Thame.net

Author: Sonja Francis

  • £320,000 available for local groups in South Oxfordshire

    SOUTH Oxfordshire District Council has re-opened its Capital Grant scheme offering grants to local organisations – particularly this year, looking for sustainable and environmentally conscious projects that can contribute towards the council’s Climate Emergency Declaration.

    Image courtesy of ‘Village Arena’

     

    Thame has benefited in various ways from these funds over the last few years, including Thame Sports Club, the new Cricket Pavilion and the Skate Park which have all had large allocations.

    The district council has £320,000 of funding available for local groups, including town and parish councils, undertaking building work and other community and energy saving projects in the coming year.

    Local organisations in South Oxfordshire have until midday on December 2, 2019, to apply to the council for money towards improving, creating or replacing community facilities.

    Grants range from £1,000, which could cover the replacement of a village noticeboard, to £75,000 towards a project like a new recreation ground, but the improvements must benefit local residents. The maximum we are able to fund is 50 per cent of the total project cost. Groups are encouraged to refer to the guidance notes available on the council’s website before making an application.

    Cllr Maggie Filipova-Rivers, the council’s cabinet member for community services, said: “We are looking for projects that; improve the health and wellbeing of our residents, help support disadvantaged groups and encourage communities to join together.

    Recent grants include

    • £99,790 towards Crowmarsh Gifford’s new playground and outdoor gym, which opened in April 2019
    • £13,444 helped to pay for a new, energy efficient flat roof for Sonning Common’s village hall
    • £30,450 went to support the restoration of 17th Century bells at Cuddesdon Church

    For more information and advice please visit the council’s website www.southoxon.gov.uk/grants, email the grants team at grants@southandvale.gov.uk or give them a call on 01235 422405.

  • BMW stolen in Chinnor burlary

    THAMES Valley Police is appealing for witnesses following a burglary in Oakley Road, Chinnor, on Saturday, November 2.

    Unknown offenders damaged a side kitchen door to gain access to the property and conducted a messy search. Car keys were taken from the property and a black BMW M1 was stolen.

    A witness believes the vehicle was driven off at approximately 11.30am on November 2, and two people were in the vehicle.

    If you live in the area and have CCTV please could you review it? If you have any information about this incident, the police ask that you report it on the Thames Valley Police website, or call 101, quoting reference 43190341826.

    Find out how you can reduce the risk of becoming a victim of burglary by downloading your FREE Home Security Guide from the Thames Valley Police website here

  • Introducing Thame’s new Town Clerk

    THAME Town Council has appointed a new Town Clerk, who will replace the retiring Clerk, Graham Hunt.

    Outgoing Thame Town Clerk, Graham Hunt, with incoming Jayne Cole

    Jayne Cole is CiLCA (Certificate in Local Council Administration) qualified and has a strong background in the Town and Parish sector, running an independent business for the last six years providing advice, support and training to Town and Parish Councils. Prior to that Jayne was the Deputy Chief Executive at the Suffolk Association of Local Councils providing a similar service to Town and Parish Councils in Suffolk. Jayne is pleased to be moving to Thame and looking forward to serving the town and its community.

    Retiring Clerk, Graham Hunt, said: “I have enjoyed my close to five years in Thame, a town with such a strong community spirit, and will be sad to leave, but retirement calls.” There will be a handover period of around a month during November, beyond which Jayne will take on the full responsibility for managing the ongoing projects, functions and services provided by Thame Council to the community.

  • Marie Colvin story at Thame Cinema tonight!

    JUST prior to the release of this film in February of this year, a US court found Assad’s regime guilty of the extrajudicial killing of Times correspondent Marie Colvin.

    She was in Homs in 2012, in the first year of the Syrian civil war, intent on revealing the fiction that the Syrian regime did not deliberately target the civilian population.

    Heineman’s film is an impassioned portrait of Colvin and her career immersing herself in bloody conflicts, putting herself in places that were off limits, and – crucially – ensuring that the voices and stories of ordinary people made it into the official record of military brutalities.

    Based on a Vanity Fair article about the conflict between Colvin’s work and her troubled private life, it is a gripping portrait of someone ruthlessly dedicated to telling the truths that governments take lengths to obscure.

    Rosamund Pike is outstanding as a deeply convicted but also vulnerable woman, addicted to the dangers of a job that always means putting her life at risk, but also coping with the fallout. She attempts to reconcile her need to remain at the peak of her game – and the pressure exerted by her publishers – with what that pursuit has cost her: post-traumatic stress disorder, alcohol abuse, loneliness in her relationships. A cracking portrait of an exceptional woman with an outstanding supporting cast.

    Saturday November 2nd, 8pm “A Private War”

    UK 2018, 110 minutes, 15 certificate

    Official trailer HERE

    Top film but we don’t expect to sell out. Tickets on the door from 7.30pm

    Directed by Matthew Heineman, Starring Rosamund Pike, Tom Hollander, Jamie Dornan, Stanley Tucci, Faye Marsay, Greg Wise

    Thame Players Theatre, Nelson Street, Thame – Doors Open 7:30pm _ Licenced Bar

     

  • Two men guilty of cruelty to a fox

    TWO men, captured on video inflicting suffering on a captive fox, have been found guilty of breaching The Animal Welfare Act.

    A shot from the Hunt Sabateur’s video showing a fox being pulled from a pipe

    Kimblewick Hunt President at the time, Mark Vincent and another employee, Ian Parkinson, were on trial at Oxford Crown Court for an incident that took place on January 1, 2019.   The two will be sentenced on November 26, and have been advised by the Judge to expect a custodial sentence.

    The prosecution came about after footage was passed to the Hunt Saboteurs Association by its Covert Film Unit showing the hunt terrier men using draining rods to force the fox, that they’ve been holding captive, out of a drainage pipe, clearly being heard communicating with the huntsman, agreeing when the best time is to release the fox which, the HSA maintain, is given a brief head start so that the hunt riders experience a chase rather than a quick kill. A pack of hounds involved in the New Year’s Day hunt arrived in the woodland in Moreton near Thame, moments later.

    According to a report by the BBC, both defendants denied the charge but neither gave evidence. But Stephen Lomax, a witness for the defence, suggested the fox had been pulled out by its hind legs and tail and would have been ‘adequately supported’. Veterinary surgeon, David Martin, goes on the report, said that pulling a fox buy its tail could have ‘serious effects’ on the animal would ’cause injury to it that way’, but added that he didn’t believe it was possible to cause suffering to a fox by pushing the drainage rods down the tunnel.

    The Judge, Kamlesh Rana, said the fox was ‘trapped in the earth and was faced with drainage rods at one end and humans at the other’. She described the defendants’ actions as ‘deliberate and pre-mediated’ and was clear that the offence crossed the custody threshold.

    Prosecutor Peter Rymon said that the men, had ‘clearly placed the fox’ in the path of a hunt at the time the hunt was arriving, and that ‘the rodding caused it unnecessary suffering and pulling it out by the tail enhanced that’.

    Lee Moon, Spokesperson for the Hunt Saboteurs Association, stated: “We’re pleased that justice has been done and look forward to Vincent and Parkinson receiving the prison sentence their actions deserve.

    “What we also want to see is further prosecutions against the huntsman, Hunt masters and the Kimblewick Hunt itself. This was clearly a criminal conspiracy between the two defendants and the rest of the hunt to release a captive fox to be illegally hunted and all those involved should be punished. We also expect the Countryside Alliance to condemn this hunt and for the Masters of Foxhounds Association to kick them out of the association. Anything less will be tacit approval of animal cruelty and illegal hunting.”

    Parkinson, of Lower Road, Haddenham, and Vincent, of Kimblewick, Aylesbury, were found guilty of one count of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal.

    ED. The Kimblewick Hunt has been denied permission by Thame Town Council to meet as usual, in the town centre on New Year’s Day 2020, following the guilty verdict.

    SOURCES: THE Hunt Sabateurs Association & BBC News website

  • Lib Dems announce general election candidate

    AS announced yesterday (29/10), the country is to go to polls on December 12, 2019, for a General Election. Laura Coyle has been announced as the Lib Dem candidate for Henley & Thame and, say the party, they are confident of winning the seat from the sitting MP, Conservative John Howell.

    Laura Cole

    In the European elections earlier this year, the Lib Dems became the first party other than the Conservative to win an election across the Henley constituency since 1910 – over a hundred years – when they received 36% of the vote with the Brexit Party second on 29%.

    Laura has lived near Goring for eight years with her husband Ray and six year old son who attends the local school. She also has two teenaged stepchildren.

    It was as a Lib Dem councillor in London that Laura started to fight for the homeless and those who are living in substandard and insecure housing. Laura now works as a housing solicitor in Oxford providing advice and legal representation to tenants and homeless people, primarily through legal aid. Sheis also a director of a small almshouse charity.

    Laura believes that access to good quality housing is fundamental to social justice and human dignity. She campaigned for remain in 2016 and has continued to campaign against Brexit ever since. She wants to give the people of Henley the chance to vote for someone who believes that the UK, and the world, will be a better, greener, safer place if the UK remains at the heart of Europe.

    Laura recently spoke out against Government interference with the South Oxfordshire local plan, saying: “South oxfordshire residents decided what they wanted in the local elections when they chose LibDems and Greens to represent them. The Government should not be interfering with local councils. If our councillors choose to withdraw the controversial Conservative plan because it damages our local communities, that is their decision to make.”

  • Help Red Kite Radio Broadcast Live!

    RED Kite Radio, the only community radio station for Haddenham, Thame and the villages, want to increase their community links by broadcasting live from events across the area, but need the public’s help to raise funds for outside broadcast equipment.

    One of Red Kite Radio’s presenters, Dan Blaze, familiar as a regular MC at Thame’s carnival fete

    Every year, they attend dozens of events, from village fetes to beer festivals, but none can be broadcast live at present. So, Red Kite Radio are looking for local support with their campaign on Aylesbury Vale District Council’s Our Vale platform, used for turning project ideas into reality through crowdfunding. They want to raise £5,000 from the public to fund outside broadcasting equipment, so they can broadcast from events as they happen in real time.

    When Red Kite Radio presenters go to events now, they have to record interviews with the public and those involved in running them. They’re recorded for later transmission because there is no outside broadcasting equipment. For example, last year they put together a full show from behind the scenes at the Players Theatre Pantomime in Thame – but it was recorded. How much better would it have been if broadcast live!

    In the last year Red Kite Radio have covered fetes, festivals and fun runs in Kingsey, Oakley, Cuddington, Brill and many other places. They’ve taken part in events such as Haddenham Summerfest, the Florence Nightingale Midnight Walk in Aylesbury, Thame Carnival, the Kop Hill Climb and Haddenham Feast Festival. They’ve even walked across hot coals in aid of charity.

    Red Kite Radio can broadcast from events the same day but recording has to be an hour in advance so that the software can build interviews into the broadcast playlist. That’s time-consuming – and it’s not live! Outside broadcast equipment would make it much easier to transmit from events as they happen. Outside broadcasts will be far more interactive because Red Kite Radio will be able to play requests on the spot and invite people in the audience to take part live.

    To help Red Kite Radio provide us with a better service, so go to https://www.spacehive.com/redkiteradiolivebroadcast and make a pledge! They need to raise £5,000 by November 25, in order to be able to purchase the equipment, and any pledge is welcome – from just £2 to larger sums.

    Award?

    Red Kite Radio has been shortlisted in the annual national Community Radio Awards 2019 https://communityradioawards.org.uk/. The shortlist was whittled down from more than 425 entries submitted from community radio stations representing communities from every corner of the UK. Red Kite Radio has picked up nominations in three categories for their work providing a first-class radio service for Haddenham, Thame and the surrounding villages.

  • Thame man guilty of Manslaughter

    TWO men have been convicted of murder following a trial at Oxford Crown Court, and a Thame accomplice guilty of Manslaugher.

    Safeen Karimi, aged 28 of Hode Garth, Thame, was found not guilty of murder but guilty of one count of manslaughter by unanimous verdict. However, Welid Solomon, aged 26 of Field Avenue, Oxford was found guilty by unanimous verdict of one count of murder and one count of conspiring to pervert the course of justice. Michael Yemane, aged 20 of South Bridge Road, Oxford was found guilty by majority verdict of one count of murder.

    Sasan Khalid, aged 20, of no fixed abode, was found not guilty by unanimous verdict of murder and acquitted.

    The convictions relate to three incidents on Wednesday, February 27, 2019, which culminated in a fatal attack on Luciano Dos Santos Almeida, who was 22-years-old.

    The first incident happened at 11.18pm when there was an altercation between Mr Almeida and Solomon and Yemane.

    Following this fight, Solomon and Yemane sought the help of Karimi, and they set out in two cars in an attempt to find Mr Almeida.

    After spotting him, they waited for Mr Almeida in Cowley Road at the junction of Southfield Road.

    Just before 11.30pm, Mr Almeida was crossing Cowley Road towards Southfield Road and was deliberately struck by a Kia Picanto, which was being driven by Solomon.

    Mr Almeida got up from this and ran off up Southfield Road, but was pursued and was subsequently stabbed multiple times in the head, back and buttocks, sustaining severe injuries.

    Mr Almeida was taken to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, but tragically, despite attempts over the following days to save his life, he passed away in hospital on the evening of 6 March and a murder investigation was subsequently launched.

    Solomon, Yemane and Karimi are due to be sentenced at Oxford Crown Court on 8 November.

    Senior Investigating Officer Detective Chief Inspector Stuart Blaik, of Thames Valley Police’s Major Crime Unit, said: “This was a sustained, premeditated and vicious attack on Luciano Dos Santos Almeida.

    “Not only was Mr Almeida struck deliberately by the vehicle driven by Solomon, but then, while attempting to make an escape, was set upon.

    “He sustained severe stab wounds as a result of this vicious assault, which proved fatal, despite the efforts of medical professionals at the John Radcliffe to save his life.

    “It was a horrific and meaningless attack, and from the outset, it was clear that there was a desire from the offenders to cause their victim serious harm.

    “Mr Almeida had a young daughter and loving family. He did not deserve to die in such violent circumstances at the hands of Solomon, Yemane and Karimi.

    “I would like to pay tribute to the courage, patience and support of Mr Almeida’s family.

    “They have had to endure many months of anguish while this murder was investigated.

    “They have conducted themselves with the utmost dignity throughout this ordeal, and while no sentence will bring Mr Almeida back, I hope that the conclusion of this case will, in time, bring them some closure.

    “I would also like to thank my investigation team, the family liaison officers, the first response officers and the medical professionals who fought in vain to save Mr Almeida’s life.

    “The dedicated work of my team has brought these violent men to justice, and they will now be off the streets and unable to cause harm and distress to anybody else.”

  • SODC Cabinet agrees move for more affordable housing

    PROPOSALS made by South Oxfordshire District Council cabinet earlier today (25 October) could pave the way for the council to deliver more high-quality, environmentally sustainable and genuinely affordable housing across the whole of southern Oxfordshire.

    The Cabinet agreed:

    • The preparation of a report to recommend suitable options for the council to bring a wider range of housing to South Oxfordshire.
    • As part of this report, to consider what options exist to prioritise Berinsfield as a pilot location for any new approach to housing delivery in the district
    • To identify whether the housing market across both South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse districts means a joint solution and approach would be beneficial to both

    This came following a motion agreed at full council earlier this year proposed by the cabinet member for development and regeneration and ward member for Berinsfield, Cllr Robin Bennett.

    At that time Cllr Bennett asked for a report on ways to use council powers and resources to deliver more high-quality, environmentally sustainable and genuinely affordable housing at social rent or similar cost.

    Thame’s District Councillor, Pieter-Paul Barker, cabinet member for Partnership and Insight, said: “There is a clear housing affordability crisis in the district and it is also clear that councils cannot rely on the private sector alone to meet the shortfall in housing at genuinely affordable prices.

    “Investigating options for creating a new model of housing delivery in South Oxfordshire would enable the council to help communities thrive and provide a wider variety of residences to meet a wide variety of needs.

    “In addition, a more proactive and direct approach, such as these proposals, could help to sustain additional income for the council in the longer term.”

  • Could you have CCTV evidence of a Thame burglary?

    THAMES Valley Police is appealing for witnesses following a burglary in Horton Road, Thame.

    The incident took place around between 8 pm – 8.30pm on October 22, after an offender gained access to the property via an upstairs window possibly by climbing on top of a bin. Once inside the offender stole a games console, two tablet PCs and a Segway style hover board.

    CCTV in the area picked up a man wearing jeans, a puffa jacket and black trainers and the police suspect that he could be linked to this burglary.

    Have you got CCTV that you could review? Did you see any suspicious people or vehicles in the area?

    Anyone with information about this incident can report it via the Thames Valley Police website, or call 101, quoting reference 43190329665.