Author: Sonja Francis

THAME Town Council is to investigate the cost of leasing Christmas lights for the town, the current bulb festoons, which the council owns, costing around

FOLLOWING a meeting of Thame Town Council’s Culture, Leisure and Recreation committee on Tuesday evening (08/040, here is a round up of news arising, including youth issues:-
* Grants are being sought from the FA and others for re-seeding of the grass play area at Churchill Crescent, and for the provision of a better, all-weather surface for the hard-standing play area.

* SKATE PARK – The company that installed the ramps has not been responding to letters from the council about their responsibility to re-paint the ramp. The council has therefore obtained some paint from another source and after applying some to a small area, is monitoring its durability. In the meantime, the council is looking for another specialist company to take on the maintenance of the skate park which apparently, only has a life span of about 10 years. Councillors agreed that they need to be looking towards having to replace what Cllr David Laver called: “..this worthwhile and well used” facility.

* GRASS CUTTING – The council has taken over all grass cutting on the town side of the by-pass that is within the 30mph limit, and is asking residents to report to them any areas it may miss.

* YOUTH ISSUES – The committee’s recently formed Youth Issues Working Group is to distribute work sheets to groups likes the Scouts and Guides, Youth Theatre, Rugby Club, Youth Centre etc, to gain information and feedback about issues effecting young people. The YIWG’s Terms of Reference are:
“….to look at ways of bridging the gap between the Town Council and young people in the core age range of (11-18 yrs) in the community.
“The bridge should be developed as a two-way structure, enabling councillors to be proactive in contacting young people and for young people to be involved in community projects of all kinds.
“The ultimate aim is to form a widely represented strong and effective Youth Council for Thame or Forum where regular communiction between the parties can take place, influencing the decisions made by the Town Council.”
The group has previously met with the Thame Youth Worker, Nicola Francis and some young people at the skate park.
Cllr Nigel Champken-Woods said that the council needed to get to the ‘disaffected’ as well as those already in organised groups.

* YOUTH SHELTER – Five years after a Youth Shelter was promised, and a subsequent consultation exercise came up with prefered sites, i.e. Queen Elizabeth circle and the Southern Road recreation ground, the YIWG is to make a youth shelter its priority. (There was opposition from some residents in both areas)

“You will get some opposition from the vociferous few wherever it goes,” said Cllr Champken-Woods. “We just have to grasp the nettle.”

Cllr Mike Dyer said: “We should ask the young people themselves how they are going to police it!”

Cllr Beatrice Dobie said that circumstances had changed since Southern Road was looked at, in that the residents had accepted an enlarged guide hut. “A youth shelter may be a bridge too far,” she said.

The CLR committee agreed that the WIWG should go away and come back with recommendations as to where, what costs, what funding is available, what style of shelter etc.

* FRIENDS OF ELM PARK – Following a meeting with the Neighbourhood Action Group, it seems that Elms Park is the biggest problem for the police with regard to drink, anti-social behaviour and drugs. The group apparently feels that the whole area needs re-designing to include new fencing, more planting and more equipment for older, young people.
The possibility of a Park Warden is being looked into and possible sources of funding such as “Parks For People.” The council are also considering locking the gates at night.

* CUTTLEBROOK – printing of a new leaflet going forward. Duke of Edinburgh Award students from Lord Williams’s school have been involved in work parties but the Management need for volunteers.

* FISHING LAKE – The Town Clerk is to look into where the council is with this scheme which has gone quiet lately.

FOLLOWING a public consultation, it is clear that most of those who took part (13% of those sent the questionaire form) want Thame’s September fair to remain in the High Street.

However, the majority, including the Police, want it to end at 10pm instead of 11pm as at present.

The town council carried out the consultation following complaints about noise, smell and anti-social behaviour from residents near by.

In the future, the town council will have to take over complete responsibility for stewarding and for security whilst the fair is in the town centre, and if it remains open after 10pm, will have to pay the police to patrol the fair.

The council is currently re-negotiating its agreement with the Showmen’s Guild, which runs out in September 2009, and says that it intends to “take a hard line” over the size and positioning of rides which over the last few years, the fair has “pushed to the limits.”

The findings will go the full council next month.

A By-election in Thame seems likely, following the standing down of two Thame town councillors, one of whom is also a district councillor.
Husband and wife, Claire and Richard Walker, who stood under the Conservative Party unbrella at the last local elections, have said that “business and family reasons” lay behind their stepping down.
Richard and Claire have two young daughters and run the Star and Garter pub in Kingsey Road, Thame.

The Walker’s departing from Thame Town Council comes days after another councillor, Adam Backland, stepped down from the town council’s Open Spaces Working Group.

Cllr Buckland was vociferous in his opposition to the council’s choice of play equipment for the refurbishment of the Southern Road recreation ground, particularly critical of the fact that a consultation exercise revealed that the majority of older children questioned wanted a Zip wire included in the scheme, and that a majority of the younger children questioned chose a different scheme to the one selected by councillors.
(See report
of that meeting)
Other councillors said that they had to consider wider aspects of the schemes, like whether the tenders received met the specification and whether they represented good value for money.

Cllr Buckland said: “I think it is time for the older, more sceptical councillors to go and meet the young people themselves. As a member of the Youth Working Group, I was beginning to feel as though I was banging my head against a brick wall sometimes. Those of us who went and sought the views of young people would come back to the council with their ideas but nothing seem to get done.”