Category: Thame Community Forum

Dear Editor – The incidents associated with the presence of travellers on the show ground are replicating those experienced by others elsewhere in the country and reported on Google web sites. The claim by the Thame Agricultural Association that a ‘good faith’ booking was taken after background checks had been carried out begs the question; why didn’t they seek the opinion of the authority where the Darlington group held their last gathering?

Having become aware of the calamity that they had brought upon themselves and upon the neighbourhood, what measures did members of the TAA take in order to safeguard their assets? I have a grandstand view of activities around the entrance to the site and I certainly haven’t seen evidence of containment there.

The individuals purporting to be traffic controllers appear to have been drawn from amongst the travellers. They initiated one or two spectacular traffic jams and made no effort to curtail the dirt track-like activities of numerous drivers as they snaked recklessly up and down the driveway at high speed, generating clouds of dust that drifted into the houses bordering the site. The driveway quickly became severely rutted and as a result of heavy rainfall, became a channel of mud carried down to the B4012.

I witnessed a 4×4 being driven out of the driveway straight across the two lanes of the B4012 and up on to the grass verge on the opposite side, before snaking at speed along the grass to the entrance to Cromwell Avenue then turning sharply into the traffic flow and back into the Show Ground driveway. This reckless and quite pointless action drew no comment from the ‘traffic controllers’. The grass verge which is used by walkers and joggers and which has always been carefully tended by council groundsme, was taken over by the travellers for parking cars and lorries and there was even a woman attempting to sell clothing to the travellers from the boot of her car. The area gradually became devastated.

There was a constant flow of vehicles on to and off the site from six in the morning until well after midnight when the noise and the blazing headlights were a great deterrent to sleep.

Each morning we were treated to a display of litter picking around the entrance to the driveway, though in truth there is little in evidence there. However there was no attempt to extend the search around the corner into Cromwell Avenue which is the route followed into town by many pedestrians from the site. The entire exercise seemed hypocritical when one considers the lack of concern shown for the local environment as a whole by the visitors to the site.

No doubt it will cost the TAA a considerable sum of money to restore the Show Ground to a satisfactory state for the {Towersey} festival in a couple of weeks time. My concern is that the cost of restoring the land adjoining the site should not be borne by the local residents. The damage done can be attributed to people who came to the site with the blessing of the TAA and surely it must, therefore, be the responsibility of the TAA to pay to put it right.

I wish to assure the TAA that my comments contain no rumours or Chinese whispers; they relate to things that I have witnessed myself. Much of the evidence was there for all to see.

Harry Burden
Thame

Dear Editor,  I was heartened to spot the EU and Union Jack flags on the A418 roundabout in Thame this morning. It appears the roundabout has been ‘flag bombed’ !!

I gather it is part of a nationwide campaign.

Good to see this on a day when the House of Lords is voting on an amendment to preserve the rights of EU citizens in this country. I have EU neighbours, friends and colleagues – all of whom are anxious and distressed about their future in this country. Many of them have called the UK home for decades but are now facing uncertainty and feeling very unwelcome here. I hope many of our local EU citizens see these flags too and take some comfort from knowing that in spite of the Brexit vote, many British people support and value their presence in this country.

I hope you might share the attached photo with your readers.

Best wishes,
Phillipa Tawn

Can I suggest that we start a petition to stop people burning garden rubbish?  Last night was a lovely warm evening. I live in Chalgrove Road and suddenly the fresh air was spoiled for several hours from burning garden rubbish. We have Brown Bins for this!!
Regards
Peter Woods

DEAR Editor, I write in my capacity as Thame Town Council’s Parish Transport Representative.

On Tuesday, January 26, Oxfordshire County Council Cabinet voted to recommend to the full council their proposed budget, which in addition to drastic cuts to many other county council services (e.g. children’s centres and day centres for elderly people), includes withdrawing all bus subsidies. (See Thame.Net’s report)

In Thame this would mean ending the contract in June, with Vale Travel to operate the 120/121/123/124 service.

Many local residents have contacted me to explain how this bus service is a lifeline for them, because it is the only way they have of getting into town from the eastern part of town e.g. Garden City and Towersey Drive, as they do not have their own transport and are unable to walk that far. It is also the only way many people in Tetsworth have to get to the doctor’s surgery.

I addressed the Cabinet on the 26th to ask them to rethink the policy to abolish all bus subsidies and, despite failing to get cabinet members to change their minds then, I intend to address the full council meeting on February 16, to ask all councillors to vote against this devastating budget. I will also present a petition from local residents asking all councillors to vote against the budget and to keep the 120/121/123/124 service running.

It does not have to be a daily service, as residents have told me that two or three times a week would suffice. That is not asking for much.

There will be a copy of the petition in the information bureau at Thame Town Hall during office hours and I shall be travelling on the bus to collect signatures between now and Monday, February 15.

I urge as many of your readers as possible to sign the petition, if they agree that it is important to keep this service running, whether or not they themselves actually use it.

Mary Stiles
Willow Road
Thame

DEAR Editor,  May we through your pages, express our warm thanks to the taxi-driver from Long Crendon’s A2B Cars who, recognising we were in trouble in Thame, turned his car around and came to help.

In fact, it was he who changed our punctured wheel for the spare while my husband held the taxi-driver’s cell phone to light the operation. After all his time and effort he did not want to receive money.

Yours sincerely
Geoff and Jean Oatley
Long Crendon