Category: More News

A GROUP from Thame’s Twinning Association will visit Montesson this weekend, to sell Christmas fayre and decorations at Montesson’s annual Christmas market.
The group of eight, including the Mayor, Nigel Champken-Woods, will sell, among other things, Christmas puddings, candles, tree decorations, Christmas cards and Christmas crackers, a rare comodity in France and teddy bear jumpers and waistcoats, hand knitted by the Thame Twin Sets, the local ‘Stitch and Bitch’ Group who meet weekly at the Six Bells in Thame.
The following weekend, December 1 and 2, a group of Montesson residents will return to Thame for the second year running, to sell their produce in our town, as part of the Christmas weekend.
As well as the hot pancakes that proved so popular last year, they will be bringing jam, wine, cognac and possibly olive oil.

Photo: Memories of last year’s Christmas market in Thame’s twin town, Montesson.

LOCAL children have, for the first time, been given the opportunity to make a difference in areas like education, leisure, health and family support.
A group of teenagers will join County Council Cabinet Member, Cllr Louise Chapman, to launch the Oxfordshire Children and Young People?s Plan on Thursday, November 23.
A new website, that will make it easier for parents and professionals to find out about key support services and activities for children in their local area, will also be unveiled – www.oxfordshireservicesdirectory.org.uk

Following the launch, around fifty youngsters will be taking part in the first Children and Young People?s Involvement Network meeting to talk about one of the many key issues set out in the Plan: reducing the number of teenage pregnancies in Oxfordshire.

Teenage pregnancy rates are below the national average in Oxfordshire and are declining, but are still high in some parts of the county.

Professionals from key organisations that have teamed up to implement the Plan will join in the discussion that will focus on sexual health, relationships and contraception.

Councillor Louise Chapman, the county council?s Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Families, said: “It is really important that children and young people are closely involved in planning their services and that we listen and act on their proposals.
“They have played a vital role in developing the Children and Young People?s Plan and we will continue to work together to ensure services match their needs.
“The meeting about sexual health and teenage pregnancy shows the Plan in action, that we are involving young people themselves in tackling these issues.”

The Oxfordshire Children and Young People?s Plan can be found on the county council website at www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/cypp http://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/cypp

THE Royal British Legion have extended their thanks to all who made donations to this year’s Poppy Appeal
in Thame and the surrounding villages, which raised

AN exhibition beginning this weekend in Thame will show people how to ‘read’ historic building for clues about how people lived in the past.
Discovering Oxfordshire Buildings will demonstate how to begin recording buildings such as houses, farms, places of worship, public buildings etc.
The exhibition will run every weekend from this coming Saturday, November 11, until January 18, 2007.

FREE ADMISSION – Thame Museum, 79 Lower High Street.

Saturdays: 10am to 4pm, Sundays: 12am to 4pm.

CHRISTMAS Shopping Open Day at the Aga Shop, Thame, on Saturday 18th November 11.00am – 4.00pm, featuring:
SAVE 10% on the Aga Cook Shop Collection range on the day; FREE PRIZE DRAW: Win a fantastic KitchenAid mixer worth

SOUTH Oxfordshire District Council is providing free parking in all its Pay and Display car parks in the run up to Christmas.
From Saturday, December 2, running up to Christmas, to encourage people to shop locally, the district council will not charge for parking in its car parks from 12 noon onwards.
The council owns two Pay and Display Car Parks in Thame, the Southern Road Car Park behind the Co Op Supermarket and the Cattlemarket Car Park in North Street.
District Cllr David Dodds, Cabinet Member with responsibility for car parks, said: “I am very pleased that the Council is able to give this boost to the local economy by providing these free parking periods. We have listened to local traders and I believe this will encourage people to visit and shop in our market towns.”

THE County Council is responding to the increasing popularity of scooters among school pupils by installing appropriate parking facilities at schools across the county.
Oxfordshire County Council say: “Scootering is a fun and healthy way to travel to school and gives pupils exercise, which has been proven to increase concentration and memory.
“Scootering to school is also environmentally friendly, as it can cut down on unnecessary car journeys, which in turn eases congestion.

“Eight schools in Oxfordshire have recently benefited from the installation of specially designed scooter parking. The schools are Eynsham Community Primary School, St Swithuns Primary School, Oxford, Manor School, Didcot, RAF Benson Community Primary School, Faringdon Junior School, Wheatley Primary School, North Kidlington Primary School, St John the Evangelist, Carterton.

“By early next year, 200 new scooter parking places will have been installed in further schools across the county.

“One of the schools to benefit, Faringdon Junior School, has had 40 scooter parking places installed.

“Head teacher Paul Turner said: ?It?s great for the school to have a scooter park as coming to school on a scooter gets children into good habits about travelling short distances, without relying on polluting cars?.

“Scooter parking is relatively cheap and easy to install, and is ideal for smaller schools, as it can fit into small areas.

“The scooter parking being installed in schools across Oxfordshire has been funded by Oxfordshire County Council?s Better Ways to School Programme. For 2007, scooter parking will be part of the County Councils ?fast track? scheme, meaning it will normally be deliverable to schools with a School Travel Plan (STP) within a month.

“An STP identifies the potential for replacing car-travel to school with healthy and safe walking, cycling and bus travel. A total of 139 Schools in Oxfordshire now have an approved STP and are able to qualify for this funding.

“Producing an STP also entitles maintained schools to a Small Capital Grant (SCG), which can be used for on-site improvements, such as scooter & cycle parking that encourages sustainable travel to school.

“Currently

PLANS to extend the Old Trout restaurant in Thame, and build an extension to the kitchen, have been turned down by district council planning officers.
The proposals to alter what is a listed building, did not meet with the approval of the town council’s planning committee earlier in the month, and were the subject of an objection by a close neighbour who feared “the nuisance of disagreeable smells” from a proposed extraction unit close to windows of his own property.

Other Thame planning decisions made under the delegated powers of planning officers, include approval of the conversion of the shop at 11-12 High Street (formerly My Favourite Things), an extension of Corner Cottage, Bell Lane, Thame and the approval of seven illuminated signs to the new Thame Ford showroom in Rycote Lane.

OXFORDSHIRE County Council has welcomed the government?s blueprint for the future of local government, and today issued the following statement:
“Oxfordshire County Council has welcomed a government blueprint setting out the future of local government in England that calls for councils to work ever more closely with the communities they represent.
“Councillor Keith Mitchell, the leader of the council, said: ?This White Paper appears to be making the right noises about local decisions being better than national decisions. It certainly seems to be a step in the right direction.
“If it means we can get on with the job of delivering better quality services to the people of Oxfordshire through working more closely with our district council colleagues that?s got to be good. We must all engage more because local services need to orbit around local communities rather than the other way around.
“Our aim has long been to work better with our five district councils and find imaginative ways of doing that. Value for money, efficiency and high quality services must be the aim of everyone. Complacency is not an option.”

“The White Paper also proposes more mayors, and powers for councils to bring in bylaws without government permission, but it does not call for widespread changes to local government structures across England and Wales.
“Instead it says councils ‘may seek’ to restructure local government in shire counties if that is the best option. Oxford is one of four historic cities ? the others are Norwich, Ipswich and Exeter – that have expressed a wish to achieve unitary council status in preference to the current two-tier structure.

THAME town council’s planning committee will be considering a planning application to relocate the town’s cattle market and associated proposals, at a special meeting tonight. (Enter ‘cattle market’ in Search for all news stories relating to this subject)
The meeting, which is open to the public, will be at 6.30pm in the council chamber.

The application has been submitted by R G Williams Ltd, and includes the development of an agricultural business centre, car parking and a new access to the Thame Show Ground in Kingsey Road, Thame.

This application has caused much interest in the town, particularly by those hoping that some sort of new community facility might be built on the cattle market site, if it were to be vacated.