horndeanmatters

On the 4th February 2020 Horndean paid tribute to two brave young Australian pilots who died after their Mosquito crashed in Horndean after returning from a bombing mission over Germany in 1945. The dedication was held on the 75th anniversary of the tragic event with a service led by Wing Chaplain, Padre Charles Lewis assisted by Revd Angela Johnson and Wing Chaplain, Padre Phil Hiscock. The Venerable Gavin Collins Archdeacon of the Meon gave the blessing.

Over 300 people joined together to remember these two men at the new War Memorial in Five Heads Road. Detachments of servicemen from Thorney Island, Oswald (Billy) Mountford and Edward George (Teddy) Wickys base whilst they were in England and RAF Odiham represented the Air Force. Vice Lord Lieutenant Rear Admiral Iain Henderson CB CBE DL, the Queens representative in Hampshire  and Squadron Leader Cameron Robottom from The Australian High Commission. In addition to a number of attendees from the Armed Forces, there were representatives from EHDC, HCC and the RAAF. A troop of CCF cadets from Churchers College and children from Horndean Junior School who have parents in the Armed Forces also paraded.

Thirteen Standard Bearers were present in support and we very much enjoyed the musicians from the Royal Marines School of Music who played before and after the service and led the hymns and anthems.

The monument was manufactured by specialist stone workers from Yorkshire, J Rotherham Ltd who also made the very complicated replacement for the Memorial in the village square a few years ago.

We were thrilled to welcome nine members of the Airmen’s families who had travelled half way round the world to see their relatives honoured. They said they were very grateful to the people of Horndean for the magnificent memorial and service and had looked forward to this day since they had first heard of the plans.

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Real thanks must be given to the Children of Horndean 1940s for their vision and persistence in pursuit of their dream. For fourteen years they have been trying to raise the money for this cause and some of them are no longer with us – but they have finally ‘made it happen’

Thank you to BBC South Today for covering the event with a brilliant feature and for allowing the clip to be used.

Thank you also to the private donors who gave so generously as without their support this would not have happened.

“No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”  This passage is one that is often heard at remembrance services, because it sums up the philosophy of the armed services.  When Jesus said this to his disciples he was looking forward to the time when he would be killed on a cross and then rise again in glory on the first Easter day.  If we look in depth at this passage, we are told that we are Jesus friends if we do what he commands, in other words accept God into our lives.

This caveat allows us all to be a friend of Jesus and a friend of all peoples.  We say that we are part of the RAF/RAAF family, we are part of the family of the church and as such these people are our friends.  75 years ago, two young men, Edward Wicky and Oswald Mountford, gave their lives for their friends in this wider sense.

They had come from the other side of the world, as members of their families have come to be here today;  they had come to fight for the United Kingdom against the evil of the axis powers and like all service men then and now were aware that their service could result in the giving of their lives.  On that fateful night their aircraft, a De Haviland Mosquito, serial number PZ452, had been damaged by enemy action and had chased a V1 rocket during their sortie and on the approach to the then RAF Thorney Island it is thought that the aircraft ran out of fuel.  All attempts to glide back to their home station failed and the crew took action to avoid centres of population on their flight path and they managed to avoid most of Horndean, although demolishing the roof of the then village hall which was, thankfully empty, before crashing into fields just outside the village.

Their bravery had been recognised by the award of the Distinguished Flying Cross only a week before their death and is an indication that their attempts to avoid civilian casualties was not an isolated act of bravery but part of their normal behaviour.

These young men, whom we honour today, certainly gave their lives for their friends and truly deserve the praise of us all and the accolade of hero.

As we remember with thanksgiving the sacrifice of Jesus for us all let us also remember the sacrifice of these two young men and the many thousands like them.

Amen.

Padre Charles Lewis

As a reminder the new war memorial in Horndean will be dedicated on Tuesday 4th February 2020 at 12:00 with The Royal Marines School of Music performing from 11:45.

This is to commemorate the two RAAF pilots who were killed 75 years ago to the day while flying back from a bombing raid. The plane was lost and in very poor weather clipped the roof of the old parish hall at the end of Five Heads Road before crashing and blowing up behind the old brewery site.

Because they were not residents in Horndean they did not qualify for a place on the village War memorial so for the last 75 years their sacrifice has not been given proper acknowledgement.

The Children Of Horndean 1940’s who have had this vision for decades and are thrilled to see it a reality and with 9 members of the Airmens family flying over to take part in the dedication they would like to welcome you to join in the ceremony.

This will be attended by:

• The Vice Lord-Lieutenant of Hampshire Rear Admiral Iain Henderson CB CBE DL representing Her Majesty The Queen,
• Air Commodore Allan Vaughn representing the RAF and RAAF
• Representatives from The Australian High Commission,
• RAF Padre Charles Lewis
• The Venerable Gavin Collins, Arch-Deacon of Portsmouth
• 9 relatives of the airmen

The  Royal Marines School of Music have also very kindly given their support to the event and will be providing a group of musicians to take us through The Dam Busters March, Hymns and Anthems.

You are most welcome to come along and support the event.

Hampshire County Council are reviewing all of their services to find savings on some to help fund rising costs in others, for example, Adult Social care. The consultation runs until Wednesday 18th March 2020 and details on how to respond are in the link at the end of this article. There is also a consultation event at Horndean Library on Monday 10th February from 2pm to 6pm where the consultation information is available to view and you can leave your views there and then.

As well as responding to changing needs, the library service is looking to make savings of £1.76 million. All areas of work across the County Council are being looked at to find savings needed to bridge the current funding gap faced by local authorities across the country, as demands for council services grow.

Options include the following:

• change how council-run library services are delivered, including:
• closing up to 10 libraries; and/ or
• reducing and standardising staffed opening hours;
• deliver library services differently within local communities, through:
• transitioning Tier Four council-supported, community-managed libraries into
independent community-managed libraries; and
• exploring better ways to deliver library services in Hampshire’s most deprived
communities;
• make further efficiencies; and
• generate additional income.

Horndean is on the short list of ten libraries to close as with the HCC scoring method it is ranked at number 46 out of the 48 libraries in Hampshire with the other 9 being equally spread throught the County. this will save £37,000 – which does not seem like a lot considering the value that HCC need to find.

To view the consultation details and give feedback please click on this link HERE

To view the consultation document please click on this link HCC Libraries Consultation

You can also contact Cllr Marge Harvey as the HCC County Councillor

On Monday this week, 27th January 2020, The One Stop on Five Heads Road was robbed. The robber is described as Male, dressed in a black coat with hood up and dark tight jeans of tracksuit bottoms with white trainers. He was also wearing a pair of tights over his head and carrying a Blue Lonsdale ‘Bag for Life’. The robber got away with cash and cigarettes.

If you have been offered cigarettes for sale at a cheap price, or saw a red and white mini which was seen nearby at the time of the robbery the police would like to hear from you. The mini driver may been involved, or have seen something that can help the police.

If you can help please call the police on 101 and quote reference 44200033501 or crimestoppers on 0800 555111 where you can leave anonymous information.

Aquind who are proposing the new power interconnector from France to Lovedean sub-station are also it appears considering laying a fibre optic cable at the same time. It is understood that this allows the equipment at both ends of the cable to be monitored for balancing power etc but would have spare capacity for wholesale use to telecoms providers.

Ok, makes sense and if they are laying a cable then why not lay two.

I’m a little concerned however as this comes with the opportunity to be granted a licence by Ofcom to install infrastructure without planning permission, streetworks licences and to secure access on private land through the courts. Extract below from the Ofcom notification of consultation.

The electronic communications code is a set of rights that are intended to assist providers of communications networks and/or systems of infrastructure. Operators to whom Ofcom applies the Code may:
• construct and maintain communications networks and infrastructure (such as ducts, cabinets and poles) on public highways without the need to obtain a street works licence to undertake such works;
• construct communications infrastructure which is classified as ‘permitted developments’ under Town and Country Planning legislation (such as certain types of masts, poles and cabinets) without the need to apply for planning permission; and
• in the event that agreement cannot be reached with the owner or occupier of private land, concerning the deployment of communications networks or infrastructure on private land to apply to the Court to impose an agreement which confers the Code right being sought by the operator or provides for the Code right to bind the landowner or occupier.
Ofcom considers applications for the grant of Code powers from providers of electronic communications networks and providers of systems of infrastructure (or both) with reference to the matters set out in section 107(4) of the Communications Act 2003.

This is an area of expertise that few people locally have had to deal with and my question would be the following: If they are granted this power, and the fibre optic cable runs from interconnector to interconnector they would be able to install this cable from Portsmouth to Lovedean without getting planning permission or streetworks licences. What is to stop them from installing their power cables at the same time? After all we often criticise utility companies for digging up the road to put in a gas pipe, then two days later for a water pipe, “why cant they do it at the same time?” we ask…

Click on this link 2020 01 21 Aquind code-powers to download a PDF of the Ofcom consultation and consultation-form (3) to download a word copy of the response form which has the reply email details in it.

For me I will be replying that the licence should only be granted if the scheme as a whole is given planning permission (so as not to be used as any alternative mechanism to lay cabling) and that it is only to allow the installation of telecommunications equipment, all other utility infrastructure, particularly power cable, to be required to go through the normal planning and highways approval processes.

The Ofcom consultation closes on the 21st February 2020

The Aquind planning application has been submitted to the Planning Inspectorate for them to decide. this means that EHDC, Winchester City Council, the South Downs National Park Authority and other key local organisations are now just consultees who can give a view on the application.

As a “Nationally Significant Infrastructure project” (NSIP) the Planning Inspectorate weigh up the application from a planning perspective and importance to the Nation.

Details of the application including the documents submitted and the next steps are on this link HERE

The application has been accepted for examination and interested parties have until the 19th February to register. Any group, business or private individual can register and doing so means you are notified of key steps in the application including progress of the application (hearings etc) and the decision. it also means you can register your comments and views.

The link to register for updates and to give your views is HERE

And… a link to the 536 documents (at the time of this blog…) is on this link HERE

Please find below details of various current scams from the Force Crime Prevention Advisor at Hampshire Constabulary from their November 2019 update.

Cllr Sara Schillemore.

SCAM 1

A scammer calls you, claiming to be from your bank or a Police Officer. They tell you that a fraudulent payment has been spotted on your card, or someone has been arrested using your card details.

They’ll either ask you for your PIN or ask you to key it into your phone. No bank or other legitimate service will ever ask you for your PIN. The scammer then sends a courier or taxi to pick up the card from your home. Even the driver may not know they’re being used as part of the scam. Once the scammer has both your card and PIN they can spend your money.

SCAM 2

A scammer calls you or visits you, claiming to be a Police Officer. They tell you there is a corrupt member of staff at your bank/ post office and the police need your help to catch them.

They ask you to withdraw a large sum of your money, which the police or bank will mark, then put back into the banking system. They say this will help them identify the corrupt person. Once you hand the cash over, it’s gone forever.

SCAM 3

A scammer calls/visits you claiming to be a Police Officer. They are investigating a local jewellers for selling counterfeit jewellery/watches. They ask you to buy an expensive watch or piece of jewellery, to try to find out if counterfeit goods are being sold. Once you’ve bought the item, the scammer tells you to hand it to a taxi driver or courier for transfer to the police. The item is then simply kept by the scammer to be sold for monetary gain.

Bicycle Security Tips

1. When out lock your bike to something immovable, an object a bike cannot be lifted over and cannot be broken, cut or removed. Check the object is fastened to the ground.
2. For maximum protection use two locks (a D-lock and a robust chair and padlock is ideal). Find tested and approved bike locks at Sold Secure
3. Register your bike on Immobilise. Consider marking your bike with a bike wrap or similar. You can also invest in a bike alarm as a further deterrent.
4. Always lock your bike up at home, consider installing a ground anchor and attach it securely to a wall or concreate floor.

Action Fraud Update

Action Fraud is warning people to be on the lookout for fraudulent travel websites and unsolicited phone calls from scammers promising “too good to be true” deals on flights (particularly Africa and the Indian subcontinent).

Fraudsters most commonly cold call pretending to be from a travel company after the victim has unknowingly entered their personal details on a bogus website. After transferring the money for the great deal offered, victims may receive a confirmation email but any further attempts to contact the company will be unsuccessful. For more information click here.

ADVICE:

• Do your research – don’t just check one review!
• Are they a member of a registered trade body like ABTA
• Pay safe – use a credit card but be wary of paying into an individual’s account

Online Shopping: 5 Top Tips

1. Use a secure internet connection when online shopping, and avoid using public wi-fi.
2. Paying by credit card offers greater protection as most major credit card providers insure online purchases. Check your card’s Terms and Conditions for exact details.
3. Before entering payment card details on a website, ensure that the link is secure. There should be a padlock symbol in the browser window frame, which appears when you attempt to log in or register. The web address should also begin with ‘https://’. The ‘s’ stands for ‘secure’.
4. Check reviews to see if there are reviews and recommendations from a trusted source.
5. Check the web address for subtle misspellings, additional words and characters and other irregularities. For more information visit www.getsafeonline.org

You can read more tips in the Christmas Online Shopping booklet on the OPPC website.

Cyber Protect Team: Email Scams

PayPal Scam: A new PayPal scam/phishing email is going around asking email recipients to click on a link to access their PayPal account. Do not click on the link. If you want to check your account visit the PayPal website here.

Action Fraud phishing email: A new Action Fraud scam/phishing email is being sent out telling recipients that they have money owed to them. Do not click on the link. Under no circumstances will Action Fraud, or a police force, ask you to make a payment in order to recover money that you may have lost. For more information visit Action Fraud.