Council rejects WiFi for ‘Rising Star’ high street

THAME Town Council has decided not to support a proposal for a town centre-wide WiFi system which would have given shoppers, visitors and businesses the ability to go online more easily to find information about the town and events.

Councillors who sit on the town council’s Policy and Resources committee, which met last night (13/10),  were concerned that visitors would not be encouraged to go into local cafes and pubs and other places that have public WiFi already, which would have a detrimental effect on the town centre economy. Others thought that there were sufficient hotspots around the town centre already for people to get internet access.

The proposal, which is part of South Oxfordshire District Council’s Economic Development Plan for Thame, would have cost around £10,000 to install, £5,000 coming from SODC itself and the other half, from matched funding by Thame Town Council.

One of the proposal’s main aims was to encourage ‘longer dwell times’ in the town centre, resulting in greater visitor spending.