Category: More News

THE leaders of South Oxfordshire and the Vale of White Horse District Councils have agreed to work together to explore the possibility of creating a single, unitary council covering the whole of southern Oxfordshire.
See full announcement
on SODC’s website.

A day-long celebration is to take place to mark the amazing contribution to our community made by thousands of people who give their voluntary time. People who volunteer in charity shops, or campaign for change, or care about the environment, or give advice and support, or help the disabled; there are so many of them, and we want to say ‘Thank You’ to them.

The event, on Saturday,June 3, at Thame Town Hall, will include the following:

? At 10am, the doors open; many organisations will be presenting their work on stalls in the Council Chamber.
? At 11am, Thame?s Volunteer Point will be launched. The Volunteer Point brings together people seeking volunteering opportunities and organisations needing volunteers. The Point will be in the One Stop Shop in the Town Hall and Keith Slater, Chair of the organisers, 21st Century Thame Partnership, will declare it open.
? At 12pm, the Town Mayor, accompanied by Keith Slater, will present certificates to volunteers nominated by their organisations.
? Throughout the day, Lord Williams Lower School will entertain with drama scenes.
? A WI Coffee shop will be open all day offering light refreshments.

Don?t miss this opportunity to say a big Thank You to all those who give their voluntary time to ensure our community is a caring, better, and happier place.

PUPILS at Barley Hill school having been learning about making healthy choices in their lives, around diet, alcohol and drugs, with the help of a puppet called Harold, and a manekin called Tam.
TAM stands for Transparent Anotomical Manekin, whose vital organs light up at the touch of a button.
The Life Learning mobile classroom is a charity supported by the Thame Rotary Club and Thame Town Council, and both Des Wright from Thame Rotary and the Thame Mayor, Cllr David Laver, were at Barley Hill school on Friday to meet the children and ‘Harold’.
The Life Classroom has visited all the Thame Primary schools and supports their work on teaching children about the pressures and choices they will face as they grow up, with presentations and lessons at different stages of their school life.

TWO men hanged for murder on the basis of dodgy evidence that would not convince even the most credulous of television policemen;
an investigation into the sometimes murky past life of Haddenham by one of those policemen; a probe into the finances of the former mistress of one of England?s greatest painters ? and some guesses at how the place came to be known as ?Silly? Haddenham.
Those are just a few of the surprises in store for the residents of Buckinghamshire?s largest village, in the first of a new series of booklets of local history to be published on Monday (May 22), by the the Haddenham Museum Trust.
Called ?The Haddenham Chronicles?, and priced at

THE Planning committee of Thame Town Council will meet tomorrow, (Tuesday, May 16) at 6.30pm, and the plans under discussion will include an amended plan for the demolition of the Essex House Hotel and the building of two, 2.5 storey apartment blocks in its place.
A previous, similar application was recently rejected by South Oxfordshire District Council on the following grounds:

“That having regard to the size, height, bulk, massing and detailing of the proposed two apartment buildings and to their siting adjacent to the footpath in Cotmore Gardens and in close proximity to Bridge Terrace, the proposal would appear prominent, intrusive and out of keeping with the character of the area and would detract from the modest character of Bridge Terrace. In addition the proposal would result in the permanent loss of Essex House Hotel which is considered to be an important landmark building of local historic interest that should be retained.”

The previous plan had met with the disapproval of Thame Town Council who subsequently applied to have the building and the ex-railway workers’ cottages in Bridge Terrace, included in the Thame Conservation Area, but was turned down by English Heritage.
A letter to Tessa Jowell, the then Minister responsible for Heritage, was then sent by the town council appealing against that decision.

NB The committee will also be discussing plans submitted by The Steamer Trading Company, who are taking over David Healey’s furniture shop from the end of the month, to erect a single storey rear extension, remove a tree, make internal alterations, provide a new shop front and erect new signage.

FARMERS are being warned that laws on how they are allowed to dispose of waste are about to be tightened up.
From May 15, farmers will no longer be able to burn any waste in the open, apart from crop residues. They will not be able to bury any kind of waste on their land.

Farmers have 12 months to comply with a wide range of waste regulations when dealing with their waste. Farmers should call the Environment Agency on 08708 506506 if they need any advice about these new regulations.

Some farms may decide to provide waste bulking or waste treatment facilities for other farmers and, as well as needing a waste management licence, will need planning permission from Oxfordshire County Council.

Cllr Roger Belson, Oxfordshire County Council?s Cabinet Member for Sustainable Development, said: ?We are all having to think more carefully about our environment and part of this is the need to dispose of waste responsibly.
?Waste is getting more and more expensive to dispose of and the county council has the responsibility to recycle or treat household waste in the county. However, I am concerned that the increased cost of dealing with waste could lead to some of it ending up being burned or dumped out of sight in the countryside.?

Mark Leonard, Waste Enforcement Officer for Oxfordshire County Council, added: ?Now that farm waste is covered by the same law as other waste, it will mean that illegal dumping will be easier to investigate.
?In the past you had to prove the waste came from a household or an industrial or commercial source. Now all you need to do is prove who committed the crime.
?This means that it will be easier to investigate fly-tipping as well as illegal waste dumping or illegal waste businesses operating on private land. You only need to prove who is responsible for illegally dumping, sorting, burning or burying waste.?

TETSWORTH Primary School pupils are to share their success with local MP, Boris Johnson in a special presentation at the school, near Thame, tomorrow, Friday, May 12.
The MP will be presenting the school energy team with three certificates ? one of which is numbered 001 and is the only one of its kind in the country.
In return the MP will receive presents from the children ? an energy efficient light bulb and a copy of the School Travel Plan.

The unique certificate is for achieving Level 2 of the Energy Savings Trust?s (EST) Energy School Certification for Schools scheme.

The school has been part of an Oxfordshire County Council-funded energy education project for three years. This has allowed them to work with Wendy Cheeseman, Schools Energy Advisor for business consultants Atkins.

At the presentation the school will also receive EST level 1 and the Eco School silver award.

County Council Energy Manager, Darrell Marchand, who organised funding for the project, will attend the event. Darrell said: ?This is great achievement and it is good to know that the first school to receive this award is in Oxfordshire.?

Teacher Alison Turton said: ?We have done a lot of work on energy-saving in school and have reduced our bills as a result. The work has fitted in well with the curriculum and includes in-putting meter readings into Excel spreadsheets during ICT and Maths lessons.?

A RACE night is to be held to raise funds for the Martin Gadd Trust.
The Race Night, the latest in a series of events to raise funds for Thame student, Martin Gadd (or ‘Gadget’ as he is known to his friends), is being organised by Thame and District Lions Club.
Martin was paralysed three months ago, after a tragic fall.
To sponsor a race or a horse, or to order tickets, contact John Wilkins on 01494 481394, or call in at Glynswood of Thame in the High Street.

THAME may soon have its very own fishing pond, if proposals put forward by Lord Williams?s school and the town council go ahead.
A representative of the school, which is the only one in the country to offer a BTEC in Angling, has met with the Town Clerk, Helen Steward, at the site in Oxford Road, currently owned by Berkeley Homes, and the idea has been endorsed by the town council.
The Clerk told members of the Culture, Leisure and Recreation committee last night, that angling has a massive effect on children with difficult behaviour, and that currently students from Lord Williams?s have to travel to Datchet to practice their skills.
A representative from the Environment Agency had also been to the site in Thame and told the Clerk that a Development grant of

A Christian Aid Week Lunch will be held at Christchurch, Thame, on Sunday,May 21.
The frugal soup lunch, to mark the end of Christian Aid Week, will be held at Mid-day.
Jenny Ayres, Christian Aid coordinator from the Oxford office, will be the guest speaker. Anyone interested in knowing about the work of Christian Aid is most welcome to come. Donations will go to Christian Aid.