BARLEY HILL school in Thame has passed the first hurdle in gaining planning consent to demolish three, temporary classrooms, which are long past their intended life-span and to build six new classrooms.
Thame Town Council’s planning committee this week agreed to recommend approval of the plans for a two storey extension onto the existing hard play area.
After objecting to a previous plan for new signage at the Co-op store in the High Street, back in February, the committee on Tuesday (17/03)recommended approval of an amended plan for white and orange signs in timber.
Photo: 37 and 38 Park Street, the subject of planning proposals to form driveway parking with dropped kerbs.
Members expressed concern that the signage above Martins, which the committee has objected to, and which has been the subject of an enforcement order for some time, is still not settled.
There was much discussion about the problems of parking in Park Street, where two applications for new driveway parking and dropped kerbs were under consideration.
Cllr Mike Dyer, who is a resident of Park Street, told the committee that at least 10 parking spaces in the street had been lost through the formation of a Pelican crossing, chicanes and drives that had been bricked over. There are 75 cars owned in Park Street, but only 31 parking places, he said.
Cllr Dyer’s contention was that two more dropped kerbs would take away two more public parking places in an area where there is a recognised shortage.
Cllr David Dodds was concerned about the safety of school children from the John Hampden school opposite the two houses concerned, walking along the pavement past the two proposed driveways.
The committee agreed to write to Oxfordshire County Council’s Highways department requesting an
urgent visit to the site during morning school hours, 8.30-9am, to assess the safety of this application in a very congested area.
A Thame landmark house, Whitehound, that stands back from the corner of East Street and Upper High Street, was also the subject of much discussion at Tuesday’s meeting.
The owner wants to demolish the house and have it replaced by nine new flats and shared offices. However, both the Area Conservation Advisory Committee and members of Thame Town Council’s planning committee were of the opinion that bringing any new structure to the edge of the footpath would, in the words of Cllr David Dodds, “..change the street scene massively and be very intrusive. Other councillors thought that the new offices would have an impact on parking in the area which already a problem.
The committee voted to recommend refusal of the application on the grounds of: Over-development of the site, traffic generation, parking and safety near a very busy junction and not in keeping with the character of the area.
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