BUSINESS owners and tenants, with premises on a small piece of land between the Buttermarket and the Cornmarket, Thame, are trying to get support from the local authorites to tidy up the area, known as The Shambles.
Part of the difficulty has been that there is no clear ownership of the area, a state of affairs described by Town Cllr, David Dodds, as being ‘a shambles’ in itself, as well as being an appropriate description of the area.
A district council Conservation Area Officer described The Shambles as:”A rather forlorn area largely given over to car parking…and the presence of several unsightly rubbish bins.”
Several of the owners have contacted the Town Council with a plan to taking a partnership approach to improving the area, for which they are prepared to pay, providing local authorities undertake not to take action to romove or prevent the proposals put forward.
The residents’ plan includes a communal bin store and keeping some parking but South Oxfordshire District Council’s view is that there should be no car parking. They would prefer to see the area resurfaced and the rear of 3 Pump Lane used for something that would encourage pedestrians to linger, bringing activity to the courtyard. SODC recognises that rubbish bins may be necessary to the area but feels that they could be ‘rationalised’ or perhaps screened in some way.
After much discussion about the problem at the town council’s Policy and Resources committee meeting on Tuesday evening, councillors voted to offer support to SODC, who may have some funding available, to move the matter forward.
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