24 March 2026 – Agenda
SUMMONS TO ATTEND A MEETING
TO: All Members of the Community Services committee
Cllrs D Bretherton, P Cowell (Chair), A Dite, H Dollman, M Dyer, L Emery (Deputy Chair), C Jones, H Richards and A Wainwright
Ex Officio (Voting) Members – A Gilbert (Town Mayor) and D Dawson (Deputy Mayor)
To all other Members for information
You are hereby summoned to attend a meeting of the Community Services Committee on Tuesday 24 March 2026 at 6.30pm in the Upper Chamber (Thame Town Hall) for the transaction of business as set out on the attached agenda.
Mandy Sturdy
Town Clerk of the Council
Date: Wednesday 18 March 2026
AGENDA
1) Apologies for Absence
To receive and agree apologies for absence.
2) Declarations of Interest and Dispensations
To notify of any items that appear in the agenda in which there may be an interest that has not been recorded in the Member’s Register of Interest; and confirmation of any relevant dispensations.
3) Public Participation and Public Questions
To consider applications from members of the public to address the Committee (5 minutes maximum), in respect of any item of business included in the agenda. Applications to speak must have been received by the Town Clerk no later than 5pm on the last working day preceding the meeting.
To consider questions from members of the public (who live, work or run a business in the Parish). Written questions must have been received by the Town Clerk no later than 4pm on the last working day preceding the meeting.
4) Minutes
To confirm as a correct record the Minutes of the Committee Meeting held on 11 November 2025.
11 November 2025 – Minutes (draft)
5) Budget Summary
To monitor actual income and expenditure against estimates.
5. Community Services Budgetary Figures to 28 February 2026 (pdf)
6) Christmas in Thame Feedback
To receive a report on the events held to celebrate Christmas in Thame in 2025 and provide feedback.
6. Report – Christmas 2025 Feedback (pdf)
7) Town Centre Working Group
To approve the Terms of Reference and to agree for this to be taken to Full Council for membership approval. To note that the working group will reconvene to discuss Christmas lights infrastructure.
7. Town Centre Working Group Terms of Reference (pdf)
8) Christmas Proposal 2026
To receive a report and consider proposals for Christmas events and activities throughout for 2026.
8. Report Christmas 2026 Proposal (pdf)
9) Taste of Thame 2026
To receive and note the report and to request Councillor support for the event.
9. Report – Taste of Thame 2026 (pdf)
10) ThamePride 2026
To note event date of 20 June 2026; supporting the event with some officer time to manage and assist with road closures and provision of free use of the Town Hall
11) Thame Town Awards 2026
To receive and note a report.
11. Report – Town Awards 2026 Update (pdf)
To approve the updated Terms of Reference.
11. Appendix A – Town Awards – Terms of Reference Updated 2026 (pdf)
12) Thame Art Crawl 2026
To note applications are now open for Thame Art Crawl; advertised in Oxford Art Week and Longwick Art Show for new artists. To note event date Saturday 10 to Saturday 17 October 2026.
13) Event Dates 2026
To note event dates.
Vegan Market, Saturday 17 January 2026
Volunteer Fair, Saturday 24 January 2026
Mayor’s Charity Quiz Night, Thursday 5 March 2026
World Village Market, Thursday 5 – Saturday 8 March 2026
Thame Country Fair, Sunday 5 and Monday 6 April 2026
Royal British Legion Concert, Saturday 11 April 2026
Mayor’s Charity Ball, Saturday 25 April 2026
Memorial Event for 15th anniversary of the end of the War in Iraq, Friday 22 May 2026
Music in the Park, Sunday 3 May 2026
Taste of Thame, Saturday 23 May 2026
Vegan Market, Saturday 6 June 2026
Thame Sportive, Sunday 14 June 2026
Duck Race, Sunday 14 June 2026
ThamePride, Saturday 20 June 2026
CPM Thame 10k, Sunday 28 June 2026
Park(ing) Day, Thursday 2 July 2026
Skate Jam, Saturday 11 July 2026
Market Community Fun Day, Tuesday 18 August 2026
Street Fun Fair, Thursday 17 – Saturday 19 September 2026
Thame Food Festival, Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 September 2026
Charter Fair, Friday 9 and Saturday 10 October 2026
Thame Art Crawl. Saturday 10 to Saturday 17 October 2026
World Village Market, Thursday 22 to Saturday 24 October 2026
Service of Remembrance, Sunday 8 November 2026
Armistice Service, Wednesday 11 November 2026
Vegan Market, Saturday 21 November 2026
Green Fayre, Saturday 21 November 2026
Christmas Lights Switch-On, Friday 27 November 2026
Thame Charities Fair, Saturday 28 November 2026
Grotto, Saturday 28 November 2026
Tractor run, Sunday 20 December 2026
Carols Around the Tree, Thursday 24 December 2026
To be confirmed dates:
Town Awards
Emergency Services Day
Thame Fireworks Display (usually a Saturday end of October / early November)
Santa Sleigh Run, various dates
14) Council Policies
To approve the following policies:
a) Hire Agreement – all equipment
14a. Hire Agreement – All equipment DRAFT (pdf)
b) Emergency Response Plan
14b. Emergency Plan 2026 Draft (pdf)
c) Marking a Death of a Senior National Figure
14c. Marking the Death of a Senior National Figure Procedure 24.03.26 DRAFT (pdf)
15) Communications & Community Engagement
To receive and note a report on Town Council communications and community engagement.
15. Report – Communications and Community Engagement – March 2026 (pdf)
15a. Appendix A – Website Analytics Report 23.10.25-24.2.26 (pdf)
15b. Appendix B – Councillors on the Market – March 2026 (pdf)
15c. Appendix C – Communications Survey (Residents) Results Summary (pdf)
16) Communications Strategy and Social Media & Media Relations Policy
To review the draft Communications Strategy and recommend that it be presented to Full Council for adoption.
To approve the proposed changes to the Social Media & Media Relations policy.
16. Report – Communications Strategy and Social Media & Media Relations Policy (pdf)
16a. Appendix A – DRAFT Communications Strategy 24.3.26 (pdf)
16b. Appendix B – Social Media and Media Relations Policy – DRAFT March 2026 (pdf)
17) Town Hall Utilisation (including Free Use / De Minimis Delegated Authority)
To receive the report of the utilisation of the Town Hall (including Free Use and equivalent cost granted by the Town Clerk through Free Use / De Minimis delegated authority).
17. Town Hall Utilisation Free Use of Facilities 2025 – 26 (pdf)
To receive and approve the proposed Schedule of Charges for 2026-27 for the hire of the Upper Chamber, meeting room and Southern Road Recreational Ground football pitch as detailed in the report.
17. Report – Fees and Charges (pdf)
18) Community Projects
To note reprint of Visitor Guide, Historic Trail 1, Historic Trail 2 and Historic Trail 3 leaflets required with an expenditure of £902, taken from Economic Development.
To note Nelson Street the Proposed experimental (ETRO) One-Way restriction was presented to the Cabinet Member for Transport Management on Thursday 26 February 2026 where the ETRO was granted.
18. Report – Nelson Street (pdf)
19) Community Partnerships
a. Thame Alliance Group
To receive the minutes from the meeting on 3 February 2026 of the Thame Alliance Group.
19a. Thame Alliance Group – TAG Minutes DRAFT 03.02.26 (pdf)
b. Thame Good Neighbour Scheme
To receive and note the report.
19b. Report – Thame Good Neighour Scheme (pdf)
c. Thame Youth Council
To receive a verbal update.
d. Lord Williams’s School
To note ACE week will be 6 -10 July 2026. Councillors are asked to be available this week to assist with Lord Williams’s School’s off-timetable activities
e. Padle Court
To note Thame Football Partnership has provided the Community Plan to Oxfordshire County Council for consideration regarding lease alterations.
f. Volunteer Fair 2026
To receive and note the report.
19f. Report – Volunteer Fair (pdf)
g. Thame Town Music Festival Donation
To receive the report and to approve that a donation of £500 is paid to Thame & Haddenham Choral Society.
19g. Report – Thame Town Music Festival Donation (pdf)
20) Community Safety
a. Policing in Thame
To receive a verbal update on the latest matters for policing in Thame.
20a. Report – Policing in Thame (pdf)
b. CCTV
To review the latest CCTV information available.
To note that Shopwatch is progressing, the radio ariel has been fitted to the Town Hall Clock Tower and radios distributed to shops participating in the scheme. Thame Town Council Information Centre is the hub for Shopwatch and will be undertaking radio monitoring checks.
c. Defibrillators
To receive and note the report.
20c. Report – Defibrillators (pdf)
d. Speedwatch
To receive and note the report.
20d. Report – Speedwatch 2026 (pdf)
21) Markets
a. To note Officer provided assistance to the Flower Stall during the process of change of ownership and to the Kebab van during the process of change of ownership and Street Trading Licence.
22) Approve Application for Grants:
To consider and approve that Thame Town Council apply to SODC for CIL Grant funds for £250K towards the cost of the Community and Youth Centre (Project Link).
To consider and approve that Thame Town Council apply to SODC Active Grant for £1,000 for the Running Track at Southern Road Recreation Ground towards the costs to improve the surface and line marking.
23) UK Town of Culture 2028, Expression of Interest
To receive a verbal update.
24) Items for Information
a. Music in the Park:
To note the accounts for 2024-25.
24a. Music in the Park Accountant Report 2025 (pdf)