FOLLOWING a poignant approach to the town council by a resident of Thame, a Working Party is to be set up to look for a suitable memorial to the young people of Thame who have lost their lives in tragic circumstances.
A letter from Mr Bobbie Gallagher, of Charles Drive, Thame, to the town countil, spoke particularly about of “the dire number of deaths” of young people on the roads around Thame.
His letter began with the observation that the teenagers of Thame, in the minds of some people, are being viewed “with suspicion and fear” and how his own son and his friends feel that all young people have been “lumped together and coloured with the same brush.”
The full text of the letter is as follows:
Dear Councillors,
A regular topic of conversation in Thame over thepast few years has been the lack of facilities for teenagers and the mischief some get up to through boredom. I have always contended that this is not necessarily the case. What I have argued is that, facilities or not, the teenagers, in the minds of some people, have become viewed with suspicion and in some cases fear.
I have a son who grew up in Thame and is well liked and respected. He is, however, full of anecdotes and stories about his mates and the friends with whom he went to school and their experiences as young people in this town. They are of the view that the youth of Thame have been lumped together in the popular mind and have become coloured with the one brush.
My own experience of my son and his generation is best described by their reactions when in the last few years they have attended the funerals of their school friends and mates and in particular how they turned out to demonstrate their affection for a highly popular teacher who died. The tumult at his graveside was impressive to say the least.
When you talk to the young folk and listen to what they have to say it is clear that they have en mass endured a number of frighteningly emotional experiences over the recent few years, any of which would leave rational adults unsteady.
Without names or numbers they can readily recount the loss of teenage friends to the despair of suicide, the desperation of disease and what brings me to write this request i.e. the dire number of deaths on the roads around Thame.
We can all comment on the red Fiestas and VW Golfs in the hedges and ditches of the Thame or Aylesbury roads when we are out for a drive on Sunday mornings but this takes on a new reality when we start to count the instances of bunches of flowers or wooden crosses hammered into the ground or nailed to a tree. More than one mark the site of multiple deaths but all of them guaranteed to help us reflect on the lives lost and the lives changed forever. At the very least they make me glance at my speedometer and adjust my speed accordingly.
I can guarantee that I am not the only one whose gaze turns to the little Grotto that appears to have become a permanent feature beside the roundabout on the Aylesbury road.
This particular site has been very well tended since the accident that resulted in the untimely death of young Chloe Owens who was a very popular local girl and since its beginning has, especially when we remember how impressive it was over Christmas, grown to take on a greater significance to her friends and to the people of the town.
My request is that the council consider the potential for making this site permanent by erecting a monument not only to remember young Chloe but to honour the lost youth of Thame and surrounding district.
The site is perfect at the main approach to the town for visitors and local drivers alike to see and contemplate and, set back off the road, can be safely visited and maintained by the family and friends of Chloe and others.
The Continent is rich in granite and marble commerative obelisks on roadsides and at crossroads, the majority of which reflect the feelings of the local people. I would suggest that the feelings of our undervalued good children deserve to be recognised and their esteem and status within our community be raised with this monument.
Thank you.
Some councillors at Tuesday’s meeting of the Policy and Resources committee, which discussed the suggestion, thought that, rather than a stone monument, a physical place for reflection and contemplation might be more appropriate. However, it was agreed that young people themselves will be asked what they would like.
It was agreed that the Mayor, David Bretherton, and Cllr Mike Dyer who brought Mr Gallagher’s suggestion to the notice of the council, will co-ordinate a Working Party to include the Youth and Community group of 21st Century Thame and possibly Mr David Wybron, Head of Lord Williams’s school, who, along with the parents of the late Chloe Owens, is in support of the idea.
Photo: Chloe Owens, who died after a collision with a car on Thame by-pass two years ago, aged 15.
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