THAMES Valley Police and Thame Town Council are hoping that someone has information about an act of vandalism at Elms Park yesterday.
The council’s Maintenance Team discovered that the safety surfacing in the play area had been purposely damaged. As a result the area has had to be closed off for safety reasons.
Any witnesses or anyone with any information about this incident is asked to call Thames Valley Police on the non-emergency number, 101.
A ‘first’ for this year’s Thame Food Festival will be a charity pop-up restaurant serving food throughout the day.
The Belazu pop-up restaurant will be at Christchurch, in the Upper High Street, and will serve authentic Mediterranean food from breakfast at 9am, through lunchtime. Beer and wine will be available while chef Chris Wheeler from Stoke Park, cooks up a mouth-watering Mediterranean feast.
Two courses will cost £25 and three courses £30, with all profits going to the Belazu Foundation to support the ISIS academy in Oxford and educate 120 children in Morocco, as well as the Thame Food Festival itself. Once the festival closes, a four-course dinner will be on offer for £35.
Book in advance HERE
TESCO’S outline planning application to build a supermarket on the DAF site, known as kingsmead Business Park, in Howland Road, Thame, is to be considered by Thame Town Council at a special, full council meeting on Tuesday, August 25.
The meeting will begin at 7.30pm in the Upper Chamber of Thame town hall. The application is for demolition of all existing buildings and erection of a foodstore (A1 food), car park, Petrol Filling Station and Employment Development (B1).
The Agenda and papers will be published in due course on the town council’s website HERE , as well as paper versions on the council’s notice board in Montesson Square, Upper High Street (opposite Prezzo).
An on-line petition against the proposal can be found HERE and a petition for the plans can be found HERE. The full plans and associated documents can be found HERE
THAME Bowls Club Ladies kept up their winning ways on Tuesday at home to Henley Ladies, winning convincingly on all three Rinks. The overall score was 76 shots to 34 in Thame’s favour, the highest rink score being that of Viv Jones, Maureen Giles and Marthie DuPreez who won by 27 shots.
The mid-week Mixed team entertained five Triples from Chesham on Wednesday and Thame’s stand-in Captain for the day, John Hurley, led his team to a nine shot win in a very close fought encounter. It was the winning rink of relatively new bowler John Walker, Maureen Giles and skip Gerry Barry who won convincingly by 26 shots to 6 that carried Thame to victory.
Thame Men’s League team had a rare success at home on Thursday defeating Charlbury on all four Rinks to gain a six points to nil win. However, this win is too late to save the Thame Men from being relegated to Division Three of the Oxford & District Bowls League next year.
On Saturday (August 1) Thame hosted a six Triples Mixed game against Bicester and lost by the narrowest of margins 106 shots to 110. Played in tremendous spirit and with friendly banter between these old rivals, an enjoyable afternoon was had by one and all. Thame’s highest winning rink was that of Marion Keal, Leonard Grimshaw and skip Trevor Copley who won by 21 shots to 8. Other winners for Thame were skips Les Canfield and Jesse Matthews in this close-fought encounter.
Thame finished their weeks’ activities with another close match but this time with victory over neighbours Watlington. The Sunday Mixed team continued their good season with a 98 to 88 shots victory at Watlington. Top Rink for Thame was led by skip Casper DuPreez with John Hurley, Christine Liddle and Maureen Giles lending their support in the 30 shots to 12 victory.
TO mark the retirement of Mrs Denise Walters, John Hampden Primary School’s much loved and long standing Foundation Stage Co-ordinator, the Thame school has revamped its mud kitchen in the Early Years garden.
Mrs Walters has worked at John Hampden Primary School for over 20 years and pioneered the mud kitchen years ago. As a surprise retirement gift to her, the staff, parents and children worked together to build a new mud kitchen with re-loved and colourfully painted kitchen equipment.
Fellow teacher, Rachel Butler said: “In the last week of term the children were able to play in the mud kitchen and it has become a very popular feature!
“The Foundation Stage team look forward to welcoming new children in September when they will be able to prepare, mix and cook all sorts of muddy treats in the garden!”
So, what exactly is a mud kitchen? Rachel explains: “.A mud kitchen is an outdoor role play area where children use mud and equipment to make potions, pies, paint, cupcakes and anything else they fancy! It is an exciting way for children to develop their understanding of capacity and consistency, practice the motor skills of digging, scooping and pouring, extend their communication and language through the vocabulary they use, build friendships and develop their imaginations.”
Sounds fun!
PLANNING permission has been granted for a new housing development at land north of Oxford Road, Thame (site F), by Planning Officers without having to be considered by South Oxfordshire District Council’s Planning committee.
The permission is for the erection of 203 dwellings, with new allotment plots, public open space, new pedestrian and cycle routes, construction of internal access roads, foul water pump station, surface water attenuation, ancillary enabling works, together with the formation of new vehicular and pedestrian access points.
Currently, planning permissions can be granted by planning officers, as long as there has been no objection from Thame Town Council. The proposal was the subject of much concern during the consultation period, including from some Oxford Road residents worried that the water drainage system in that part of the town would be unable to cope with additional quantities of waste water. SEE LINK
The planning approval is subject to 30 conditions, including measures to protect trees during construction, and a proviso that no properties can be occupied until an acceptable drainage sytstem is in place (see full Officer’s decision notice HERE ) and is not without some criticism of the plans by the Planning Officer. In the decision notice, although the officer commends the plans, stating that: “The proposed layout in particular delivers a network of green links, pedestrian and cycle routes that will ensure good sustainable connectivity for this site, which does lie on the outskirts of Thame,” he adds:
“However, the proposed layout does have poor connectivity for cars, with an over-reliance on cul-de-sacs. Furthermore, officers are concerned that the bias towards larger market units has not been properly evidenced. However, for the reasons outlined in the main report, these issues do not warrant a refusal of planning permission when weighed against the clear benefits of bringing forward 203 homes in line with the Neighbourhood Plan allocation. Particular weight is given to the overall support of Thame Town Council and also the provision of 81 affordable homes.”
Developer contributions (Section 106 monies) that will benefit Thame, will include £12,800 towards a new club house at the Thame cricket ground, money for additional affordable housing off site and contributions to improvements at Southern Road recreation ground.
ARCHAEOLOGICAL FINDS & HERITAGE
During an archaeological investigation of the site, many interesting things were found including three almost complete vessels associated with burials, a late Bronze Age – early Iron Age vessel with a finger fluted rim, iron-age flints, an almost complete intact dish from the later Iron – early Roman age, a third century finger ring, Roman coins and a Roman burial pit that appears to have been disturbed at some time, containing a body minus much of its torso and head and burial pots. But perhaps most exciting of all was the unearthing of a Neolithic road of which only 13 have ever been found in the country apparently.
You can read the whole Archaeological Evaluation report here Archaeological Evaluation Report The Heritage Statement too (see Heritage Statement (1) ) makes facinating reading for anyone interested in Thame’s history
SET in the trenches near Saint-Quentin, Aisne, in 1918 towards the end of the First World War, Thame Players’ next production, Journey’s End, gives a glimpse into the experiences of the officers of a British Army infantry company in World War I. The entire story plays out in the officers’ dugout over four days from March 18 – 21, 1918, during the run-up to the real-life events of Operation Michael
Thame Remembers is collaborating with the production on everything from set design through to props, uniforms, sound effects and pyrotechnics and has a special part to play in setting the scene at the start of the production.
Thame Players production of Journey’s End runs from September 8-12, at the Players Theatre, Nelson Street, Thame OX9 2DP
THAME Town cricket club is preparing to throw open its pavilion doors to the local community on Sunday, August 9, as part of a nationwide initiative to help boost grassroots cricket participation, supported by Waitrose.
The club is inviting all local people and cricket fans who are interested in finding out more about the club, to head along to the ground for the day to watch some cricket and enjoy some food and drink, in a bid to entice new members to sign-up. The day will start at 11am with a 6-aside tournament, a BBQ from midday, FREE coaching in the nets for Junior’s from 2pm – 4pm and close at 7pm.
Matt Swain, TTCC’s fixture secretary, said: “We are inviting people to come and enjoy one of the most idyllic cricket settings in the country, which is right on their doorstep. At the Open Day there will be a six-aside tournament, BBQ, Music, Bouncy Castle, taster nets sessions, bowling machine, raffle and lots more. The event is for everyone old and young, boys and girls. Come and join us at Church Meadow; you will be most welcome.”
Former England captain and ECB Cricket Partnership Ambassador Mike Gatting, added: “Club Open Days has proven to be a fantastic way for cricket clubs to capitalise on the nation’s fervour for cricket during the summer. By opening their pavilion doors and showcasing what they have to offer to their local community, clubs will hopefully be able to inspire newcomers to come and join them. We want to inspire more players, volunteers and social members to come together and get into cricket.”
Thame Town Cricket Club runs three adult Saturday league teams plus a friendly Sunday team and a friendly Tuesday night T20 team. The club has a large junior section for age groups U9’s, U’11s, U13’s, U15’s and U17’s that run during the week. The U15’s and U17’s also have the option to play for the adult league and friendly teams. In June this year Thame CC also set up a Women’s section. Training is on a Wednesday evening between 6:30pm and 7:30pm. The initiative is called ‘Crick Fit’ and is FREE to females of all ages and abilities. It’s great fun and exercise and there is already a squad of 40 women and girls who take part. The club will be holding a Women’s cricket tournament on Sunday, August 30.
• @ECB_cricket and @waitrose will be using #GetIntoCricket for Club Open Days on twitter
• For more information about ECB Club Open Days, including a full list of clubs registered to date, visit: www.ecb.co.uk/clubopendays
• For more information about Thame Town CC’s Club Open Day and details of how to join the club please contact: www.thametowncricketclub.org.uk
BECAUSE The M40 will be closed between junctions 5 and 6 for five nights between 21 00 to 06 00 from today, Monday August 3, to Saturday, August 8, Oxford Tube coaches towards Oxford will be coming off at junction 5 and following the A40 towards Lewknor.
Passengers will be dropped off close to the usual stop, just under the bridge. Coaches will then rejoin normal route towards Oxford.
ROAD sweepings from across Oxfordshire are to be processed at a state-of-the-art new treatment and recovery facility in Ewelme in South Oxfordshire, a move designed to boost recycling rates and help cut costs for the county council.
The specially-designed facility, built by Grundon Waste Management at a cost of £1.3 million, is one of the most technically advanced in the UK and will be able to process and recycle the 5,000 tonnes per year of road sweeping waste including leaves, sand and grit, and metals collected from Oxfordshire’s roads by operators working for each of the five district councils.
BACKGROUND
Three years ago, the Environment Agency banned the composting of street leaf sweepings because of concerns about the high levels of contaminants such as nickel, copper and zinc. This move left many local authorities worried about the impact on their recycling rates and having to find alternative disposal methods for the waste.
Keen to maintain its place as one of the top performing county councils in the recycling performance league tables, Oxfordshire County Council had to put in place interim measures, while looking for a more sustainable and local alternative.
Rebecca Harwood, service delivery manager at Oxfordshire County Council’s waste management group, said: “After the legislation changed, we had to send some road sweeper waste to landfill, while the remainder went to an alternative facility outside the county.
“Obviously we were very keen to look for alternatives which would be closer to home and more environmentally friendly. Grundon’s new facility is not only very impressive, but it offers the capability to handle all of the county’s road sweeper waste in one central place.
“We see it as a win-win situation, using the facility is half the cost of sending waste to landfill and we’re also cutting down on transport costs and carbon emissions. Above all though, it’s the fact that Grundon is able to recycle and recover all elements of the sweepings that makes the biggest difference. We anticipate this will help us boost our recycling performance rates by nearly 2%, which is a great result.”
While Oxfordshire County Council makes the decisions on where waste will be disposed, each of the five district councils is responsible for managing the actual collection. Operators acting for the Vale of White Horse and South Oxfordshire District Councils, together with Oxford City Council, will deliver the waste directly to Ewelme at the end of each clean-up round.
Further afield, road sweepings from West Oxfordshire and Cherwell District Councils will be ‘bulked up’ at waste transfer stations at Banbury and Cassington before being transferred to Ewelme in larger vehicles.
Owen George, tender manager at Grundon, said: “Our decision to invest in the new facility was born out of finding a sustainable and suitable solution to the problems local authorities had in recycling their road sweeper waste. Oxfordshire County Council has been very supportive throughout the development stages of the project and we’re delighted to be able to play our own part in helping the county fly the flag for excellence in recycling and recovery of waste.”
Three new jobs have also been created at the plant which, once fully operational, will be able to process around 25,000 tonnes of road sweepings a year – roughly 10 tonnes every hour. As capacity increases, Grundon plans to work with other local authorities and private contractors across the region.
HOW IT WORKS
On arrival, the road sweeping material goes into a giant tipping area where excess water is drained and stored for treatment and re-use later in the process. A giant magnet then removes any metallic objects, such as nails or bottle tops, before the material is thoroughly scrubbed and washed.
Screening removes larger aggregate materials (gravels of 5mm-40+mm) and these are sorted and stored by size, while the remainder goes into a Hydro cyclone – effectively a giant washing machine – which separates out organic material such as leaves and litter, from sand and grit. Each is then stored in different bunkers.
All the waste water is treated with a polymer which separates out the clean water from the sludge and, after further processing, the sludge forms a ‘filter cake’ which can be used in land restoration projects.
Thanks to the sophisticated recovery process, both the sand and the larger size aggregates qualify for ‘end of waste’ status, allowing them to be sold to the building trade, and sand and gravel businesses, where demand for recycled products is high as they are cheaper than virgin aggregates.