Category: More News

HAS your waste not been collected? Contact Verdant, the contractor for SODC, via this link, and it will be collected the next day.

FOLLOW this LINK
for more information.

FOLLOWING the news that South Oxfordshire District Council has lodged a application for a judicial review of the South East Plan, the CPRE, Campaign for the Protection of Rural English, is to take legal action against the Government to contest the Secretary of State?s decision to approve an urban extension south of the City in the Green Belt.

The final version of the plan was published last month (May 2009)and states that the Secretary of State specifically proposes an extension to the City at Grenoble Road in Oxford?s Green Belt to accommodate a ‘mixed use’, i.e. housing and commercial development including 4,000 houses. The South East Plan considers that: “Exceptional circumstances” exist that justify, what it calls a “selective review” of the Green Belt south of Oxford which will establish the precise location of the development.

Dr. Helena Whall, Campaign Manager for CPRE, said:
“We are asking the judge to quash the Secretary of State’s decision that 4,000 houses must be built on Green Belt land South of Oxford. Convincing evidence should then be obtained to show why they cannot be built in the City, or outside the Green Belt, and, if the Green Belt is the only option, that the most sustainable location has been identified.

“There is plenty of time to conduct this appraisal without affecting the provision of necessary housing for Oxford. Oxford’s housing allocation including the urban extension is for 12,000 houses by 2026. Of these just 4,000, or a third, were planned to be outside the City. To fit the South East plan’s targets these would not need to be completed until 2019, whereas conducting a proper appraisal need not take more than a year or so from now.”

Helena Whall continued: “CPRE is also arguing that the Government is being completely inconsistent – since the Green Belt it supports was created specifically to contain Oxford?s expansion, and yet at the same time the Government is now proposing that Oxford?s wish to continue expanding is a reason to start dismantling it.

“It appears the Government also admits it has not looked thoroughly at alternatives, since it says that there may be ?overwhelming evidence? that the Grenoble Road site is unsuitable.”

She added: “The Green Belt is highly valued by the public ? in a 2005 Mori poll 84% of us nationally believed that Green Belts should remain open and undeveloped. Of these 62% saw house-building plans as the greatest threat. In defending the Green Belt CPRE is echoing the national mood ? in seeking to breach it, the Government is not.

“There are many reasons why the extension at Grenoble Road is a poor idea and an unsuitable site. Not only would important areas of Oxford?s Green Belt be lost forever, but the development could also harm the Leys, already a deprived area, by removing open spaces on its doorstep, and increasing the transport and highway difficulties the Leys face.

“Apart from that it would threaten local villages such as The Baldons to the south and Garsington and Horspath to the east, as well as placing further strain on the fragile infrastructure of the City itself.

“To put it in context, the 4,000 house extension would be as large as the town of Thame ? and all on Green Belt land.”

She concluded: “CPRE has fought a long campaign to Save the Green Belt and the setting of the historic City. We have urged the Government to listen to strong local views and think again about its plan to breach the Green Belt – there seems no option left but to see them in Court.”

CALLING All Mums and Daughters! Join in two organised, gentle bike rides especially for mums and daughters – A fun and social way to spend time together in the fresh air!

Have a qualified female cycling leader assess your bike position, and carry out basic bike maintenance if necessary, and receive a free Go Active

water bottle to stay hydrated.

When and Where? 29 July and 12 August from Thame Leisure Centre car park – for a “credit crunch” cost of

AS the excitement builds for this year?s Thame Carnival, St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School is in South America getting ready for the Carnival in true Rio style!

Younger children in the school have joined together to explore and learn about countries in South America through imaginary excursions to Colombia and Mexico. Only this week, a specially chartered flight did the round trip (on the same day!) from Thame to Mexico with a real air hostess and mini pilot. The school hall was the makeshift aircraft with special sound effects and images to simulate a real flight.

The children are making their own costumes and creating a very colourful carnival parade on the theme of fire; parents have had a sneak preview in the school playground one sunny afternoon.

Everyone has enjoyed learning about the diverse cultures from music to sampling Mexican food, leaning traditional dances, art, landscape and about family life. Before the Carnival, children will be celebrating their achievements with parents at the weekly Friday Sharing Assembly sporting their hand made Sombreros.

Adi

IN the face of a Conservative landslide in the Oxfordshire County Council elections, Labour and Liberal Democrats saw a marked decline in their share of the vote across the electoral divisions in South Oxfordshire, but the Greens bucked the trend. Across South Oxfordshire their share of the vote increased to 11.7%, up from 6.3% at the previous County Election.

Spearheading this Green growth is Mark Stevenson. In 2007 he was runner-up for a District Council seat in the Berinsfield ward, and then, in 2008 he came third in the Henley by-election and last week came second in the County Council election for the Dorchester and Berinsfield division, with over 20% of the vote.

Mr Stevenson, who is also the Green Party election agent in South Oxfordshire, said “This was a very encouraging set of results, in every single South Oxfordshire division that we contested our share of the vote increased. In the past people used to say to me that they wouldn’t vote Green because it was a wasted vote – now they ask me about our policies and ideas.”

The Greens also did well in Goring, with 16.0% of the vote, and Benson with 14.6%.

“James Norman and Tim Fenn were both excellent candidates”, said Mr Stevenson, “They tipify the principled realism that now underlies Green politics, both run successful businesses with a strong strong comitment to environmental principles. They are precisely the sort of people we need in local politics.”

There is no doubt that politics in South Oxfordshire is changing. The Greens have clearly displaced Labour as the third most popular party and in some areas they are challenging the Liberal Democrats for second place.

09/06/09

RED KITE chicks, currently being cared for in a secret location not far from Thame, are soon to travel all the way to Aberdeen, to be released into the wild.

The chicks, which are approximately five weeks old, are to be released as part of a Red Kite reintroduction project taking place up there.

An infra-red camera has been installed so that their carer, who cannot be named for securtiy reasons, can monitor them 24 hours a day. The birds are fed on a diet of mice and day old chicks.

Images, video clips and the latest news will be available on the website below.

http://www.redkites.net

09/06/09

SOUTH Oxfordshire District Council are in the process of seeking legal advice on the legality of the Government’s South East Plan, published in May, in relation to the ‘selective review’ of the Green Belt south of the City, which lies within South Oxfordshire District. It will be known by mid-June whether SODC will challenge it in the High Court. CPRE Oxfordshire is also considering taking legal advice on the legality of the SE Plan.

CPRE is delighted to learn that Radley Parish councillors has called off their year-long bid to get Radley Lakes registered as a Town Green following plans to transform the area into a wildlife haven. The decision came just days after nPower revealed that the Northmoor Trust, which runs the Wittenham Clumps nature reserve, had been appointed to manage the lakes.

The Oxford and Buckingshire Mental Health Foundation Trust are making a proposed claim for Judicial Review in the High Court, challenging the County Council’s decision to register Warneford Meadow as a Town Green.

CPRE OXfordshire will be holding its Annual General Meeting on Saturday 27 June at Denman College, Marcham. See Diary for more details.

For more information about these and other issues see the CPRE Oxfordshire website: www.cpreoxon.org.uk

09/06/09

THE Mayor of Thame, Cllr Jeannette Matelot Green, presented six year-old Jack Dixon of Barley Hill
School, with a special cup on Friday (05/06/09).

Jack was the overall winner of this year’s Thame in Bloom art competition, is seen here with his picture which was framed for the occasion.

THAME Conservatives had the shock of their lives this morning when the county council’s web site gave out the wrong results for Thame and Chinnor Division – reporting that both sitting Conservative councillors had been ousted!

Oxfordshire County Council’s website failed to live up to its boast of bringing live results as they were announced when, mid morning it announced that the Labour candidate, Susan Woolford Brown, and the Lib Dem candidate, David Bretherton, had slayed the two Conservative candidates.

However, by 1.37pm, the website was indicating what is probably the correct result, and here it is:

Nick Carter, Conservative 2759 (elected)
David Wilmshurst, Conservative 2639 (elected)
David William, Bretherton Liberal Democrat 1632
David Arthur Laver, Liberal Democrat 1531
Stuart Curtis, Green 513
Brian Lewis Levison, Green 490
Will Atkinson, Labour 280
Susan Woolford Brown, Labour 275

The total turnout for the Thame and Chinnor division was 37.47%, and for the District as a whole, 39.97%.
The total number of people voting in the division was 10119 (electorate 13600). 36 votes were spoiled.

The county council’s website and swithchboard is currently down although the results feature on the webdsite was still working at around 2pm.

Photo: Left – David Wilmshurst, Right – Nick Carter

AN independent nursery in Thame is celebrating after a good Ofsted inspection and the completion of two projects.

Queensdown Nursery, in Queens Road, Thame, achieved a “good” grading in all sections of the Ofsted report, meaning tht all aspects of its provision are strong.

The inspector said: “Overall the quality of the provision is good. This small nursery provides a homely atmosphere where children are progressing well. The staff work consistently to make improvements and their high standards provide the children with a pleasent and stimulating place to learn through play.”

Nursery teacher, Natalie Raynor, told ThameNews: “We have a small parent fund raising committee which allows us to buy larger items, and without them would be very difercult.

“They have arranged a quiz night and cake sales and a pyjama day for the children, allowing us to install a new play house in the garden and new flooring in the nursery.

“We would like to take this oppertunity to thank them for all their hard work and also the parents for their continuing support.”