Thame.net

Author: Sonja Francis

  • Warning After M40 Pile Up In The Rain

    FIRE crews from Thame fire station attended a road traffic collision involving three cars on the M40 near junction six, north bound, yesterday (29/07).
    Luckily all the occupants of the cars escaped serious injury but in the current weather conditions, the situation could have been completely different.
    Crew Manager, Steve Lockwood, from Thame Fire Station would like to suggest the following:
    “In conditions like this people should leave plenty of room between their cars just to give them time to think and get out of the way”. It was raining heavily at the time and this always affects stopping distances.”
    Watch Manager, Derek Thatcher, said: “The police always recommend a minimum distance of two seconds between cars but during bad whether this should be doubled”.

    Please help Oxfordshire County Council Fire & Rescue Service save lives-especially your own!

    For more information log onto ?

    www.365alive.co.uk

  • District Council Could Do Better On Affordable Housing Admits Chief Executive

    SOUTH Oxfordshire District Council’s Chief Executive has admitted that his council needs to be more assertive in making sure that developers meet their obligations to provide the appropriate number of affordable homes as part of any new developments.
    Talking to Thame Town Councillors last Tuesday, David Buckle said:”Affordable housing, which doesn’t necessarily mean social rented homes, does tend to get squeezed by developers because of the pressure for spending on roads, libraries, etc.
    “We are now learning to become more sophisticated when negotiating with developers and say ‘no’ – we want more affordable houses. But as a consequence, some spending on roads and schools etc may have to go by the board.”

    Current policy is for 40% of new housing to be ‘affordable’, which is, according to David Buckle, is more likely to be ‘shared equity’ housing, but Thame town councillors, including Cllr David Dodds, have been critical of the new fact that the new, prestigious housing development on the site of the old Rycotewood college site, has very little ‘affordable’ housing despite it being promised.

  • LATE NEWS: Ringmaster Message

    OVERNIGHT between Thursday 26th July at 23:00hrs and Friday 27th July at 08:30hrs, a property in Cheshire Road, Thame, was burgled. Entry was gained via the front door and cars keys were taken to two vehicles which were then stolen from outside the property.

    One vehicle is a Silver Cherokee Jeep part registration number *YO3 XW* and the second vehicle is a grey BMW Z4, part registration number *V06 ND*

    If you have seen any suspicious people or vehicles in the area or have any information relating to this message, please call the police on 08458 505 505 and quote URN 302 of 27/07/07.

  • Crackdown On Summer Drink Driving

    THAMES Valley Police will be launching its annual, summer drink drive campaign on Monday (30/7), aimed at people who drink a drive around parties and BBQs that take place at this time of the year.
    The month-long campaign is part of a national crackdown by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) and the Department for Transport (DfT) aimed at reducing the number of people killed and injured on our roads by people who drink and drive.
    The theme of this year?s campaign is enforcement and Thames Valley Police and ACPO are hoping that the consequences of their offending will deter people from being so irresponsible. A night in the cells sobering up, followed by the possibility of being charged and going straight to court, followed by a lengthy ban are the reality.
    The campaign will also link closely with the major year-long campaign, launched in May, which aims to raise awareness of the dangers of drinking too much. This initiative, which is being run by Thames Valley Police, Hampshire Constabulary and NHS South Central, is a two-pronged campaign, combining education initiatives with police enforcement. Activity will target under age drinking, anti-social behaviour, binge drinking, violent crime, the health effects of drinking and the impact on the NHS.

    During the Christmas campaign (1 December 2006 to 1 January 2007), 1,926 drivers were breathalysed, with 251 drivers (13 per cent of those tested) providing positive results.

    Officers will also be carrying out field impairment tests alongside the roadside breath tests to see whether drivers are under the influence of drugs. Last year, 148 tests were conducted and 26 people arrested, around 17.5 per cent.

    Officers will also be recording additional information about those stopped relating to what age bracket they fall into. This data will be sent to ACPO, who will analyse it to understand the level of drink driving nationally and the correlation between age and drink driving behaviour.

    Superintendent Mick Doyle, head of Thames Valley Police Roads Policing Department, said:”If you drink and then drive home you are not just putting your own life in danger, you are jeopardising the lives of other road users. We will be carrying out targeted, intelligence-led roadside tests and we also test every driver involved in a collision regardless of the time of day and whether they have been drinking or not.
    “We need the help of the public to put pressure on people who are considering driving home, when they are not fit to do so, to keep themselves and the public safe. Each year around five hundred people die in Great Britain as a direct result of drinking and driving. Ask yourself, if you killed a child because of your selfishness, could you face their mum and dad? And if someone died because you didn?t stop your friend or partner from driving, how would explain your inaction to their grieving loved one?
    It is not difficult to avoid drink driving, take a taxi, stay at a hotel or friend?s house or just don?t drink. If you know anyone who drinks or takes drugs and drives, call police or call the charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.”

    So far this year, provisional police figures show that seventy four people have lost their lives in collisions on the roads of Thames Valley.

    All drivers who provide a positive breath test, refuse to provide or fail to provide, face losing their licence for at least 12 months. They could go to prison for six months or pay a fine of up to

  • Thame Visitor Died Instantly Under Train

    A Malaysian man, who had been staying with a relative in Thame, died instantly under the wheels of a train, an inquest into his death heard yesterday.
    Read full story.

  • Another Murder Charge In Suitcase Murder Case

    A further person has been charged in connection with the murder of Thea Zaudy, whose burned body was found in Milton Common, near Thame, on July 13.
    Lucasz Gajda, aged 25, from the Ealing area of London, was charged yesterday with assisting an offender in the commission of murder after being arrested on Tuesday evening.
    He will appear at Oxford Magistrates’ Court this morning (26/07).

  • Learn To Be A Lifeguard

    A NATIONAL Pool Lifeguard Qualification (NPLQ) Course is to be held at Thame Leisure Centre.
    The course will run from July 30, to August 4, from 9am to 6pm every day with the Examination on Saturday, August 4, time to be confirmed.
    The cost will be

  • Text To Find Your Bus Arrival Time

    EVER stood at a bus stop wondering when the next bus will be coming along? Well now you can get Real Time Information about when your bus will be arriving, using your mobile phone. Here?s what you have to do:
    1. Find the number of the stop you want. They are written on the stops themselves. Just type in your service number to get a stop list for that route and codes appear alongside the bus stop names. You can then save them on your phone.

    2. Text the code to TIMES (84637) and within a few seconds you receive a message containing real time bus arrival information.

    Outward texts are charged at Standard Network Rate, and the return text will cost you a maximum of 12p.

    The service is not yet available for bus routes to and from Thame, but it should be available next year. Here’s what a spokesperson for Oxfordshire County Council’s Transport Development team told ThameNews.Net today:
    “I?m sure that many residents of Thame will benefit from all these services, particularly if they drive to the Park & Ride car parks whose connecting bus services are all covered by OxonTime.
    “I understand that the Arriva cross country buses, including the 280, are all to be fitted with real-time data systems in about twelve month?s time. As this is the Buckinghamshire County Council?s remit, not ours, I?m unable to be more specific about it. When it happens, however, we are planning that the OxonTime computers will be able to communicate cross-county with the Bucks system to extract the relevant data which we?ll be able to display on our street displays, on the OxonTime internet service and on our existing SMS service.”

    Currently OxonTime real-time bus information covers:

  • National Flood Relief Appeal

    LOCAL authorities in Oxfordshire have joined with the British Red Cross to launch of a national flood relief appeal fund to help those affected by the flooding both here in Oxfordshire and in other parts of the country.
    OCC is in discussion the Red Cross on how funds will be allocated within Oxfordshire to assist local people who have suffered through the floods of the past few days.
    Oxfordshire County Council Chair, Liz Brighouse, said:”Staff from our various organisations are currently in the midst of a huge recovery operation and there are many examples of outstanding teamwork and commitment.
    “However we recognise that however hard we work, the floods have caused huge distress and loss to a large number of people, and their problems are likely to continue for some time after the water levels have subsided.
    “There are many in the community who want to do their bit to help those who have been badly affected and we feel that supporting a national appeal fund is the best way of helping them to do that. Donations are vital at this stage but we have also received numerous offers of help from volunteers which we will need to co-ordinate over the coming few days and weeks”

    Councillor Chrissie Curry, the Mayor of Witney, said: “I fully endorse this Appeal. I have, for the interim, opened a Mayor’s emergency Flood Appeal through the Witney Town Council and opened the account with a donation of

  • Youth Theatre Group To Present ‘City Of Angels’

    SONGBIRD Productions, an Aylesbury based youth theatre group, is to present ‘City of Angels’ ? the hit musical comedy that took Broadway by storm.
    Winner of six Tony Awards in 1990, including Best Musical, City of Angels tells two tales; one a dark film noir-style story complete with sizzling femme fatale, Alaura, and gritty private eye, Stone, the other a glamorous look at Hollywood in the 1940s through the eyes of budding screenwriter, Stine.
    Elements of both stories are off-set by the clever use of colour in costume, the interesting casting with each actor playing two roles, not to mention the dazzling musical numbers enhanced by the 20-piece onstage big band.

    Songbird Productions, a local youth theatre group based in Buckinghamshire, formed only last December and all members have been working hard in order to make City of Angels, their first production as a group, a great success. Whilst this show will be their theatre debut as a group, members have been part of productions before both at school and university, with many of them first meeting years ago as members of Aylesbury Music Centre.

    The group?s original aim was to provide an opportunity for local, young people to be part of a large-scale musical production, where involvement was not restricted to the stage and where opportunities behind the scenes were just as important. With the entire cast and technical team made up of young people aged 16-21 from Buckinghamshire, City of Angels is set to be an exciting musical production with a lot of community spirit.

    The project takes places in August with two weeks of intensive rehearsals culminating in 4 performances of the show.

    Performance details:
    Thursday 30th August ? Saturday 1st September 2007
    All 7.30pm plus 2pm Saturday Matinee
    Tickets: