Category: Missed a ThameNews story?

POLICE in Thame will have new powers to tackle group related anti-social behaviour from Tuesday, May 1, subject to a final nod from South Oxfordshire District Council’s Scrutiny committee.

The new Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) will allow police to prohibit groups of three or more from congregating in public areas of the town, if they are behaving anti-socially, or likely to cause alarm, distress or a nuisance to those nearby. Anyone causing a problem could be fined if they fail to disperse when requested.

South Oxfordshire District Council is introducing the PSPO in Thame following concerns raised by the local community. The Order received strong support during a public consultation last year and was approved by Cabinet on Thursday, April 5. It will only target anti-social behaviour and will not prevent groups from gathering together peacefully.

Cllr Elizabeth Gillespie, Cabinet Member for Community Safety at South Oxfordshire District Council, said: “The new Public Spaces Protection Order gives police in Thame greater powers to address anti-social behaviour caused by groups congregating in public areas. This could include those intimidating passers-by or anyone repeatedly causing a general nuisance.

“PSPOs can be tailored to the needs of a specific town. The measures we have included to tackle group related problems in Thame received significant support from the local community.”

The public consultation

Last year members of the public were asked to comment on the proposal to create a Public Spaces Protection Order for Thame. South Oxfordshire District Council received 241 responses during the four-week consultation, with 92 per cent in favour of giving police powers to tackle anti-social behaviour. 92 per cent also supported setting the age range for the new powers to start from those aged 16 plus rather than from 18.

The Thame PSPO also includes powers that were previously covered by the town’s Designated Public Places Order (DPPO) which allows police to tackle alcohol related anti-social behaviour. Police can take alcohol off anyone who is behaving anti-socially in a public area – if they refuse to hand the alcohol over they can be fined. The Order only applies to public areas and not to licensed premises, and people drinking responsibly will not be affected.

THAMES Valley Police’s Thame Neighbourhood Policing team have reported a dramatic down-turn in rural crime in the area, partly due to the use of civilian, local ‘spotters’.

Rural Crime includes such offences as fly-tipping, illegal off-roading which can cause damage to the environment and disturbs local wildlife, theft of agricultural machinery, hare-coursing and cannabis cultivation.

Thames Valley Police attribute this drop to ‘high visibility proactive patrols and operations organised by the Thame Neighbourhood Policing Team’ and team work in partnership with local landowners who, using their local knowledge and themselves patrol rural areas, act as ‘spotters’.

The neighbourhood team has future overnight operations planned in the area aimed at preventing and detecting rural crime. This involves joint work between the neighbourhood team and the Special Constabulary.

THAME’S Town Cerk, Graham Hunt, told a jam packed public meeting that there is ‘no magic wand’ for providing more doctors and other, extra infrastructure needed to cope with all the extra homes Thame has had to provide.

Mr Hunt was responding to a question from a resident of College Close at the annual Thame Town Meeting on Tuesday, March 27: “In the light of the increased development, what are the plans for more doctors’ surgeries etc?” he asked. County Councillor, Nick Carter, responded that in his opinion, such provision had so far been ‘distressingly piece-meal’ in the town where 1000 new homes were being completed.’

The Town Clerk was quick to intercept Cllr Carter, explaining that because of the current system of ‘Section 106′ (Developers’ contributions towards facilities and infrastructure necessitated by their development) funds only come after the houses are built. Thame Town Council was doing all it could, he said, having provided more burial space, contributed to improved sports facilities and working with other stakeholders towards providing ‘Health Hubs’ in the town.

“These things do not happen over-night,” he said. “There is no magic wand. The system is slow. Discussions with many different agencies have to take place before decisions can be made, We know there are shortfalls in the town but we are doing our best.”

Cllr Carter said that the infrastructure the questioner was talking about was not within the county council’s remit but one for the NHS. He took the opportunity to relate the situation to his favoured remedy for many such conundrums, one large ‘Unitary’ council dealing with everything, from Health to roads. Such a change was currently being ‘deliberated’ he said.

LATEST – During an intervention in parliament yesterday (28/03), Thame’s MP John Howell, claimed that access to GPs in his constituencey was: “…. almost instantaneous provided that people did not specify the GP they wanted to see.”  http://www.johnhowellmp.com/news/intervention-in-debate-on-gps/1223  

** WHAT’S your experience getting to see a doctor in Thame? Email – editor@thame.net

THAMES Valley Police have urgently requested any information about who may be supplying a tranquilliser drug to youths in Thame.

In a tweet, the force stated: “We have received several reports in the Thame area recently of youths taking Xanax which is a form of tranquilliser. Anybody with information about who may be supplying the drug to youths, can call TVP on 101, or alternatively you can contact crimestoppers anonymously HERE   Quote: #C6795

Xanax is particularly dangerous when taken with alcohol can lead to life-threatening respiratory depression and coma. Long term effects of the drug can lead to:

Mood disorders.
Increased risk for accidents and aggression.
Interpersonal problems.
Noticeable declines in school or work performance.
Memory loss.
Shallow breathing.
Anoxic brain injury from repeated episodes of respiratory arrest.
Lower blood pressure.
Faint heart beat.
Liver cancer.
Cirrhosis.
Alcoholic hepatitis.
Cardiomyopathy.
Arrhythmia.
Stroke.
Mouth and throat cancer.
Breast cancer.
Pancreatitis.
Increased risk of suicide.

‘Deadly’ fake Xanax 

More information from drugabuse.com

FOLLOWING what has been the harshest winter for many years, the South Oxfordshire and The Vale areas ‘Mr Pot-holes’, Keith Stenning, has described the pothole repair situation in the area as ‘an utter nightmare’.

Speaking at the annual Thame Town Meeting in a packed town hall, Mr Stennng explained how his team of 23 men, had a backlog of 5,000 pothole repairs – mostly reported by the public via the ‘Fix My Street‘ website (See full list of reports of potholes in Thame and Chinnor), and running over budget by £300,000. He explained how this winter had been one of freeze, thaw, freeze thaw – the main cause of the breakdown of Tarmac surfaces, and the various methods used to repair potholes, from the quick-fix and most used method of dobbing tarmac into a hole, to sawcutting and sealing – used only on A and B roads.

Government money not enough

Although Oxfordshire had received £1 million from the government in one tranch, and £1.6million recently, this money only covered minor repairs for six weeks, far from the Hundeds of millions needed to maintain all the road in Oxfordshire to the highest standard.

Promises for Park Street residents

In response to questions from residents, Mr Stenning explained that the planned repairs to the road next to the Rugby Club had been postponed because of wet weather, and that the work was now planned for mid-April. Regarding the state of Park Street, which has been the focus of much concern from residents, he said that repairs to the road and the pavement were planned for late Spring or early summer. As an example of the costs for repairs, the pavement repairs to Park Street will cost £60,000 and the road repairs, £75,000.

Water and sewage in Oxford Road

The matter of potholes dominated the meeting, with comments from a local motorcyclist concerned about safety to him and other motorcyclists, and residents and users of Oxford Road, where a photographs of a huge hole that had recently appeared there by Upper School, were handed to Mr Stenning. Descriptions of sewage water bubbling from a drain cover and water streaming from elsewhere in the area were met with a promise from him that he would look into the matter the following day and get it fixed. Other roads of concern brought up by residents included Lambert Walk, Wellington Street, Rooks Lane, the entrance to Lord Williams’s Upper School, and East Street.

A matter of balance

In conclusion, Mr Stenning admitted that road repairs all over the country was using ‘a sticking plaster approach’ and that the system he has to work under is complicated. It was his job to balance budgets, road use, resources and safety within national regulations.

County Councillor, Nick Carter, said that the authorities were looking at some way of introducing ‘routing agreements’ for developers with the potential to penalise them for their construction vehicles using inappropriate routes, and that there was scope to perhaps look at ways for developers to contribute towards paying for road damage.

THAME Town Council is asking residents to make their voices heard against a planning proposal that it fears will turn Thame into ‘yet another dormitory/commuter town with no heart’.

Developers, Angle Property, have already received planning permission to transform the main ex DAF buildings into 42 apartments using the Government’s Permitted Development Rights legislation, despite the Town Council opposing the plans and pointing out that such rights didn’t apply. The Planning Authority, South Oxfordshire District Council, went ahead and gave permission anyway.

Now, Angle Property wants to build a Care Home on what is currently the employment parking area on the site, and is carrying out a survey seeking community approval for the plan, which the town council is against.

Against the Neighbourhood Plan

In its latest Newsletter, Thame Town Council states: “Again the Town Council vehemently oppose this, as it would restrict employment land further, and is potentially another tool to establish residential use of the entire site. It is clearly in contravention to the adopted Thame Neighbourhood Plan and the district Local Plan. If additional care home facilities are required in Thame (which is not yet proven), then it is up to the community of Thame to decide the best site, via a revised, community led Neighbourhood Plan. Government guidance supports us in this.”

Developers, don’t tell Thame what it needs !

The statement continues: “We do not want developers telling us what Thame needs, with the ultimate aim of maximising their investment to the detriment of Thame. The last thing Thame needs is more employment land being converted to residential, or Thame will become yet another dormitory / commuter town with no heart – adding to an ever increasing list of such towns in England. Please complete your survey forms appropriately.”