Category: More News

THERE have been reports on social media today of several caravans having arrived at Thame Show Ground, following a booking made from what was believed to be at the time, a Christian group.

The booking was apparently taken by the Thame Agricultural Association, which owns the land, in good faith.

Many of the Facebook posts are, rightly or wrongly, linking the event to gypsies and speculate about a link to an increase in reported thefts in the area and a police warning to lock away valuables and to keep them out of sight.

It must be stressed that the police have made no such connection publicly and so far, there is no evidence of a connection.

However, published on a local website, a statement, which addresses itself as ‘WE (The Thame Agricultural Society)’ states that it was contacted by the organisers of The Darlington Christian Fellowship Group to book for their annual meeting. Contracts were apparently signed and toilets booked and paid for, all – the TAS thought, was above board.

“But,” goes on the statement, “the showground has been invaded by approximately 5000, believed to be, Gypsies. They had booked the showground from now (Friday, August 4) until Thursday, and paid for in full.

“It’s a total nightmare. They are cutting down the trees on the showground; it’s carnage up there, and the police are on site in force.”

David Jones Boyd defended the visitors, posting on facebook:  “Just would like to say that the field will be getting cleaned on a regular basis then on the last day you wouldn’t be able to find a match stick, these people are here to worship god, I myself am not a Christian but I know how these people are and I can tell you that you will never find a kinder people or more hospitable.

“I will admit we are a loud people but we do mean well; everyone is more than welcome to come on to the field and enjoy the meetings and see for yourself.”

It was not clear at the time of writing whether any incident was on-going or had been resolved.

THAME Town Council is getting tough over unauthorised ‘fly posting’ around the town, and on unauthorised structures, such as A boards, table and chairs, and bins that may be a danger to the vulnerable such as the elderly or people with impaired eye-sight.

In response to recent concerns raised about obstructions on some of the town’s pavements, including bins and tables and chairs, the council has now adopted a Promotional Signs Policy and a Structures on the Highway policy.

Although the council has produced the latter policy: “.. to set acceptable standards for the placing of structures within the highways 30mph speed restriction boundary of Thame,” it says that it wishes to encourage ‘the economic viability of the town’ but that this has to be balanced against statutory legal obligations and ‘equality of treatment to members of the public’.

However, the council states in its Policy that it recognises that some discretion is needed within the town centre with regards to business signage eg A Boards, displayed goods, objects and structures including bins, planters, tables and chairs, musical instruments and temporary trading stands.

At a recent meeting of the council’s Policy and Resources committee, when the policies were ratified, Cllr Nichola Dixon expressed particular concern over the number of ‘A’ boards often placed outside the entrance to Swan Walk, in Upper High Street, Thame.

The full criteria, standards and Enforcement procedures set out in the two policies, can be read at the following location, item 15: LINK HERE

A Working Group, made up of Thame Town Councillors and healthcare partners, has been assessing the future needs and deficiencies in health provision in Thame and has now come up with a vision for a new, integrated community and well-being centre in Thame.

The group, Chaired by Cllr Nigel Champken Woods, has looked at the physical, social and psychological needs of patients, and its aspirations include:

 Relocation of existing GP practices (Rycote and Trinity Health) from Thame Health Centre to a purpose built facility
 Expansion of consulting space to ensure adequate sized and equipped rooms to deliver core primary care and added value services
 Co-location of additional primary care services such as district nurses, social services and other community healthcare professionals

The aim is for a ‘Genuine Cross Agency Community Facility providing a focal point for well-being in Thame’.

Discussions have been held with several landowners and with interested parties such as Thame East Residents Association, but no site has yet been decided upon. The Cattlemarket was mentioned as a possible site for such a Hub in the Thame Neighbourhood Plan as part of a mixed development, but that location has since been deemed too small to include such a facility.

READ the complete report HERE (item 11c)

Death of Eric Gladwin – Thame.Net was sad to hear of the death of Eric Gladwin, late of Ludsden Grove, Thame. Eric was a poet and thinker and sang for many years with both Thame Choral Society and Lord Williams’s Festival Chorus. He was a pioneer of the Hiring industry, establishing Helpful Hirings in 1963. Eric’s funeral will be held on August 1, 2017, at 12 mid-day at St Mary’s church in Thame.

CCTV could be used to catch dog fouling – Thame Town Council is to approach the authorities to see if CCTV footage can be used to identify the owners of dogs who are allowed to foul the pavement – a particular increase of which has been identified in the Upper High Street, Thame.

Noise Patrols to be carried out at Thame Fair – These will be carried out throughout the period of Thame Fair, September 20-23, 2017, by Thame Town Councillors and officers, to ensure that the noise levels throughout the event do not exceed permitted levels, agreed with the Showmen’s Guild. Following the terrorist attacks in London and other European cities recently, extra barriers are to be erected to protect against similar incidents. Also, additional precautions have been added to the town council’s security plans for the fair, to incorporate emergency evacuation locations outside of the road closure areas, and a process for caring for vulnerable persons.

New solar powered Pay and Display machines at car parks – These are being installed at SODC car parks from next week. Payment will be able to be made by credit or debit card as well as coins, including the new £1. Old £1 coins will continue to be used until they go out of circulation on October 15. Payment will also be possible using a mobile phone via the Connect Cashless system. When using the new machines, you will need to type in your vehicle registration on the key pad before payment is made.

The machines will be powered by solar panels, making them more environmentally friendly. SODC operated car parks in Thame are those at the Cattlemarket and Southern Road Recreation Ground.

New waste and recycling trucks – New waste and recycling trucks are being introduced across the district in the autumn to replace old vehicles that have become unreliable.

Skatepark Summer Jam – This year’s Thame Skatepark Summer Jam, will run from 11am – 5pm on Sunday. August 6. There will be jam style competitions, prizes, music, food, and all round good times. Stay up to date via the Thame Skatepark Project Group on Facebook.

Affordable and shared ownership housing – A number of rented and shared ownership homes will be available from spring 2018, at new housing developments in Wheatley and Great Haseley for people with a local connection. Find out more on our Homechoice website HERE

Shared ownership schemes are also available to help you purchase a home. Find out more on the Help to Buy website

Black Horse Pub Planning approved – Planning permissions for various alterations and works at the Black Horse Pub in Thame, have been granted, making it more likely that the establishment will be taken over by The White Brasserie Co Ltd, in which Raymond Blanc has an interest. See LINK

New burial ground to be consecrated – This formal ceremony will be carried out sometime in October 2017, so that burials can begin to take place at the former allotments site at Priest End,  in 2018. The site is expected to provide space for burials for a period of up to ten years.

Hedge lowered at Skate Park for easier observation by police – Thame Town Council has reduced the height of hedging at the Skate Park, at the request of the police, to allow easier observation from the road, in an effort to deter anti-social behaviour there.

THAME’S new Town Flag was officially hoisted this morning by the flag’s designer, Hazel Mann who was joined by the Mayor of Thame, Cllr Tom Wyse, and town councillors.

Hazel, whose design was chosen out of 33 entries in a recent community competition, was presented with a bouquet of flowers.

The flag incorporates the Town Council’s colours with part of the town’s emblem on the left hand side, and three waves, which signify the countryside, the Phoenix Trail and the River Thame, on the right hand side.

The town emblem on the flag is a simplified version, similar to the Town Council logo, and features the double transverse cross with a wheatsheaf to the left and a pair of wool shears to the right.

A popular school secretary at Lord Williams’s School, in Thame, has retired after 34 years of dedicated service.

On Friday, July 14, the school held a retirement party for Pam Cockton. Mrs Cockton joined the school in July 1983 as School Secretary at Lower School West, which was then located on the Oxford Road site. In 1995 Lower School East and West were combined and Mrs Cockton became Lower School Office Team Leader at the Towersey Road site.

“We estimate she has cared for 5,240 children in her time here,” said Dawn Armitage, Lord Williams’s School Manager. “She has located lost property, supported parents, typed thousands of letters and cared for sick and injured children. Mrs Cockton knows everyone and greets parents, staff and students with a wide smile and cheery welcome.

“We would like to thank everyone who has sent in cards and gifts to Mrs Cockton. We will all miss Pam but wish her well for a very well deserved retirement. “

RESIDENTS in South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse can now use plastic bags to line their food waste bins and caddies.

Food waste is collected every week and taken to Agrivert’s anaerobic digestion plant near Wallingford to be recycled into gas for electricity and fertiliser for local farmland.

The processing plant is now able to accept thin plastic bags, such as carrier bags, bread bags, paper wrappings, or normal pedal bin liners. Residents can also continue to use compostable bags or newspapers to line their caddies and bins, or put food straight in without any liner.

Any bags used as liners will be removed at the processing plant and sent to an Energy Recovery Facility to be turned into energy.

Cllr Tony Harbour, Cabinet Member for Waste at South Oxfordshire District Council, said: “We know that compostable bags can be expensive and easily tear, so it’s great news that the processing plant can now take plastic bags.

“We are very grateful to our residents for their efforts in recycling – which have helped our district to achieve the highest recycling rates in the country. We are always looking for opportunities to work with our partners to improve services for our residents and this is a good example of this.”

Cllr Charlotte Dickson, Cabinet Member for Waste, said: “We want to make recycling as easy as possible for our residents, so we very much welcome the extra option of using plastic bags as caddy liners.

“We are one of the top recyclers in the country, but we still throw away a significant amount of food waste, with a recent review showing that around 30 per cent of the waste put out in the grey rubbish bins was food waste that could have been recycled. We would like to encourage everyone to use their food waste bins and thank all those that already do – it makes a real difference.”

All cooked and uncooked food can be put into food waste bins. Residents are advised that plastic retail packaging, or anything other than food waste, should not be put in. For example, bacon should be removed from its plastic packet and fruit taken out of punnets.

During 2016/17, 10,024 tonnes of food waste was collected and sent for recycling in South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse.

For further information about food waste recycling and other household waste and recycling collections, see the councils’ websites: www.southoxon.gov.uk/waste and www.whitehorsedc.gov.uk/waste or call 03000 610610.

DUNCAN Keeley was a GP Partner at The Rycote Practice in Thame, for nearly 25 years before retiring in December of last year. Since then, he has been reflecting on his two and half decades working within a changing NHS, and has agreed to share his thoughts with Thame.Net – and he doesn’t pull any punches!

“WHEN I left the Rycote Practice in December I had been working in the NHS for 37 years and working here for nearly 25 years. It’s a strange experience, saying goodbye to people you have looked after for a long time and I am very grateful to my patients. Our patients look after us well here.

“In 1991 I was a partner in London, but when my wife’s job moved to Aylesbury I needed to find a practice nearby. It has been an enormous privilege to be part of a caring & supportive team that provides, I think, excellent care for patients. Much has changed since 1992. Our health centre buildings have been redeveloped & upgraded three times. Our team of nurses, healthcare assistants & administrators has grown in number, and their expertise and their role in patient care have developed enormously. We have taken on a steadily increasing amount of the outpatient medical care that used to be done in hospitals – and do this work to a high standard.”

What are the challenges for the NHS & for the practice?

“Doctors differ in their views on what the major problems are but these are my thoughts. Health care funding in the UK remains low by international standards, and the share of NHS funding going to patient care in general practice has fallen in the last 10 years – while our workload has increased. This is exactly the opposite of what is needed if more care is going to be done closer to home.

“In 2004 general practitioners lost the duty to organise care for their patients outside normal working hours. Responsibility for this grave mistake was shared between government and the GPs. Things could not have continued as they were, but the change was badly handled & has never been put right. Better investment in out-of-hours urgent primary care is badly needed. Growth in the size of primary care teams & the increase in part time working by doctors has reduced continuity of care. Continuity of care is better for both patients and doctors. Repeatedly, poorly thought out re-organisations of the health service by governments of all political parties have wasted money and energy over and over again. The biggest problem is the foolish notion that the NHS would work better as a patchwork of competing private businesses. This has been far too influential and now threatens the NHS itself. Co-operation is better than competition in the provision of health services.

“I believe that the Rycote Practice has handled these challenges as well as any practice I know. We have managed to keep the atmosphere of care and mutual support among colleagues that I appreciated so much when I came here. We have an excellent team and growing support from our patient participation group and the wider community. At a time of difficulty in recruitment we continue to attract great people to work with us. We play a major role in training the medical students and GPs of the future.

“I hope and trust that the Rycote Practice will continue to provide great care for the people of Thame. I hope it will continue to defend the founding principles of the NHS – they need defending. And I hope that a young GP starting out now will in 25 years look back on their career with as much pleasure as I do mine.”

THE award-winning presenter, broadcaster and journalist Jeremy Vine will be visiting the Thame Arts and Literature Festival (TAL) this year to entertain visitors to the festival with a presentation about his book What I Learnt, described as ‘The insider’s account of today’s BBC.”

Due to his very heavy schedule, Jeremy has made time to visit Thame on Wednesday, October 11, at 7pm – a day earlier than the festival’s published start. “We’re thrilled,” said Yvonne as Maxwell, Founder of TAL. “We know his talk will make a great opening event to our eighth annual TAL Festival.”

Jeremy Vine is best known for his own BBC Radio 2 programme and as the host of TV’s quiz show, Eggheads, plus, of course, his infamous Strictly Come Dancing moves and election specials.

‘There aint nothin like a Dame’ as the song goes and another exciting event and guaranteed sell-out, will be Dame Jenni Murray, journalist, author and broadcaster, best known for presenting BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour since 1987. She’ll be in conversation about her latest book, A History of Britain in 21 Women, A Personal Selection.

As it says on TAL’s latest News letter, ‘If you add into the mix other well-known names coming to Thame, such as Charles Spencer, Mike Read, DJ and all-round expert in pop music, and actor Ray Brooks, this year’s TAL Festival looks like shaping up to be another wonderful occasion.’

From journalists and playwrights to art historians, biographers, actors and crime writers, with so many interesting speakers and inspiring events are on offer this year, promising a real treat whatever your age.

Tickets go on sale from August 1, so make a note of your favourite events now by checking the TAL Festival programme 2017 on the website HERE – and get ready to book!

THE funeral of popular local butcher, Chris Wren, took place yesterday, Thursday, July 13, at Ludgershall church.

Chris, who lived at Brill and ran the butcher’s shop in Buttermarket, Thame, was officially recognised for his good-natured service and helpfulness, when he was voted for by the public, to receive the ‘Service with a Smile’ award at last May’s Thame Town Awards, held at the Barns Centre.

Chris’s death came at the end of an 11 year battle with cancer.