Category: More News

OXFORDSHIRE County Council is to face

ARE you interested in what goes on in your town? Do you have what it takes to represent the views of the people of Thame?
Don’t just sit there moaning and groaning about what your council does or does not do, get involved. Local elections are to be held in May for 16 (eight in the North ward and eight in the South ward) Town Councillors for Thame, and two District Councillors.

Nomination papers must be delivered to the Election Office, Council Offices, Crowmarsh Gifford, between 8.30am and 4.30pm Monday to Friday after 27 March 2007, but not later than noon on Wednesday 4 April 2007. Nomination papers may be obtained at Council Offices, Crowmarsh Gifford, from D. Buckle, Returning Officer, who will at the request of any elector for any of the said Parish or Wards of Parishes, prepare a nomination paper for signature. If an election in any of the said Wards is contested, the poll will take place on Thursday, 3 May 2007 between the hours of 7.00am and 10.00pm.

Electors should take note that the deadline for new applications to vote by post or to change existing postal or proxy arrangements e.g. cancellation or re-direction etc. must reach the Electoral Registration Officer at Elections Office, Benson Lane, Crowmarsh Gifford, OX10 8PH by 5.00pm on Wednesday, 18 April 2007 if they are to be effective for this election.

New applications to vote by proxy must be received by the Electoral Registration Officer by 5.00pm on Wednesday 25 April 2007.
The deadline for new applications to be received by the Electoral Registration Officer to vote by proxy on grounds of a medical emergency is not later than 5.00pm on Thursday 3 May 2007.

A BID by Oxford City Council to take control of all council services and create three new councils, has been rejected.
If the bid had been successful, it would have meant South Oxfordshire (the district council responsible for Thame) amalgamating with the Vale of White Horse District Council and the abolition of Oxfordshire County Council, with Cherwell merging with West Oxfordshire District Council.
Oxfordshire County Council has welcomed the news that Oxford City Council’s bid to have local government in the county re-organised has fallen at the first hurdle.

However, county council Leader, Keith Mitchell, says that he is not complacent and wants work to start immediately on closer working with Oxford City Council and the other four district councils to deliver “seamless, value for money council services to everyone in Oxfordshire.”
He said: “The Government has clearly seen through the financial detail in Oxford City Council’s bid. However, while this is a reason for celebration for everyone in Oxfordshire, it is not a reason for complacency. We must get our heads down and make our system of local government work even better than it already does.
“The government has told councils all over the country that districts and counties must work together better. We have heard that loud and clear. We want services to be as seamless as we can make them and we want to explore ideas such as a single ?phone number for all public services, one-stop shops for public services and shared back office functions to save taxpayers money.
“I am determined that we will deliver on this agenda and I know that many colleagues at Oxfordshire’s district councils, including the city council, are imaginative and wise enough to share our view that this is the best way forward.
“I am also determined that this unitary bidding process will have no lasting negative effect on our relationship with Oxford City Council.
“We must work in hand-in-hand for the sake of this great city. Oxfordshire County Council has been on a journey of continuous improvement that recently saw us achieve the Audit Commission’s highest ranking of “excellent” status. We have a lot to offer the city council in terms of that experience.”

ARCHAEOLOGISTS carrying out a watching brief for Oxfordshire County Council on the re-surfacing of the High Street in Oxford City, have found a stone drain that can be dated to the 18th century.
The well-preserved drain ran into a massive stone-lined chamber which may originally have funnelled the surface water into the Thames at Magdalen Bridge.

Approximate dating was helped by the discovery of a glass disc seal from a wine bottle or decanter near the drain. The seal was embossed with ?Mag Coll? (Magdalen College) and the date 1763.

As wine was sold by the measure, regular customers like the colleges, had their own bottles that could be distinguished in this way.

Paul Smith, County Council Archaeologist, said: ?Perhaps the college students treated the 18th century highway drainage engineers to a friendly lunchtime drink or perhaps it could have been broken during a boisterous May Day celebration.
“This is another hidden piece of ?Town and Gown? history that thousands of people drive over every year.
“It certainly vindicates our requirement for archaeological work on this scheme – something that is fully supported by the county council.”

The scheme will continue to be monitored by archaeologists and the current finds are being analysed by Oxford Archaeology who carried out the detailed recording of the drain.

What is the current work on the High Street?

The latest phase of the current work in the High Street finished recently, improvements that included upgrading the worn out road, new drainage, road markings, traffic signals and illuminated bollards.

AN Oxfordshire schools? organisation has been successful in winning a grant to encourage more students to study science and boost standards in the subject through interaction with research and industry.
The Oxfordshire Independent State School Partnership has been awarded

PEOPLE who want to contact their local fire service to ask a question or request a home fire safety assessment, will now find that it?s just a click away with the launch of the Fire Gateway website – www.fire.gov.uk
This one-stop shop, supported by Oxfordshire County Council?s Fire and Rescue Service, will enable residents to submit online requests for help and provide them with information to prevent fires and save lives.

The service is not intended to deal with requests for emergency services, which should still be made by dialling 999 and asking for ?Fire?.

What benefits does the new service provide?
The Fire Gateway – www.fire.gov.uk – which can also be accessed from the county council’s own website – www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/fireandrescueservice allows users to:

OXFORDSHIRE Highways is set to have 60 of the vehicles that help clean and repair roads running on environmentally-friendly biofuels by the end of the year.

Already there are eight gully cleaners and seven other vehicles running on alternative fuels which are made by processing resources such as corn, sugar, and soya and palm oil.

Oxfordshire Highways is made up of Oxfordshire County Council and contractors Accord and Jacobs.
The intention is to reduce Oxfordshire Highways’ carbon footprint. (Carbon footprinting is a way of measuring how much carbon we emit as individuals or organisations. Carbon dioxide is one of the greenhouse gases responsible for climate change.)

Tests have already shown that the converted vehicles are 10p a gallon cheaper to run in terms of fuel consumption than diesel, and can cut vehicles emissions by over 80 per cent.

Oxfordshire County Council has says that it has set aside a total of

THE famous fictional painting, which became a running joke in the TV Sit Com, “Allo, Allo”, is to be auctioned for charity by a Thame Production Designer involved in the series.
See Link to story

A LOCAL self-confessed ‘quiz Junkie’ from Thame has raised over

THE county council has made indexes for thousands of obituaries and newspaper articles now available online.
Local and family historians searching the archives for references to anyone from Winston Churchill to poor John Bartlett who fell down Oxford Castle Well in 1813, can now do so from the comfort of their own home.
Oxfordshire County Council has just put its indexes for thousands of obituaries and newspaper articles about people and business online at www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/heritagesearch.

People consulting the online indexes can either see the actual articles at Oxfordshire Studies in Oxford Central Library or order copies of them online. They cannot view the actual articles on line.