Pot Holes, 20 MPH Speed limit, and More.

Annual Town Meeting ? Report Three
THE final part of this year?s meeting took the form of an Open Forum, in which members of the public could ask their town, district and county councillors questions.
The following is a resume of some of the points discussed.

A member of the audience asked if there were any proposals to improve the road surfaces of some of Thame?s road, referring particularly to Moreton Lane, which the questioner described as ??appalling?.
County Councillor, David Laver, highlighted Southern Road and said that the county?s budget for road repairs was stretched and that it was not keeping up with the rate of deterioration. Some comments about the quality of the work recently carried out on some of the town?s roads and Cllr Laver said that he would pass comments on to the relevant department.
Town Cllr Lionel Morbey criticised the painting on of a bitumen layer that had been carried out, saying: ?A decent frost will destroy it in for weeks.?
Someone in the audience criticised county council staff they had tried to complain to, as ?unhelpful and rude!?
Cllr Laver said that the council was trying to improve the interface between itself and the public and urged everyone to use their county councillor as a conduit for concerns and complaints.
Another member of the public brought up the issue of the Zebra crossing at the top of High Street where some incidents of pedestrians experiencing a lack of consideration by drivers and in one case, a near-miss involving a child. He expressed the view that it was too close to the roundabout at the junction with Bell Lane. A letter from Motts Coaches had been sent to Cllr Beatrice Dobie expressing their concern that their drivers had difficulty negotiating the junction.
Cllr Dodds said that the town council had said at the time of the proposal for the crossing at that point, that it was the wrong position for such a crossing.
Cllr Nigel Champken-Woods said that, according to the County Council, the positioning of the crossing meets all their criteria. He said that the council intended carryout an audit on the crossing before making a decision about its future. He urged anyone concerned to write to the county council.
Cllr Beatrice Dobie said that she had been amazed at the strength of feeling against that crossing and paid tribute to drivers of lorries and buses that no serious accidents had occurred.
Cllr Dodds added that a hairpin bend and roundabout so close together was not good and Cllr Champken-Woods concluded: ?We don?t want a death before something is done.?
Cllr Laver explained that the site for the crossing had been chosen because that was the place where most people were likely to cross and that continuous monitoring was being carried out.
Resident, John Hughes raised the subject of the proposed 20mph speed limit for much of the town. He said that he was trying to get council to open up a debate about the proposal, saying that he felt there was a lot of opposition to the plan. He asked what consultation had been carried out and was told by Cllr Dodds that the town council was awaiting a definite proposal from the county council at which time consultation would be appropriate.
Mr Hughes said: ?It is this sort of thing that is turning people off politics; this scheme seems to be gaining a momentum of its own.?
Daniel Cuell, a teacher from Lord Williams? school, has responsibility for the School?s Travel Plan which, he explained, looks each year at how safe pupils? journeys to school are.
He said: ?There is huge concern among students about the volume and speed of cars. As a school, we are encouraging car sharing among staff and are encouraging school buses to go round edge of town.
?Some of us will be inconvenienced but we must think about the needs of all residents, especially the most vunerable.?
Margi Barbour pointed out that speeding was the prime concern of people according to a recent SODC forum report.
There followed some discussion about the extension of opening hours by local pubs and criticism of a lack of local consultation. Cllr Mike Welply agreed that the new Licencing Act, which means that SODC becomes the licensing authority, is causing some confusion and difficulties, including the strange anomaly that Thame Town Hall, if it obtains a Licence to hold public events where alcohol is served, will not be allowed to hold council meetings! This could apply to all village halls and Parish halls.
Resident Sarah Hayes proposed a vote of thanks to the town council for listening to the people of the town on matters like the museum, a new library, rock nights, etc. ?We are a fantastically ?doing? community? she said, ?And our elected representatives get a lot of stick!?
Referring to the Draft Local Plan which allows for the development of Cultural facilities in the town, she urged TTC and the new Town Partnership, to put pressure on ?the powers that be? in this area. ?We must think about big projects,? she said and suggested three:
1. Make Elms Park a fun place! Junior skate park?
2. Rugby Club Round-about ? Enhance
3. Multi-function, open access community centre for Thame ? Prime site-Cattle Market. ?We do have the vision and the clout to move it on,? she said. ?Do not just take the cheap option; listen to the people of Thame. You have in the past and I know you will in the future,? she concluded.

Cllr Dodds said that the council was limited by parameters layed down by the donors of the land for Elms Park (the Purser family) in what it could do there, but would look into what can be done.
With regard to roundabouts, he reported that an announcement was expected shortly about SODC taking over responsibility for looking after them which would be helpful.
The Town Clerk interjected to say that Thame In Bloom was working with the council to improve the town?s roundabouts.
The mayor, David Dodds, thanked everyone for attending and said that it was his view that this year?s Annual Town Meeting had been the best for years!