Category: Thame news

OXFORDSHIRE County Council Leader, Keith Mitchell, has his own message for Gordon Brown as he prepares to take over as Prime Minister this week – ?stop ignoring the needs of the South East?.
Councillor Mitchell said: “I congratulate Gordon Brown on becoming Prime Minister but I hope the new Premier will want to work with and not against local government.
“Mr Brown says that his priorities are health, transport, housing and stronger communities. In Oxfordshire we can say ?Yes, Prime Minister? to all of that – provided that we get the infrastructure that is so vital to support sustainable growth.
“That means the new Prime Minister should be telling his Health Secretary not to approve any changes to the NHS in Oxfordshire that will leave people with reduced services.
He went on: “On housing, it is often thought that local authorities in the South East are opposed to new building. That is far from the truth. New homes, particularly affordable ones to help young people stay in their local areas as well as key sector workers, are badly needed.
“However, simply building lots more homes will not improve affordability. This is because there is an existing national stock of some 22 million homes against a current national new build rate of some 150,000 per year.
“Even doubling that build rate, if it were possible, would not have an impact on the value of the existing stock. Affordability means subsidy – either from development profits or from government funds – and the reality is it has to be some of both and the government?s contribution to affordability in the South East is just not enough.
“In addition, we need investment from the Government in new roads, schools, hospitals, water supplies and public transport, to ensure the region does not simply grind to a halt.
“Stronger communities is also an important issue for Oxfordshire and I will be using every opportunity to press the Government to free local government from some of the rigid constraints imposed on it so that we can develop services in line with the needs of our local residents. I hope that Mr Brown will pursue a localist agenda and realise that the best decisions for local communities are taken at a local level by locally elected representatives.”

Councillor Mitchell said he also hoped that whoever replaces Mr Brown at 11 Downing Street will take a serious look at the Government grant system for supporting local government services.
He added: ?The present system is a mess. It penalises Oxfordshire residents with low funding year after year while authorities in the North and Midlands benefit.
“It is only our own good housekeeping and the millions of pounds we have generated from efficiency savings, that has allowed our front line services to be maintained and developed.”

A THAME woman with an on-going health condition, feared that she would not be allowed by her doctor to take the balloon flight she won at Thame festival last weekend.
But yesterday, Alison Gill, who lives in Rooks Lane, received the ‘all clear’ from her doctor to fly with the Thame-based company, The Altitude Balloon Company.
Now, Alison says she “can’t wait to get on with it.”

She told ThameNews.Net: “I was so happy when I got the call to say I had won. I bought the ticket from one of the Thame First people on their stand at the festival fete, and thought that would be the last I would hear of it. And then I won!”
“It’s my friend, Osca’s birthday on Saturday, so it would be great for him to be able to watch me go up then. My mother hopes to come and see me off as well, but as my father is ill, she can’t leave him for too long.

Unfortunately, the weather forecast for the weekend is not good but hopefully Alison will be able to take her balloon flight sometime before the autumn.

A COMMUNITY art project has gone on display at The Oxfordshire Museum, Woodstock, to advertise an exhibition of Oxfordshire faces that opens at the museum in September.
More than 50 local people took part in the project, called “This Is Me!”, which involved decorating blocks of reclaimed wood with a subject they felt defined them as a person, such as a self-portrait or a favourite place or activity.
The blocks were arranged into one large artwork by artist Madi Acharya-Baskerville before being put on display.
the art project and the exhibition of Oxfordshire faces throughout the last thousand years, forms part of the Oxfordshire 2007 celebrations, which are supported and part-funded by Oxfordshire County Council.
‘A Thousand Years of Oxfordshire Faces’ opens at The Oxfordshire Museum, Woodstock, on September 22.
For more details of this and other activities at the Museum tel 1993 811456.

Photo: Madi working on ‘This is Me’

THE leader of Oxfordshire County Council, Cllr Keith Mitchell, has spoken of his delight and surprise at being appointed a CBE for services to local government.
He said: “It was totally unexpected. I usually get home late and when I saw the envelope was from 10 Downing Street, I believed it would be politically related. I was stunned and delighted when I opened it and saw the contents. It has been quite difficult to remain quiet until the official announcement!”
He went on: “When I sold my business interests in 1990, I didn’t know where my career would lead. I am delighted to have been able to contribute so much and now to be in a position to champion Oxfordshire’s interests at the highest levels.
“My business career has stood me in good stead and still, to this day, shapes many of my thoughts and my outlook.
“My first public role was on a rather old fashioned body called the Family Practitioners Committee in the NHS. The world has changed incredibly since then. Local government is far more professional but far more demanding. I am lucky to have had a successful business which I was able to sell. I could then devote my time to public life. I regularly work a 100-hour week so there is not much chance of me having an independent career as well.
“However, I am supported by a fantastic team of councillors, particularly but not exclusively my Cabinet and other councillors, excellent officers and hard working colleagues across the South East. My appointment as a CBE is wonderful but it isn’t an award at the end of a life’s work. I still have lots of hard work ahead of me.”

Keith Mitchell was elected as Leader of Oxfordshire County Council in November 2001. In 2002 he became chairman of the South East England Regional Planning Committee and, in 2005, he became chairman of the South East England Regional Assembly, a position he still holds.

He is also chairman of the English Regional Network. Each of these positions reflects Councillor Mitchell’s interest in regional planning, transport and housing issues. He is particularly interested in the ongoing housing debate in the South East and champions both the regional and county cause at national level.

TO see more pictures from Saturday’s Thame Festival, see Link

Why not share YOUR photos of Thame Festival and Carnival? Send them to editor@thamenews.net and we will upload them for everyone to see.

POLICE Forensic specialists were called in on Sunday after a town councillor had his windscreen deliberately smashed over night last Sunday (June 17).
Sunday’s incident is the latest in an on-going problem of criminal damage to vehicles parked in Park Street, Thame, particularly over-night on Fridays and Saturdays.
Cllr Mike Dyer told ThameNews: “Neighbours heard a loud commotion during the early hours of Sunday morning but it wasn’t until the next morning that I was told it was my car. It looks as though the windscreen has been deliberately kicked in.
“We have had problems with bent windscreen wipers and wing mirrors before from time to time along this street, but this takes the problem to a new level.”
“Some residents have been calling for cctv cameras to be installed in the street but we understand that there is no budget for that at the moment. We are currently forming a Neighbourhood Watch group and are hoping that the police will do all they can to tackle this problem which has now been going on for a long time.”

THAME’S top quiz team, The Wild Geese, were de-throned last Friday, when they were beaten by just one point by a team who walked in off the street seven years ago and won that year’s Thame Festival quiz and have been trying ever since to win again.
The Wildgeese team has its name engraved on the Thame Festival Quiz Trophy, 12 times, having won most years since the quiz began in 1993. But last Friday,(June 15), the Ad Hoc team pulled ahead following the final question of the night about the name of Take That’s album.
Quiz Misttess, Sue Boyle explained that the team which gave the exact, right answer would gain two points, and that anything near would earn one point. The Wild Geese just could not pull the answer out of their collective memories, but Ad Hoc came up with ‘Lovely World’. The correct answer of course, is ‘Beautiful World’, earning them the one extra point to take the trophy.
It is expected that the evening, which attracted 15 teams altogether, raised around

THE roof of one of three cars involved in an accident in Thame on Sunday, had to be removed by fire crew to release an injured woman trapped inside.
The woman, who remained conscious throughout the operation, was one of three people taken to the John Radcliffe hospital after the accident which happened just before mid-day last Sunday, June 17. None of them are believed to have been seriously injured.
One car, a Black Honda, left the road and ended up in a field, opposite the entrance to Cromwell Avenue, Thame.
The other two vehicles involved were a grey, Fiat Ponto and a green Citroen. The road was closed for around two hours until the damaged cars could be taken away by Break-down vehicles.
A police investigation into the cause of the accident is on going.

Photo: Thame fire crew demonstrate how they cut trapped accident victims from a car, at Thame show a couple of years ago – skills that came in handy for real last Sunday when they released a trapped woman from a car involved in an accident on the edge of the town.

A TALENTED Young finalist in the current, BBC 2 prgramme, Let Me Entertain You, is to release her first single and video on the Thame-based record label, Crash Records.
Thirteen year-old Claudie Mills will appear on the programme on Friday, June 22, at 6.30pm, and will be releasing her single/video early in July, shortly after the show.
Michelle Pether, of Crash Records, who regularly promote rock nights show-casing local young bands in Thame, told ThameNews.Net: “Please ask all your readers to make sure they watch this Friday to see Claudia sing her heart out on the programme.”

Friday night finals is open for public voting so if you would like to know more about this rising young star, check out the link below:
Link

Link

Thousands of people took part in auditions to get a place on BBC Two’s talent show, Let Me Entertain You. The show has been running for over three weeks, with five shortlisted acts performing every night in front of a live studio audience. The longer the performers can keep the demanding studio audience entertained, the more chance they’ll have to reach the Friday final, and possibly the live grand final!

IT would take more than a down-pour to dampen the spirits of the people of Thame when they come together as they did on Saturday for the Thame Carnival and festival.
This year’s carnival procession was bigger and better than any in recent years, with entrants from businesses and local organisations being led through the town by some magnificent vehicles representing Thame’s Classic Motor Club, and Thame News’ ebullient Town Crier, complete with bell and bugle.

The 16 organisations that took part included the local primary schools, Thame Players, Thame Historical Society, Thomley Hall and the Thame Fencing club, two of whose members duelled all the way from Park Street to the Southern Road recreation ground!

Fun and games followed at the rec, where local groups and organisations provided challenges, food and drink, music and entertainment for the hundreds of people who were rewarded with warm sunshine for not scuttling off after a very heavy shower throughout the second leg of the procession.

Among the stands and side shows on the ‘rec’ was Thame First, promoting the use of re-useable shopping bags and offering visitors the opportunity to buy raffle tickets and win a free ride in a hot air balloon. Their efforts netted around