Author: Sonja Francis

FASHION that need not cost the earth, literally, AND that helps the economy of developing countries, was on show last night, as part of this year’s Thame Festival.
Modelled by locals, including several young people, Fair traded cotton T-shirts, skirts, dresses and separates were on show, as well as very fashionable accessories which included bags made from recycles plastic bags.
Several Fairtrade stalls offered a wide range of goods including wooden birds, jewellery, pots and other decorative pieces made by the Wichi indians of Northern Argentina.
The Fairtrade wine from South African, supplied by the Co-op, tasted all the better in the knowledge that the producers were receiving a fair price for their product.
Fair traded clothes for all ages in cotton and dyed in wonderful muted, natural colours, were on offer from Oxford Fair Trading and Body Shop cosmetics and other beauty products were there to try.
Vibrant, boldly printed cushion covers and fabrics caught the eye and especially intriguing were multi-coloured necklaces and bracelets made from recycled margerine tubs.
Festival Chairman, Bob Davies, was pleased with the response to the event, the first of a week-long programme leading up to the carnival and fete on Saturday. (See full programme on right of Home page)

A DIRECTOR of the Thame Show has said that he has been encouraged by a recent meeting held to explore ideas around what community facilities could be provided alongside a new, large agricultural centre on the Thame Show ground.
Property Developer, Bob Williams, told ThameNews.Net that as a result of the meeting, he felt ? encouraged to carry on? trying to help the Thame Cattle Market find a bigger, edge-of-town site.
Among Bob?s ideas include moving the hospital, the fire station and the ambulance station up to the Thame Show site.
Interested parties, including Thame doctors? leaders, the town council, the fire service and the ambulance service were invited to the meeting.
Bob Williams admitted that some of his proposals may appear to be? off- the-wall? but said: ?I am happy to open this up for discussion in the town. Sometimes it is the more mad-cap ideas that capture the public?s imagination.?
The Station Officer at Thame fire station, Andy Ford, told ThameNews today: ?I would certainly be in favour of re-siting the fire station on the by-pass somewhere. Because most of our call-outs these days require us to go out of town, we often have to battle our way out of Thame to get to incidents and vital time can be wasted. Also, because of the growth in equipment and crew, we our beginning to out-grow this site which is only just adequate for our current needs.?
Dr Ken Birch, who attended the meeting, was unavailable for comment today, but it is understood that redevelopment plans for Thame Community Hospital are already in the pipeline. (More on this soon)

Co-incidentally, a public meeting is to be hosted by the Cattle Market Action Group on June 20, at Thame Hall from 7.45pm, to discuss concept plans for the current Cattle Market site, should it move to a new site.

THAME Rotary Club today received a cheque towards its work with Sri Lankan tsunami victims, for funds raised at a special charity golf day at the Oxfordshire Golf Club, in Rycote Lane, Thame.
The Mayor of Thame, Cllr David Laver, was in attendance as club owners, Paul and Jenny Gibbons, presented a cheque for just under

IT is now possible for residents of South Oxfordshire to watch council meetings from the comfort of their own homes or anywhere else on the internet.

South Oxfordshire District Council has installed cameras in the council chamber to broadcast planning, cabinet and council meetings on a regular basis. Live and recorded meetings will be available via the Council?s web site and viewers can send comments in during the broadcasts which will occur in real time. The council is particularly keen to receive people?s views on the quality and usefulness of the webcasts.

The first meetings to be broadcast live are:

Planning Wednesday 11 January at 6pm
Cabinet Thursday 12 January at 6pm
Planning Wednesday 25 January at 6pm

Webcasting is the broadcast of video and audio over the internet ? put simply it is the same as watching TV but through an internet connection. By webcasting meetings, the Council aims to provide local residents who cannot attend meetings with an opportunity to play a part in the local democratic process, and to get involved in the decisions affecting their lives.

A NEW site for a Youth Shelter in Thame is being considered by the town council, following opposition to an earlier site and a new recommendation from the town’s Youth Council.
Almost two years ago, the then Thame Youth Council, together with Thame Town Council, decided that the Queen Elizabeth Circle, opposite the Skate Park, would be suitable for a youth shelter. An exhibition and display at the town hall was mounted so that young people could comment on which design and location they would prefer for a meeting shelter. However there was some opposition from residents in the Roundhead Drive area who feared an increase in noise and criminality in their area if the shelter was sited on the circle.
At their meeting on Tuesday, the council’s Culture, Leisure and Recreation committee discussed a recommendation from the current Youth Council that the shelter, for which funded had been set aside, be sited on the Southern Road Recreation ground, replacing the metal igloo climbing frame. Among other concerns, the Youth council were worried about the dangers of young people crossing the by-pass from the skate park to access a shelter on Queen Elizabeth Circle.
Some town councillors were concerned about opposition coming from residents in Southern Road, but the Clerk, Helen Stewart, said: “There will be obstacles to overcome wherever the shelter is sited; young people already gather at the Rec and this is the sort of thing they are craving for.”
Cllr Nigel Champken-Woods added: “We promised the youth of Thame a shelter two years ago and we are still pontificating; we need to bite the bullet now.”
Cllr Nick Carter, who was against the principle of a youth shelter altogether, proposed that the money be ring-fenced for some other youth facility in the future but he was unable to carry any other council members with him.
Finally, Cllr Adam Buckland’s proposal that the Southern Road Recreational ground be chosen for a youth shelter, subject to consultation, was carried by the committee – 3 votes for – 2 against.
The Rec is the favoured site for a shelter, of Thame’s Police Community Support Officers.

Photo: Youth Shelter similar to the type proposed for Thame.

THE Youth of Thame have helped raise

ST MARY’s church, in Thame, is critically short of burial plots, Thame councillors have been told.
Members of the Culture,Leisure and Recreation committee have been alerted to the problem of a lack of space to bury the dead.(a crisis hitting grave yards all over the country), by a letter from the Reverend Nick Stuart-Lee.
Since there seems to be some confusion over who own what pieces of land around the church, members agreed to go and look at the problem for themselves.
In the past, land currently used as allottments has been considered.