Mayor’s Letter to Thame

Mayor Andy Gilbert

Hello Thame,

My name is Andy Gilbert – there’s more than one of us in Thame, so for clarity, I’m the older one, and it’s my great honour to represent Thame as its Mayor for 2024-25.

I’ve been a Town Councillor for over two years and have lived in Thame since 2012. Prior to that, we lived 10 years in Long Crendon and our two children (now in their 30s) both went to and loved Lord Bills. My wife works as Lead Nurse at the Rycote practice in Thame.

“Yes, yes”, I hear you say. “So you’re almost a local now, but what are you going to DO?”

First, I represent a group of 15 other Thame Town Councillors who do a lot of great work to keep the wheels of local government turning. Behind them is a dedicated staff team of employees at the Town Hall.  Together, we’re focused on keeping Thame as a beautiful, healthy place to live, work and shop.

Second, we have a number of initiatives that set a ‘direction of travel’ for how we want Thame to be going forwards. Among these are:

  • Thame Neighbourhood Plan 2nd version (TNP2 for short). Thame was one of the first towns to publish its neighbourhood plan over a decade ago. The TNP establishes an agreed framework for developing the town and is particularly important in limiting and directing housing development.
  • Thame Local Cycling, Walking and Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP for short) which defines how we plan to make Thame a place you can travel around without relying on a car. This includes bikes, buses and of course walking.
  • Thame Green Living plan – this was created by Thame Green Living, a community group, but we adopted it in 2020. It dovetails with the LCWIP and outlines actions we are seeking to take by 2030. We also want to consider future plans within the wider environment of Thame.
  • Community bus – we recently helped to secure the future of the Thame 121 bus from Haddenham to Thame. This was funded primarily by Bucks, with a contribution from OCC using the section 106 funds from Wenman Road developments. We’re also working on our own plans for a ‘hopper bus’, similar to the one which runs successfully in Princes Risborough.

Third, we want to communicate better with you, the residents of Thame. We’re starting a bi-weekly stall at Thame Tuesday market from 28th May which will help us better connect and be more visible. I would love to have something like the Thame Gazette back, but that’s maybe a longer-term project than a mayoral term.

Lastly, no one has a monopoly on ideas and thoughts and I’d welcome your positive ideas by email to andy.gilbert@thametowncouncil.co.uk

Best regards,
Andy Gilbert
Thame Mayor