Category: Thame news

THE decision to go ahead with CCTV in Thame town centre, was questioned at the Thame Area Forum last night.
Thame resident, Margie Barbour, said that she thought the money to be spent on installing the CCTV system would be better spend on providing things for the young people who commit anti-social behaviour in and around the town centre, to do.
“I cannot see,” she added, “why we need it after we have just been told that South Oxfordshire has a low crime rate and that the fear of crime is reducing.”
Local author and Chair of the Cattle Market Action Group, Sarah Hayes, also spoke up against the proposal and said: “Classically, providing CCTV only moves the problem out to residential areas.”
The money for the installation of CCTV in the town was recently approved by South Oxfordshire District Council. Thame Town Council and Thame & District Chamber of Commerce will be contributing to the running costs.
Retailers in the town voted by a large majority for CCTV following consultation with Thames Valley Crime Prevention Offices and the local Community Safety Group.
At a recent presentation by Thames Valley Police?s David Bishop, Thame?s Crime Prevention Officer, Lesley Nesbitt and Community Safety Officer for SODC, Hilary Green, the main advantages of CCTV were stated as:-
? Would prevent Thame becoming a ?soft spot? for criminals who avoid the other towns WITH CCTV
? Enables suspicious activity to be tracked by the CCTV operators
? Improves feelings of safety and security among local people in the town centre
? Reduction in crime means financial savings for businesses and the population as a whole.

WHAT DO YOU THINK? Email your comments to editor@thamenews.net

THAME’s Mayor, Cllr David Dodds, has welcomed the county council raising the priority of a new library for the town.
But at a meeting of Thame Town Council yesterday, he said: “It is important that the views and aspirations of the people of Thame are considered before any plans are drawn up for the library i.e. its purposes, other facilities etc; it may well be that some of the ideas will be quite out of the question but I think they need to be considered so that we get the full backing of the town on this very important issue.”
Both Cllrs David Laver and Beatrice Dobie agreed with him that care would have to be taken not to cause ‘slippage’ or delay to the provision of a new library whilst considering detailed plans.
Cllr Dobie is Chair of the Friends of Thame Library and described the provision of funding for three years as “…wonderful news, after years of fighting.”
She told the council that the Friends would be seeking a meeting with the new County Librarian, Caroline Taylor.
Cllr Dodds concluded: “We need to get it right for the people of Thame.”

A WARNING from local Fire fighters for National ‘NO Smoking Day’ tomorrow, March 9, holds particular poignancy for Thame residents, one of whom died in a fire started by a smouldering cigarette.
Oxfordshire residents are being warned that smoking cigarettes is not only financially costly – just one puff could cost them their life!
In October, 2003, a woman died in a fire in Langdale Road, Thame, when under the influence of alcohol, she discarded a cigarette into a waste bin in her bedroom.

Oxfordshire County Council?s Fire & Rescue Service is urging smokers to consider giving up or at least to be more aware of the dangers. They say that more people die in fires caused by smoking than any other source. Tobacco, especially cigarette tobacco, is manufactured to stay alight. It can quietly smoulder out of sight, starting a slow and deadly fire.

David Heycock, Community Fire Safety Manager, said: ?During my career as a firefighter, I have seen the tragic consequences of children dying in fires caused by matches and lighters they should not have had access to. Make sure that your lighters and matches are kept out of the reach of children and that your cigarettes are extinguished safely.?

In this country someone dies every three days from a fire caused by a cigarette. Follow this advice to make sure you are not one of them:

? Never light up if you need to lie down. Despite the risk of falling asleep or setting the bed on fire, people are still smoking in bed
? Don?t leave a cigarette, cigar or pipe lying around. They can easily overbalance, land on a carpet or a newspaper, and start a fire
? Use a proper ashtray. Make sure the ashtray is heavy, cannot tip over easily, and is made of a material that will not burn
? Never tap your ash into a wastepaper basket. Always use an ashtray

A LARGE Chain of Kitchen, Home, DIY and Gardenware stores is to move in to the shop recently occupied by Cooks Chemist in the High Street, which recently closed.
The mult-million pound concern, Robert Dyas sells over the internet, as well as having branches in towns like Henley, High Wycomber and more recently, Didcot’s new Orchard Centre.
The company expects to open its Thame doors within a month.

DESPITE submitting amendments, Newitts, the butchers’retrospective plans for additional plant and equipment at the rear of their premises in the High Street have been rejected by Thame Town Council.
Newitt’s have been the subject of much criticism from both neighbours, the council and the Thame Conservation Area Advisory Committee, because of noise levels, concerns over access and what the town council called “Creeping industrialisation within a Conservation Area.”
The company itself has told the town council that its expansion and diversification plans are vital for its continuing survival.
South Oxford District Council’s Planning Committee will make the final decision as to the future of Newitt’s expansion plans, and expect to decide by March 31.

FAMOUS music television presenter and composer of Tv theme tunes, Howard Goodall, will be dropping in on the County Music Service’s Youth Regional Festival, on March 19.
Howard is an ex-pupil of Lord Williams’s School, Thame, where he learnt with the County Music Service and went on to compose, among other things, the Blackadder theme and that of The Vicar of Dibley.
Howard will be dropping in during the afternoon, which will be part of a month-long festival of events starting on Saturday, March 5, to celebrate the official opening of its new premises at Bayards Hill primary school in Barton.
For more information about the full programme of events Oxfordshire County Council’s web site.

THAME Police are appealing for witnesses after an audacious theft from Thame Cattle Market last Thursday, February 24.
Offenders drove into the yard sometime between 1pm-1.30pm and stole three industrial pressure washers.
Two blue Leopard, single-phase pressure washers, each worth

THE money for the installation and maintenance of CCTV for Thame town centre, has been approved by South Oxfordshire District Council.
The cameras should be up and running in time for Christmas.
The District Council’s Capital Budget plans also include money for spy-cameras to help catch illegal fly-tippers.

FOLLOWING fears for the future of Thame Community Hospital, expressed by trustees of the Day Centre yesterday, the Vale of Aylesbury Primary Care Trust have admitted that they should keep their stakeholders better informed and sort today to allay some of those fears.
Colin Foster, Director of Finance for the PCT, contacted ThameNews.Net today and said the following:
?We are working on a Business case for the development of the hospital which will have to be approved by the Strategic Health Authority. We are working very closely with the doctors on the site and trying to look at the needs of the Thame locality and how we can meet those needs and not just looking to bolt a few more beds on.
?Unfortunately this is taking a bit longer than anticipated but we are now dedicating resources to the plan and hope to have it ready by May this year.
?When we did our original Option Appraisal, one option was to find another site for the hospital but now we are concentrating on looking at other possibilities to better utilise the site. For instance, there are bits of building behind the hospital used for storage, kitchen etc, where we could perhaps provide another building without knocking down the existing hospital.
Mr Foster said that as well as looking at the possibility of rooms for the GPs, currently at the Health Centre, to use, the provision of a minor injuries unit is also a possibility.
He added: ?If we want to invest in the building we will have to get the money from somewhere; some charitable money is available but not enough and that is why we have to make a good business case to the Health Authority who have the money and the power.?
He concluded: ?Everything we are looking at, at the moment will preserve those elements already there at Thame Hospital, or add something new; we are not intending to diminish it in anyway.?

Sarah Taylor, Chair of the Hospital League of Friends, told ThameNews today that she was of the opinion that because of the PCTs undertaking, under the Stoke Mandeville PFI, to open more community beds, Thame Hospital is in a very strong position.