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‘Save the heart of Thame’ says campaign group

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Sonja Francis

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FEARING a threat to the town centre posed by a national supermarket giant’s plan to build a large store on the outskirts of Thame, a group of residents have formed a campaign group to fight against it.

Thame_town_centre_July2014 (400x280)

The ‘Thame Centre First’ group has launched a website http://www.thamecentrefirst.org/ where they explain what they are asking for: “Just like the Thame Neighbourhood Plan, this campaign seeks to put Thame Centre First and keep our shops together in the heart of the community – the Town Centre. Local residents overwhelmingly backed the Neighbourhood Plan via a referendum and now we ask the Town and District Council to uphold our plan and say ‘NO’ to this out-of-town supermarket.”

thame_centre_firstThey want local people to write to our MP John Howell and to Thame Town Council, asking them to act to prevent Tesco’s proposal, to download, print and distribute leaflets and posters and to sign their petition.

The Thame Centre First campaign is working with Thame4Business to gauge the feelings of town centre business towards the supermarket proposal. Thame4Business is currently initiating discussions with the town council and South Oxfordshire District Council to try to source funding for an Impact Study to be carried out on the likely effects of an edge of town supermarket on the vitality and economy of the town centre.

Dave Lewis, Chief Executive of Tesco, has defended his company’s plans, and stated: “We continue to believe that the store will provide a valued service to the local community. The new store will provide a great shopping experience as well as bringing new jobs and investment to the area.”

Comments

16 responses to “‘Save the heart of Thame’ says campaign group”

  1. Alison Stanbridge avatar
    Alison Stanbridge

    Tony you seem to be on a bit of a one man crusade!

  2. Bob Armstrong avatar
    Bob Armstrong

    Tesco’s has been demonstrating a total lack of ethics in its business, much to the dismay of their shareholders who have got a taste of the medicine that this business is built on. To ignore the strength of feeling within the Thame shows that the CEO is not intent, as he has claimed, on changing the way that Tesco does business….. its the same old destructive steamroller, ignore the public, rip the heart out of every town that they can!!

    We have told them NO before, we do not want them in our town,
    L I S T E N for a change!

  3. Tony Rushforth avatar
    Tony Rushforth

    Simply Tina for all the specialist shops, cafes and to just enjoy the town without the hassle of finding somewhere to park. We would have our own “Park & Ride ” courtesy of Tesco

  4. laurie avatar
    laurie

    the bus will take people from the town to Tesco as well.

  5. Tina Slater avatar
    Tina Slater

    Tony,
    I don’t think I’m completely missing the point. What would you need to go into Thame Town Centre for if you have just done your shopping in an out of Town Supermarket?

  6. Norman Brand avatar
    Norman Brand

    Stress the tourism potential. Bring back the tourist office.

  7. Tony Rushforth avatar
    Tony Rushforth

    Tina, You are completely missing the point of a courtesy bus from Tesco into the town centre.
    As part of a Planning application they can be “forced” by the imposition of a condition on the approval to provide long stay car parking for those who either want to travel by car ( from wherever ) & either shop first & leave their goods in the trolley lockers or in their cars & then use the facility of the courtesy bus without the hassle of trying to find a space in the town centre to park. What a great way to get more people from outside Thame to visit out market town !

  8. Lucy Rowark avatar
    Lucy Rowark

    I would understand everyone’s anger at a super store being built, if the town centre wasn’t filled with charity shops?! There are more charity shops than anything else and a new one opening soon?! Those who shop in Waitrose will always shop in Waitrose!!

  9. EILEEN AND STANLEY WILKINS avatar
    EILEEN AND STANLEY WILKINS

    GOOD MORNING
    PLEASE DO NOT ALLOW PLANNING PERMISSION FOR AN OUT OF TOWN TESCO STORE IN THAME WE HAVE 3 SUPERMARKETS TO FULFILL OUR REQUIREMENTS AND INDEPENDANT SHOPS WHICH WE SHOULD SUPPORT KEEP THAME A MARKET TOWN
    CARPARKING CAN BE APROBLEM SOMETIMES AND SOME MORE DISABLES CARPARKING THAME REQUIRES A CINEMA FOR US ALL OR A BOWLING COMPLEX FOR THE YOUNGSTERS AND KEEP THEM IN THE TOWNINSTEAD OF HAVING TO GO TO OXFORD OR AYLESBURY THAME ALSO REQUIRES A GOOD GENERAL STORE
    THAME IS A LOVELY MARKET TOWN PLEASE KEEP THIS
    AND DO NOT ALLOW A SUPER STORE TO BE BUILT PEOPLE WILL GO TO THE OUT OF TOWN STORE AND NOT COME INTO THE TOWN CENTRE

  10. Tina Slater avatar
    Tina Slater

    I cannot imagine for one minute that people will come from the surrounding villages & do their shopping at an out of town supermarket THEN hop on a bus with all their shopping, lug it around Thame high street, why would they need to do that? They will have bought everything they need at the supermarket. They’ll just go home on the bus supplied by the supermarket. An out of Town supermarket which is what the application for Howland Road is will not encourage people to shop in Thame Town Centre it will do exactly the opposite.

  11. Hugh Jarse avatar
    Hugh Jarse

    Tony – there’s in zero benefit to Thame of the people from the surrounding villages coming to use a Tesco store on the bypass. If they can get what they need from Tesco, they will be in and out without going neat the high street, The only effect for Thame will be more traffic on the bypass.

    I would say that more “Self Centered” opinions are coming from the pro-Tesco lobby who have no interest in having a thriving Thame centre.

  12. Tony Rushforth avatar
    Tony Rushforth

    There are a lot of “Self centred” opinions as why we should have a Tesco, has nobody considered the surrounding village people who may chose to come to Thame use, the Tesco & the courtesy bus into Thame town centre rather than be kept away because of the uncertainty of being able to park in Thame. Thame centre shops must continue to offer great service but by saying go away nasty Tesco will not help

  13. Hugh Jarse avatar
    Hugh Jarse

    The reality is that Tesco are attempting to plug a gap in their geographic coverage of the area. This has nothing to do with them wanting to provide a valued service, new jobs or investment, they just want the revenue that a new store will bring them. That revenue has to come from somewhere, which means that other stores have to lose out as shoppping habits will change.

    Tesco have no interest in INVESTING in Thame, they just want a store to generate revenue.

  14. Alison Stanbridge avatar
    Alison Stanbridge

    Dave Lewis you couldn’t care about our town centre or our local community!
    You are a business and you want your business in our town.
    Community does not come in to it.
    By the way if I was looking for a great shopping experience Tesco would not be what I would be thinking of.
    So no thank you…take your Tesco elsewhere

  15. Jackie avatar
    Jackie

    I think we have enough supermarkets in Thame, why do we need one on the outskirts? This will kill the town centre……

    I understand not all people drive but there are other supermarkets out of town that can be easily reached, Tesco in Princes Risborough and Aylesbury and High Wycombe and Asda in High Wycombe and Wheatley.

    Having any supermarket on the outskirts of thame will kill the town centre, it has happened in other towns…Amersham for one, it will happen here.

    I will be fighting to save Thame

  16. Derek Allen avatar
    Derek Allen

    I disagree strongly with the Tesco plan. Why disrupt the balance of Thame’s high street and independent shops? Retail development should not be allowed away from the centre of Thame.
    I live in Chearsley and if I want to shop in Tesco I can drive to the two stores in Aylesbury.

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