Category: More News

THE Oxfordshire Cycling Network (OCN) has launched its vision of a future Strategic Cycle Network for Oxfordshire, which it believes could bring £112 million a year in health and travel time benefits to the county, by linking the major towns, workplaces and transport hubs with safe, direct and attractive cycle routes.

“Our vision is that people of all abilities can choose to cycle anywhere, feeling safe and comfortable,” said Robin Tucker, Chair of OCN. The only proven way to achieve this is to have high quality routes linking places that people want to go.”

“All ages, all abilities. These are the four As of best-practice standards for cycling. The Netherlands, Germany, Denmark – and even Cambridge – have shown that this works. Now let’s bring similar 4A benefits to Oxfordshire,” said Simon Hunt, Chair of Cyclox.

“The 366-mile network would bring huge economic and health benefits to Oxfordshire people, whether or not they cycle. The first gain is improved health, because people who cycle live longer and are healthier, removing a cost burden from the health services. Secondly, switching from cars to bikes cuts air pollution, increasingly recognised as killer in urban environments. The third benefit is shorter journey times, both by reducing congestion on the roads and because cycling is simply quicker for short journeys – everyone wins. Robin notes, “Instead of stop-starting in traffic jams, fretting about where to park, I can bike the five miles from home to Abingdon more quickly and more
predictably.  Plus, I will have done my exercise for the day.”

All ages, all abilities means routes similar to Dutch or German standards. Smooth tarmac, at least three metres wide and separated from busy roads by a green verge. In town, cycle tracks would be separated from both pedestrians and motor vehicles, and would continue across junctions.

OCN calculates that increasing cycling to 10% of journeys1 in the county compared to 3% today is worth £112 million per year in health and journey time benefits2.

“There will be other benefits too”, says Kevin Wilkinson, Chair of workplace cycling group HarBUG. “Cyclists spend more in local shops and cycling links attract businesses, employees and tourists to a location.”

You can read more HERE including a map of the proposed network, which includes Thame.

THOMLEY Activity Centre, based at Worminghall near Thame, has been awarded part of £1 million grant funding for community groups, charities and support organisation across the district.

South Oxfordshire District Council, which has awarded the funding, intends the money to help ensure that important services such as support for disabled people, carers, and the elderly can continue to be available locally for South Oxfordshire residents.

The revenue grant funding will help groups to pay for things such as salary costs, rent and rates, marketing and publicity, and transport and utility costs. The groups receiving funding are:

Thomley Activity Centre – £97,500
Age UK Oxfordshire – £93,289
Berinsfield Information and Volunteer Centre – £56,814
Community First Oxfordshire – £74,250
FISH Volunteer Centre – £12,000
Home-Start Southern Oxfordshire – £66,706
My Life My Choice – £16,840
Nomad Youth & Community Project – £80,000
Oxfordshire Association for the Blind – £25,000
Oxfordshire Sexual Abuse & Rape Crisis Centre – £52,500
Riverside Counselling Service – £65,000
South & Vale Carers Centre – £83,508
South Oxfordshire Food and Education Alliance – £94,000
Style Acre – £66,000
The Chiltern Centre for Disabled Children – £100,000
TRAIN – £79,297

Cllr Elizabeth Gillespie, Cabinet Member for Grants at South Oxfordshire District Council, said: “As a council we are delighted to still in be a position to offer this significant funding to these organisations. They all play a vital role in providing support services to many people across the South Oxfordshire community and this funding will help to ensure that residents will continue to benefit from these services over the coming years.”

Grant Hayward of Collaborent, who assisted council officers with workshops for the grants application process, said “Not only is it good to see the financial commitment from South Oxfordshire District Council, but I have been really impressed with the range of support it has provided to these charities and groups in helping them explore new opportunities of becoming more sustainable and less dependent upon grant funding.”

The council’s grants officers will work with these organisations to ensure spending is appropriate over the four year grant period.

Community groups in South Oxfordshire looking to improve their facilities, such as carrying out building improvements, can now apply for Capital Grant – for more information visit www.southoxon.gov.uk/grants.

PASSENGERS travelling on Chiltern Railways at around 5pm yesterday, were surprised to find their train halted at Haddenham and Thame parkway, and the train boarded by police officers.

A 23 year-old man, who had assaulted the guard in one of the carriages, was then tackled by several officers and arrested .

A statement by British Transport Police stated: “We were called to Haddenham and Thame Parkway station shortly after 5pm on Saturday, 18 March, following reports of an assault on a train guard.

“Our officers attended and a 23 year-old man was arrested at the scene on suspicion of ABH and is currently in custody awaiting interview.”

Reports in the media on-line about the man being in possession of a knife, and trying to enter the driver’s cab, have not been confirmed by the police.

An Indian restaurant has been temporarily stopped from using a food storage area and cellar after Environmental Health Officers found evidence of rat activity.

Officers from South Oxfordshire District Council visited The Star and Garter, in Wellington St, Thame, on Thursday, March 9, to carry out an unannounced routine food hygiene inspection. During the inspection the officers found rat droppings and clear damage to the structure of the rear storage area and cellar.

To prevent the restaurant using the storage area and cellar until the problem had been resolved, and sufficient measures taken to prevent it from happening in the future, the officers served a Hygiene Emergency Prohibition Notice.

The Environmental Health Officers visited the premises again on Monday, March 13, and were satisfied that the business had taken steps to remove the risk to the public by carrying out necessary improvements. As a result, they issued a certificate allowing the restaurant to operate as normal.

On Tuesday, March 14, Oxford Magistrates’ endorsed the decision to issue the prohibition notice, agreeing that there had been an imminent risk to peoples’ health. The Star and Garter was also ordered to pay the council’s £1,443 costs.

South Oxfordshire District Council continues to work with the business to help it improve its compliance with food safety and hygiene requirements.

Cllr Tony Harbour, Cabinet Member for Food and Safety at South Oxfordshire District Council, said: “Food premises have an obligation to ensure they protect against potential pest problems. If they fail to do this they could put customers’ health at risk and we would have no alternative but to take immediate action.”

SOURCE: Press release from South Oxfordshire District Council

SOUTH Oxfordshire District Council will shortly launch a public consultation on its draft plan to meet future needs for housing and employment in the district.

Its new Local Plan will explain where, and why, it considers new houses and employment should be located up until the year 2033. The draft plan will also explain how the district council will raise money to provide infrastructure for things like roads, schools, leisure centres, parks and shops.

The draft plan is expected to include SODC’s preferred option for additional employment land in Thame, new convenience food retail space in Thame of up to 1,500m2, and an additional 600 new homes. The draft plan is also expected to support the proposal for the Cattle Market site, identified in the Thame neighbourhood Plan for a mixed-use redevelopment to include retail and other town centres uses. This allocation specifically excludes a foodstore. It will also propose that a review of the Thame’s Neighbourhood Plan should consider whether a small-format foodstore would be appropriate in this location to meet the need for additional convenience floorspace in the town.

You can read the draft Local Plan on SODC’s website from Wednesday, March 29, at www.southoxon.gov.uk/localplan. You’ll also be able to find out more information about the plan, including details on how to provide your feedback. Paper copies of the plan will be available at libraries across the district as well as at SODC’s office during usual opening hours.

The Local Plan will be available for you to comment on for seven weeks until May 17m 2017. The standard consultation period has been extended by one week to allow for the Easter holiday.

SODC will also be holding a series of drop-in events for the public to go to and view the plans for themselves and to ask any questions they may have about the plan. These drop-in events will be held at:

 Didcot – Cornerstone, 1pm – 7pm on Wednesday, April 5, 2017
 Wallingford – Regal Centre, 3pm – 7pm on Friday, April 7, 2017
 Thame – Barns Centre, 10am – 4pm on Saturday, April 8, 2017
 Henley – The Christ Church Centre, 10am – 4pm on Saturday, April 22, 2017

For more information, email SODC’s Planning department via policy@southoxon.gov.uk or call 01235 422600.

DID you know that around 2.25m pieces of litter are dropped on the streets of the UK every day? Thirty million tonnes of rubbish are collected from England’s streets each year and it costs councils more than £1bn a year to clean up?

We can all do our bit to help bring this figure down. Saturday, March 25, is an important day in the local calendar because it’s time for the annual Thame Tidy and Moreton Muck-Out Day. Rosemary Bryant, organiser on behalf of 21st Century Thame, said: “We need as many people as possible to come along to the Town Hall on the day and help us tidy Thame and Moreton. Anyone can join in – young or old, individuals or groups; families welcome. Just come along any time between 10 am and 3 pm and collect litter pickers, hi-vis jackets, recycling and rubbish bags from the Thame Lions gazebo outside the Town Hall and get litter-picking!”

Rosemary continued: “There will be eight drop-off points around the town where litter can be left and the Fire Service will help with collecting heavy items. Litter will be collected from the drop-off points by ASM and taken to the Recreation Ground at Southern Road for Biffa to collect on the followingMonday. So come and join us and help keep Thame litter-free! We are also grateful to our sponsors Unicarriers for their support of this event.”

Rosemary pointed to five good reasons (with kind acknowledgements to Litter Heroes http://www.litterheroes.co.uk ) why you should come along and help pick litter in Thame and Moreton on Saturday, March 25.

1. It’s enjoyable and a great excuse to get out in the fresh air, get some exercise and do something useful.
2. You’ll make a big difference – twenty minutes litter picking can really transform an area. Today’s litter is so in-your-face that removing it makes a big difference.
3. You’ll feel good – litter picking is surprisingly rewarding. It’s very satisfying to look back on a clean, rubbish free street and know it’s down to your efforts.
4. You’ll help prevent further littering – studies have shown that people are less likely to drop litter in areas which are litter-free. By helping keep somewhere clean, you’ll discourage
littering.
5. Your countryside needs you – we live on a smal,l overcrowded island. We do not have so much open space and countryside that we can afford to trash it with litter. Today’s litter is very long-lived, it doesn’t rot or degrade in a hurry. If we don’t pick this stuff up it will still be there for our great-great grandchildren.

She added: “Thame is a delightful place to live and we need to feel proud of our place by keeping it litter-free! Please join us on Saturday, March 25, and make a vital difference.”

THE local Liberal Democrat party has two new candidates who will soon be out and about knocking on doors to hear what the people of Thame and Chinnor care about.

Kate Gregory and Gaby Oatway are standing in the Oxfordshire County Council elections on May 4. Both candidates are new to the party and politics. Kate lives in Thame with her husband and two children. She currently works as a Project Manager and feels her negotiating skills, and working within tight budgets will be useful if she were elected as councillor.

Kate often catches the train from Haddenham and feels a cycle route between Thame and Haddenham is very important. “Every time I drive to the station and see cyclists making their way in the dark I am terrified for them – it’s so dangerous,” she said. Kate is an avid member of the PTFA at her children’s school and has helped organise a number of events throughout the school year.

Kate feels very passionate about children centres and how important they are to new parents. She used the one in Thame weekly when her children were young and received a lot of support especially during those first few months.

Gaby has lived in Chinnor for 16 years. She is married to Roy and they have one son. She worked in local government for a number of years and is now employed in financial admin and feels the need to work to tight deadlines and prioritise will be very useful if elected as councillor. She enjoyed six years as Chair and Treasurer of the Parent Teacher Association at her son’s school, leading fund raising activities for school improvements.

Gaby is a keen and active Jazzerciser in Thame and Chinnor. “I regularly travel to my classes in the village and I am fully aware of the traffic problems within Chinnor and I am supportive of this being addressed in the Neighbourhood Plan,” she said.

Both Kate & Gaby will be out knocking on doors and listening to what the people of Thame and Chinnor want.

To learn more about the two candidates and their campaign, visit www.facebook.com/KateGabyMay4

FOLLOWING a rebrand recently, Thame Town Council has launched a Thame Town Flag design competition, open to anyone working, living or studying in Thame.

Back In 2016, the council installed a Flag Pole outside the Town Hall from where various flags are flown to mark special and significant occasions throughout the year. However, the Flag Pole is not used all the time and the Town Council, with the help from the people of Thame, want to change that.

In line with the council’s re-branding, it would like the new flag to incorporate its branding colours and incorporate in some way the town logo/crest in the design of the flag.

How to enter

A Design Pack is available from the Town Council’s website or from the the town hall, which includes templates for A4 hand-drawn designs, competition terms and conditions and the colour palette and logo/crest. Designs can either be submitted electronically to info@thametowncouncil.gov.uk, or dropped in to the town hall in person.

The competition is open from Monday, March 13 to Monday, April 10.

Go to www.thametowncouncil.gov.uk/flag-competition after MONDAY to download a Design Pack and for more information