, around 5ft 1ins, skinny, with black hair and was wearing a bright purple headscarf. She was wearing a black coat, blue pleated skirt, and black boots.

    She was described as liable to becoming confused and due to her age and vulnerability, officers launched a search operation on Friday night and have been checking many locations since then.

    Any one with information is asked to contact the Police Enquiry Centre on 0845 8 505 505

    Photo: ‘Molly’ Chambers

  • One more in the bag for Chinnor First IV

    SATURDAY, April 12, away to St Ives – awaiting match report – SCORE: St Ives 10, Chinnor 29.
    Man of the match was Ed Rixon (pictured)

  • Oxford Book Festival

    FROM the end of April – follow the link for more information.http://www.oxfordprospect.co.uk/Oxfordfestivals2008.htm

  • Thame neighbourhood policing update (Status: Press realease)

    THIS is the latest neighbourhood update for the Thame neighbourhood policing area, provided by PCSO Diane Greenwood:
    During March the neighbourhood policing team set up an operation to monitor all HGVs driving through Watlington which has a seven and a half tonne weight limit. This operation was set over a few days with the result of 10 lorries being stopped and nine having a work sheet for the area, which means that they had permission to enter the limited area. This operation will be continued and monitored.

    Over the Easter period an operation was undertaken to patrol the three beauty spots in the area, Aston Hill, Cowleaze, and Watlington Hill, when in previous years these places have suffered from incidents of car crime. This operation was set up to cover all of the Easter period in the areas which would be heavily used and, despite the heavy snow storms they were in full use.

    We are glad to report we had no reported crimes in these areas during this time, but we did use the opportunity to give advice to people who left expensive equipment on display despite the car crime notices around the areas.

    During March, in an attempt to tackle underage drinking, an operation visiting off-licenses and other licensed premises in the Thame area were tested in co-operation with South Oxfordshire Council licensing department. This was to ensure that the premises were abiding by their licences and not selling alcohol to underage youths. As a result of these visits two premises were forced to close for a Saturday evening. Similar operations will continue around the Thame Area.

    We receive regular updates from the Ridgeway national trails and the analysis of motor vehicle traffic over the past four years shows that the Icknield Way section has dropped considerably and believes that traffic which is using this section is mainly legal users. The local PCSOs in these areas do patrol the Ridgeway but we encourage other user?s to call 0845 8 505 505 if they come across any motor vehicle on the Ridgeway as soon as possible.

    On May 4, officers from the neighbourhood policing team will be available to post code bicycles during a Bring and Buy Bike Sale being held at the Fire Station in Watlington between 11am and 1pm.

    A police surgery held at Lewknor on 12 March went ahead despite an error in the local magazine of the actual date. We had some residents who attended and came to us with a few concerns which were all noted and these concerns will now be acted on. Future dates will be set for another surgery in Lewknor but any issues of concern can be put forward at the Watlington police surgery which is being held on April 16 between 4pm and 7pm at the local parish council offices in Old School Lane.

    The Thame neighbourhood team are in the process of bringing back the Countrywatch scheme. Countrywatch has been designed to be the rural version of Neighbourhood Watch with a focus on farming and agricultural premises.
    Local officers will be contacting these premises in due course to discuss the Countrywatch program.

    If anyone wants any crime reduction advice please call us on 0845 8 505 505 and ask to speak to your local crime reduction advisor who can provide free crime reduction advice including home surveys.

    For more information on your local neighbourhood team visit, www.thamesvalley.police.uk or to speak to a member of the team, call 0845 8 505 505.