Category: Thame news

A dentist and a dental nurse from Thame, are off to Malawi, Africa, to treat the teeth of the poor in rural, northern villages.

Zak Khatana, who works at Thame House Dental Practice in the town, explained: “Dental care is something we take for granted in the UK. However in places like Malawi there is minimal access. There is a desperate need for dental care in Malawi. The country has fewer than 40 registered dentists for a population of 19 million people and access to dental services is particularly difficult for people living in remote rural communities, with people dying from preventable dental infections causing sepsis.

“In Easter 2019, myself and Samantha Miller will be part of a small team of volunteers who will set up and install a temporary dental clinic in the village of Bulala, plus we’ll be working with other surrounding villages. Many of the patients will require emergency care and extractions but we will also run oral health programmes.

“People arrive through the night and walk several hours to seek out dental treatment. Demand is huge and up to 100 people will be waiting for treatment at the start of each day. We will prioritise children and those suffering from infections and immediate pain.

“We are aiming to see a minimum of 1000 people during our stay and so we are asking for your help. Dental supplies are expensive and so we are fundraising to help us provide as much care as possible to those in need. All donations will be used entirely for this project, however big or small the amount.

“We were hoping that you would be able to help us gain exposure for our cause. We are looking to raise at least £4500.”

To learn more about Zak and Samantha’s project and to make a donation, visit: https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/zakiandsam

Alternatively there will be donation boxes in the practice in Thame and Fairford Leys, Aylesbury

 

TO celebrate Cycle to Work Day 2018 on Wednesday, August 15, the Haddenham to Thame Cycleway group (CycleHAT) is organizing a free buddy scheme to escort want-to-cycle commuters between Thame Town Hall and Haddenham & Thame Parkway train station during the morning commute.

The hope is that a number of commuters who usually drive to the station will be inspired to ditch the car and cycle instead on the day – enjoying some fresh air, exercise and saving the expense of a car parking ticket. As a reward for cycle commuters’ efforts, the Little Italy café at the Haddenham & Thame Parkway station is kindly providing a complimentary cup of coffee for those taking part.

On the day, a pool of experienced cyclists (buddies) will personally escort those who are not familiar with the commute by bicycle. Trips to the train station will leave at regular intervals between 7am and  9am. Cyclists wishing to reserve a space, are invited to visit http://bit.ly/cyclehat indicating your preferred departure time on the basis that ~30 minutes should be allowed for the trip. Riders only need to bring a roadworthy bicycle, a helmet, and a lock. Optionally, a set of lights and a waterproof may be prudent depending on the weather and your expected time of return.

The event is being organised in order to promote awareness for the need for an improved cycle-friendly route between Thame and Haddenham, with the aim to realise a safer means of cycling for the benefits of local commuters, families, and children.

A young Thame man, inspired by a school trip to the Gambia with Lord Williams’s School, and the Ultra athlete and author, Mark Beaumont (The Man Who Cycled The World), has set off on his own incredible endurance challenge, to cycle around the world too!

Alex Clark, 23, set off from Thame on July 22, to realise his dream, aiming to cycle 21,500 miles, and through sponsorship and donations, to give hundreds of children in both the UK and The Gambia an equal opportunity to realise their dreams.

Alex, who quit his job with a recruitment agency in London to take this trip, is aiming to raise £10,000 for two charities, The Thame-based Jack O’Donnell Foundation that supports children to achieve their full potential in the sport they love, and Sponsor A Gambian Child which provides funding for children in the Birkama area to attend school, through individual sponsorship.

Alex’s journey will be in stages, the first from Thame to Triest – a ride of 2,050 km. From then on the stages will be:

Stage 2: Trieste – Mumbai, 6,240 km
Stage 3: Mumbai – Perth, 10,295 km
Stage 4: Perth – Auckland, 6,404 km
Stage 5: San Diego – Lisbon, 7,575 km
Stage 6: Lisbon – Thame, 2,449 km

Sean Conway, another endurance athlete and adventurer, has also been key to Alex’s unfailing passion to realise his dream. In 2012 Sean was attempting to break the world record for solo and unsupported bicycle circumnavigation when he was hit by a pickup truck on his way to work. Despite this Sean managed to make it all the way around the world after several weeks recovering from serious injuries.

Alex’s previous sporting love has been football, and more recently triathlon, and it was the running and cycling element of the latter that Alex says made him realise that these skills were transferable in helping him to achieve his mammoth project.

If you would like to support Alex in raising funds for these two, extremely worthwhile causes, and help keep him motivated as he tackles the next thousands of kilometers of what will inevitably be a grueling test of character of fitness, visit his Prestige Worldwide page https://www.prestigeworldride.org/aboutthecyclist

You can find out more about Alex and his preperations for the trip, and donate by visiting Alex’s MyDonate page; https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/alexclark1709

A group of residents in the village of Moreton, near Thame are very unhappy about the increasing amount and standard of development in their village, and have been meeting and writing to district councillors and their MP to voice their concerns.

Many villagers are unhappy about an application that has been submitted for seven homes at the Paddock by the entrance to village: See full application HERE
and a second proposal by Rectory Homes near the village pond.

Moreton resident, Tina Fegent, told Thame.Net: “In the last three years we have had eight new builds – four of which are Rectory Homes. This has increased the size of our hamlet by 15%. We don’t have the infrastructure to support increased volumes of people and traffic etc. We are conducting our own traffic survey this week to ascertain the volume of traffic that is already coming in and out of the village.

“We have a lot of walkers, runners, dog walkers, families with kids, Horse riders, etc walk the path from Thame to Moreton, to The Oxfordshire or Tetsworth,” she added. “Moreton is like a bit of a Park next to Thame and should be kept that way.”

Extra houses are ‘not sustainable’

Another Moreton Resident, Robin Storey, has written to SODC, who are currently at the consultation stage of a planning application by Lucy Developments for the seven homes. He challenges the application on the grounds of it not being ‘Sustainable Development’ and refutes a statement in the application that the development would be ‘infill’.

Mr Storey states that Moreton is expressly not earmarked for development under local planning rules: “The Proposals do not constitute sustainable development due to its location in a rural community without the necessary infrastructure to accommodate such development in a sustainable manner,” he said.  “This lack of support for such development is demonstrated by the fact that there are no housing allocations in this vicinity, either in the emerging SODLP or the Thame Neighbourhood Plan (adopted or emerging).”

The developer’s submission claims that the station is close, and that this makes it sustainable, but Mr Storey notes that: “The station is four miles away and requires a car to access safely. There is no cycle path (despite 10 years of attempts to establish one) and the fast B road to Haddenham is dangerous.”

Mr Storey adds: “Moreton is unable to support new housing and the needs of the new population will be met only by unsustainable travel by car…….There is no school in the village or more school spaces in Thame, no pub/shop, etc, and there are other infrastructure limitations…There are poor public bus routes (one per week).

“The County Council has just withdrawn free school bus provision, which is currently being appealed by a number of families. The quality of the footpath to Thame is poor or totally unmade in places and the walking route to school is unsafe as it is isolated. It is likely that more car journeys will result from the village from September 2018….The road junction onto the main A329 is already dangerous.”

Proposals by Rectory Homes for new homes near the village pond

Of this proposal, Mr Storey writes: “What we have seen built so far by Rectory Homes’ two developments in recent years does not seem to be sympathetic in scale, design or materials and more attention is needed to the fact that this is a village not an extension of suburbia.

“This aesthetic is not apparently understood by Rectory Homes and, worse, SODC have failed to enforce proper standards – in scale, materials or design ie machine made slate tiles have been used next to Harvest Barn, not handmade clay tiles to defer to the original farm building, which is now overwhelmed and these views of field and barn have been spoilt, as the new buildings are dominant.

“In this proposal, the scale of the roof in the larger buildings make the choice of a high quality handmade clay tiles particularly important.”

Mr Storey claims that both proposed developments would spoil the view of the village Conservation Area and the collection of listed buildings that make Moreton popular with walkers, runners and cyclists from Thame – and that a valuable Thame amenity is at risk . He also fears for the diversity of wildlife seen in the village, which includes protected and other significant species including several types of bat, otter, grass snakes, adder, owl, herons and great crested newts within the village. Cuttle Brook links the village to the town nature reserve via two fields. An informal survey of the village confirms these species are regularly seen and clearly spread throughout the village – either side of the proposed development.”

Town and District Councillor, David Dodds, has himself written several times to SODC concerning support for extending the Conservation Area.

Meeting with Thame Town Council

Back in June, Rectory Homes requested a preparatory meeting with Thame Town Council and Moreton Residents’ Association. Cllr Helena Fickling for Thame TC’s Planning Committee, Ann Midwinter the Town Mayor, Linda Emery Deputy Mayor, David Dodds SODC councillor, Graham Hunt Town Clerk and Graeme Markland Neighbourhood Plan Officer all attended the meeting. Rectory Homes was represented by Edd Vickers, the son of owner Simon Vickers, and Jolande Bowater, Associate Director for Planning.

At the meeting, Mr Vickers apparently explained that there were no definitive plans, just ideas they wanted to share. He produced a rough plan which he said was for illustration only. They were suggesting seven homes with a green ‘buffer’ along the road and a footpath for pedestrians. He also pointed out the possibility of more open space around the pond and another area behind the line of proposed new houses.The field in question is opposite the Old School/School House/Old Chapel House.

Threat of ‘urbanisation’

There was absolutely no support for further development from the villagers present, the general feeling being that more development in Moreton would be seen as a move to “urbanise” the hamlet. Cllr Ann Midwinter said it was her belief that Rectory Homes should… “give up this proposal and leave Moreton alone.” The MRA (Moreton Residents Association) requested that if Rectory Homes did progress plans, there should be a public meeting in the Town Hall so that Moreton Residents could have the opportunity to comment as a community.

As a consequence of all this pressure for development in Moreton, many in the village are considering the case for a ‘mini Neighbourhood Plan’ for Moreton to feed into the Thame Plan and to protect Moreton as a place to visit for everyone in Thame. Others have requested SODC extend the village Conservation Area before the fields are lost.

One of the councillors present at the meeting suggested: “We need to consider what, if any, housing we think we might need and where will it go. It might also be worth considering the Thame Green Living Plan and what it means for our hamlet.”

A Physiotherapist, Fitness Instructor or Postural Stability Instructor will take participants through seven tests of their exercise performance, when a ‘Functional Fitness M.O.T.’ event is held in Thame for a second year. (See LINK to last year’s event)

 

The Functional Fitness M.O.T. was developed by a partnership between Glasgow Caledonian University, the British Heart Foundation National Centre for Physical Activity and Later Life Training. Each test comes with a set of ‘normal values’ for people between 60 and 90 years-old and will give participants an idea of how they are doing compared to their peers, or whether they could benefit from being more active.

Participants have the opportunity to book an appointment, or can just turn up at Thame Town Hall on Friday, September 28, 2018.

There will be a list available of local activity opportunities to join in with, and some websites with more information and guidance.

Thame’s Functional Fitness team is also aiming to have stalls from the following organisations to give information and advice:

AGE UK Oxford including the Community Information Network
Thame Leisure Centre including GO ACTIVE
The British Heart Foundation
Diabetes UK
Dementia Oxfordshire
Occupational Therapy

For an appointment to take your very own Functional Fitness MOT, call Anita Clayton on: 01844 217646

FIRE Crews from Oxford, Kidlington and Thame have been dealing with a field fire just off the A329 near Great Milton which is now under control. Four crews were called to the incident which began just after 14:15 approx this afternoon, and were able to work with the farmers who swiftly cut a fire break to prevent it spreading further.

Thames Valley Police assisted with traffic management. The A329 road to Milton was still closed at around 8pm this evening, but it was possible to reach Thame via Great Haseley.