Author: Sonja Francis

THE CHAIRMAN of Thame United Football Club described his feelings as ?gutted?, after a public meeting called to discuss the future of the club yesterday (Wednesday).
Jim Tite, who has been with the club for 34 years, said: ?There was a lot of talk about what had gone wrong but what was really needed was something positive about moving forward.?
But the Vice Chairman, Bernard Wakelin, was more upbeat, and said: ?We have broadcast an appeal today on Radio Oxford and South Today and whilst, unfortunately it looks as though we are not going to be able to do much for the clubs and societies that used to meet at the Windmill Suite, we are determined to keep the football side of things going and have had some offers of help from various venues, including the Thame Show who have offered us a free stand. The idea is to run a ?Left Luggage type facility for visitors to the show, as well as selling club souvenirs, running a prize tombola with donated prizes and promoting the Thame United Lottery.
?We will go forward, getting money wherever we can whether it be through sponsorship of balls, mascots etc., or even going around knocking on doors! ?

The Club will know tomorrow definitely whether or not their application to the Southern League to ground share at Aylesbury, will be confirmed. They have already received season tickets and match balls for the season and so are optimistic.

Thame Town Clerk, Helen Steward, told ThameNews today: ?I am working strenuously to try to retain a facility for community use but have no power to do anything to retain the football team.
?I am trying to encourage Mr Coleman to have discussions with Thame Town Council before putting in any planning application so that he is aware of the aspirations of the town. I am also in discussions with the district council looking at options for retaining a community facility, and looking at other options such as developing some sort of Management Committee, looking at a possible role for the Thame Partnership and looking at developing a business plan for a community facility.?

Anyone who would like to support Thame United by joining the 500 Club Lottery, and have the opportunity to win a monthly money prize, can contact Jake Collinge at 4, Arnold Way, Thame, OX9 2QA

The Club?s match on Saturday is Away to Cinderford.

THAME town councillors have delayed making a decision on whether or not to support a 20mph speed limit in the centre of the town, while they await clarification of accident statistics for the proposed area.
At the end of a heated discussion about the proposal at last night?s Planning Committee meeting, during which Cathy Gaulter-Carter spoke in favour of the proposal, and Mr Richard Hughes spoke against, it was also agreed to put the matter before the full town council.
Confusion over the accident statistics followed representation by Mr Anthony Kirkwood, of the Road Safety Department at Oxfordshire County Council, and figures researched by Thame resident, Mr Richard Hughes.
Mrs Gaulter-Carter said that she regretted that Aylesbury Road had not been included in the proposed zone but was of the opinion that there were many near-miss type accidents around the town which were not recorded. The proposal, she felt, would increase the perception of increased safety in the town by those wanting to cycle rather than drive in the area, especially in the future when more children and adults would be using the Phoenix Trail once the extension to the school and Leisure Centre had been completed.
?By adding just a few seconds to their journey,? she said, ?by driving at 20 mph, drivers could perhaps save a life.?
Mr Hughes called the proposal ?Draconian?, stating that his research into accident figures over the last five years showed that no benefit would be gained by speed reduction. He maintained that more and higher speed humps would be required and that the increased signage would ?blight? the town. Mr Hughes also stated that he had been informed by two ambulance trusts that emergency response times would be reduced by the proposals.
Mr Kirkwood explained that the county council intended to carryout a short consultation to confirm that the community does not, as a whole support the scheme, in which case it would be abandoned. He reiterated that Thame Town Council, as it was then constituted, did narrowly approve the scheme in 2002, but councillors present at last night?s meeting, said that, as far as they could remember, the proposals at that time only included the town centre.
Mr Kirkwood explained that it was part of the government?s Road Safety Strategy to have 20 mph limits in town centres and that Thame had been chosen as one of the sites to test the idea.
Cllr Nigel Champken-Woods said that, whilst he agreed there was a problem in the Aylesbury Road, he thought the expenditure was unnecessary in an area where, he considered it was difficult to travel at more than 20mph anyway.
Cllr David Laver, said: ?admittedly the scheme does seem to have grown since the original proposal but we could be throwing the baby out with the bathwater if we reject it in its entirety. In my view it is vital that we keep some areas with lower speed limits, especially now that the cycle routes across Thame are out.?
?There are people who break the speed limit between speed humps,? he said, ?and I would be in favour of the county council looking at the number of vehicles using the town centre with a view to considering pedestrianisation of that area. Both these proposals would encourage traffic to go around the by-pass.?
Cllr Champken-Woods said that new signage was soon to go in place by Lord Williams?s school to send drivers around the town to go to Chinnor, which he felt would alleviate some of the problems.
The discussion also included the pros and cons of so-called courtesy crossings.

ED. What do YOU think about the proposed 20 mph Zone, full details of which can be viewed at the town hall? Email your views to: editor@thamenews.net

DESPITE a very dry year so far, Thame Gardeners have excelled themselves and once more produced some fine examples of their green-fingered genius in this year?s Thame in Bloom competition.
The over-all winner for 2005 is Mr Bill Sellwood, of 13 Hampden Avenue, Thame, who, with his wife Margaret who shares the work, has taken the first prize for the first time, having come second on two previous occasions when they lived in Churchill Crescent.
Bill, who retires in November, after 19 years with a local cleaning company, did at one time work for Thame Town Council helping to maintain the town?s flower beds and parks. Margaret has worked at Thame Police Station as a cleaner for over 20 years and between them they choose the seed from catalogues or collect them from their own plants, raise seedlings in their two greenhouses and generally share the planting, feeding and watering throughout the growing season.
The resulting garden of both perennials and annuals attracts admiring gazes and comments from everyone who passes by and is a tribute to the Sellwoods? hard work and enthusiasm.
Bill puts his love of gardening down to the influence of his father who had a small market garden in Tetsworth for many years. The green-finger genes continue to be passed on down to the younger Sellwood generation ? daughter, Shirley, who lives in Pearce Way, won first prize in the Maisonette or Retirement bungalow section of the competition.
The judge, Tony Buggins, who is Vice Chair of Thame In Bloom, made the following comments about the Sellwood?s garden
?A large variety of flowers and evergreens; Masses of blooms full of both primary colours and pastels. Lots of variety in pots and boxes, and borders have good backing with low frontage.
?A lot of hard work but a very rewarding garden for all who view it.?

The other main winners were:
Large Garden: Mr A L Dodd, 43 Wykeham Park
Facades: Mr and Mrs Conibear, 10 Mitchell Close
COMMERCIAL SECTION:
Pubs & Hotels: The Bird Cage, Industrial: CPM, School Gardens: John Hampden, Hanging Baskets: Brothers Hair Sculptors.

THAME?s Arts Caf