We have a wonderful opportunity each year to gather together in thanksgiving for the life of our town. The High Bailiff - Fred Dowling and I would be delighted if you could join us for the Community Thanksgiving Service 10 am on Sunday 19th May 2013 in St John's Parish Church.

This year we hope to have a parade from the Memorial Hall in Station Road to St John's and we hope that many will participate with all banners flying! The Parade will leave the Memorial Hall at 9.30 am. If you don't wish to be in the Parade, then we suggest you arrive at St John's by 9.45 am for a 10 am start.

John Ganjavi, Rector

UKIP thanks its supporters

Dear Editor,

Following last Thursday's spectacular success for the UK Independence Party in the County Council elections, the dust is now beginning to settle and some interesting comments and analysis have been put forward by politicians, the media, and the many online political bloggers. Many of them have been at a loss to understand how a small political party with no MPs, limited funds, limited manpower and a handful of full time employees, could possibly field over 1700 candidates in a national election, gaining 138 seats, securing 23% of the vote and coming second in a by election held in a rock solid Labour constituency where the party had never before even fielded a candidate ! This was the greatest performance by a ' fringe ' party since the second world war, and the Westminster political establishment is still trying to come to terms with it.

Try as they might they simply cannot accept that their lies, deceit, false promises and the politically expedient claptrap they spout has been rumbled. Huge numbers of voters have simply had enough. The silent majority finally have someone who represents their views, not just about the EU, but immigration, taxation, welfare, energy and a host of other issues. The anger, bitterness and despair that I listen to on a daily basis from people who cannot bring themselves to vote any longer for the three 'look alike' parties whose policies are almost interchangeable, is testament to the sheer frustration that so many people feel.

Conservative Central Office seem to be running around like headless chickens. One minute saying they will listen to people's concerns, and the next that it is not necessary for them to substantially alter their chosen course. The 'promise' of a real in/out referendum on the EU remains some distant aspiration with so many ifs, buts and maybes that it cannot be taken seriously. Mr. Cameron remains convinced that the UK's future is best served by our continued membership of the EU, following some unspecified renegotiation. He won't of course tell us what his advice would be should his negotiations not bear fruit, which would seem very likely.

Labour and the Lib Dems can offer little in the way of solutions to the problems our country faces, they mainly rely on yet more spending and borrowing and continued subservience to our real government in Brussels. The truth is that the people we have been voting in to run our affairs now have little real say in how the country is governed. The truly radical policies needed to sort Great Britain out cannot be put into place while we remain members of the European Union. It is as simple as that, and it applies to local issues and problems as well as national ones, from house building to transport to wind farms!

It is not possible here to cover every single aspect of why so many people chose to vote UKIP last Thursday, but I hope I have given your readers an insight into why I and so many others did just that. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who did. We put up a very strong showing in Warwickshire, coming second or third in almost all wards contested, and almost won in Kineton where Paul De'ath came within a couple of hundred votes of victory, never having stood for election before, a remarkable result.

The UKIP Stratford upon Avon branch has recently been relaunched, with many new members, and we are now actively preparing for next year's Euro elections. I can give this assurance to your readers. We are not going to give up, go away or be bowed into submission. Our aim remains the unconditional withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the EU. This is now without doubt the majority view of the British electorate. I feel that last Thursday's results were a significant step forward, but we still have a long way to go. We will not rest until our country is once again a free, self governing, sovereign nation, having cast off the gigantic millstone around our neck that is the European Union.

Brett Parsons - Chairman, UK Independence Party - Stratford upon Avon Branch.

Let's Encourage our Young People

Dear Editor

While reading the last edition, I was encouraged by the letter that Rosina Ayling sent in. A breath of fresh air, many new ideas and such enthusiasm. If Rosina decided to stand for election, she would get my vote.

The other point is hopefully a partial answer to Lesley's question regarding the orange posts in the field behind Brook End Drive. From our house we saw a surveying exercise in the field across the railway line. Yellow tripods with laser measuring equipment etc. Following this the orange posts appeared. The posts must be to do with the results from the survey.

Andy Langford - Brook End Drive

Should the Residents pay for Councillors' errors?

All parish councils MUST act within the law and they can only spend money if there is a statutory power to do so; otherwise they act 'ultra vires' (beyond their powers).

It would seem that the 'Ruling Group' of the Henley and Beaudesert Joint Parish Council were unable to specify the powers they had relied on to impose a ban on a councillor, despite being advised on more than three occasions that they were acting unlawfully. As a result, when challenged in the High Court, they conceded with an out of Court settlement paying in total more than £12,000 from the parish councils reserves.

At the recent Parish Assemblies and previous council meetings, the 'Ruling Group' were unwilling to justify why the residents should pay through their council tax for the consequences of the unlawful actions by these councillors.

Council Accounts - A Guide to your rights

The Audit Commission Act 1998 s17 provides for the District Auditor to declare an item of account as unlawful and on an application under this section, the Court may make or refuse to make the declaration asked for, and if it makes the declaration then, it may also

(a) order that any person responsible for incurring or authorising expenditure declared unlawful shall repay it in whole or in part to the body in question and, where there are two or more such persons, that they shall be jointly and severally liable to do so;
(b) if the expenditure declared unlawful exceeds £2,000 and the person responsible for incurring or authorising it is, or was at the time of his conduct in question, a member of a local authority, order him to be disqualified for being a member of a local authority for a specified period; and
(c) order rectification of the accounts.

To set this action in motion requires all the residents in Beaudesert and Henley, who consider that the residents should not pay for the errors made by the parish council's 'Ruling Group', to submit a Notice of an objection to the District Auditor.

Download the Audit Commission's form - Notice of an Objection

If this action is successful, the council taxpayers' money can then be used for the benefit of community
rather than paying for a politically motivated act which was 'Ultra Vires'.

Johnsons win 2 National Awards

Johnsons Coach Travel, Henley-in-Arden's largest employer, has beaten off competition from operators from across the UK to win two national tourism awards at the Coach Tourism Awards 2013, held last Thursday night in Liverpool.

The awards recognise excellence and innovation across coach tour operators, tourist destinations and attractions, and industry suppliers. Johnsons won two awards – firstly for ‘Coach Tour Operator of the Year - Large Fleets’. Following the award the judges’ citation included:

“In choosing the winner in this category the judges look for evidence of a commitment to excellence in operations, customer service and training. In Johnsons Coach Travel they found it. The judges specifically noted that Johnsons takes quality monitoring very seriously with a system of holiday and excursions questionnaires that produce scores that for their office service, hotel and coach standards, and the performance of the driver and courier.”

Johnsons also won ‘Day Excursion Programme of the Year’ – again against stiff competition from other major coach operators. The judges noted; “That this year the company introduced 64 new destinations, splitting the whole programme into 13 different themes - and the fact that every trip is fully researched before it appears in the programme.”

John Johnson, Commercial Director, collected the awards together with some of his staff, in front of more than 450 tourism industry professionals. Commenting on the company’s success, John says: “We are delighted that the industry has once again recognised our hard work and commitment to customer service. This was a great team effort by all our staff and these awards speak volumes for our enthusiasm and commitment to provide excellent holiday and excursion products for our customers. These are two more great awards to add to our trophy cabinet!”

Johnsons were also finalists in three other categories: ‘Coach Driver of the Year’, where their top tour driver Andy Daw just missed out. Julie Roberts, who organised the award winning excursion programme, was a finalist is the ‘Coach Tourism Professional’ category, and the company were also finalists for ‘Best Coach Tour Programme’ too.

The awards presentation was held in the wonderful venue of Liverpool Anglican Cathedral and was hosted by the television presenter and travel and tourism expert, Judith Chalmers.

Sarah Johnson reporting

Financial Planner becomes Youngest Champion

A Henley-in-Arden based financial planner has become the youngest ever Personal Finance Society chartered champion.

Ben Rees (aged just 30), director of Denehall Wealth Management at Forward House, 17 High Street, is the new ambassador for the Birmingham & West Midlands region of the PFS - the leading professional organisation for financial advisers in the UK. This initiative is aimed at raising the profile of Chartered status for financial planners and firms among local business communities and consumers - and in his three-year role as chartered champion, Mr Rees will be the local advocate for achieving coveted Chartered status in the region.

He will also represent the PFS and parent body the CII (Chartered Insurance Institute) across the region, as well as hosting a variety of events for Chartered Financial Planners like Chartered Business Dinners and Chartered Connections Clubs, which establish links with other professionals such as lawyers and accountants.

Ben Rees says: “It’s a huge honour and privilege and I’m very proud to be the youngest ever chartered champion. We have an increasing number of talented youngsters coming through, with university and professional services backgrounds who are less sales and more ethics orientated, and I’m seen as the person ideally positioned to connect with them. My core ambition is to put in place a mechanism for a more structured awareness of the chartered designation and long term I want to be able to give financial advisers the same level of support as is given to chartered accountants. This role will also enable me to connect with other leading and like-minded professional advisers in the region and initiate strong collaborative working relationships, networking ideas and continuing professional development opportunities.”

With increased FSA regulation, new distribution channels, intense competition and relentless media scrutiny, the insurance and financial services sector has had to raise its game – and Chartered status enables individuals and firms to demonstrate their professional commitment to improved levels of knowledge, capability and ethical practice. However, it’s relatively new and needs to be actively promoted to both the financial planning sector and the general public.

Ben adds: “Independent research shows that consumers recognise and value the Charter marque as a gold standard of excellence and integrity. I’m very eager to get involved in the development of the financial planning profession and as more and more advisers achieve Chartered status, I know the perception of our sector will gain more credibility. Indeed, at Denehall Wealth Management we practise what we preach and are proud to have been one of the first to be awarded the prestigious Corporate Chartered Financial Planners designation by the CII, which only 3% of UK firms have. It definitely helps us to stand out from the crowd.”

Local Fire Tender will Return

Chris Lamb who wrote in the last edition of Henley NEWS that he wanted to visit Henley with a former Warwickshire fire truck which had be based in Henley writes to say

I'm now booked for the Church Fete on June 22nd and the school Summer Fayre on the 29th. Jessica Bahlmann has emailed me today to say she's thinking of asking if any of the parents have any classic cars they'd like to take to the Fayre as well, to make a bit of a show of it.

Richard Butler, Watch Commander at the Henley Fire Station, is now also in correspondence with Chris about his visits.

A strange bird in my garden

A strange bird in the garden had us turning the pages of our various bird books, but it was the internet which gave us the ID of our unusual visitor: a Californian Quail.

It arrived last Monday (May 6th) and lives in the greenhouse; he(?) complains loudly if someone is working in there! He adds a little glamour to the usual selection of garden birds, but we would like to see him returned home; he’s used to people and not afraid to wander over the grass looking like an easy lunch for the sparrowhawk.

If anyone has lost one of these, they can contact me on 07907 615422.

Hilary Young

2nd Community Library Quiz Night

Henley Community Library had its second Quiz Night on Monday 29th April in Henley Primary School Hall. For £2.00 per person, teams of 3-4 people competed for prizes for the highest score and Best Team Name. You could bring your own drinks, and as soon as you walked through the door you were warmly welcomed by Margaret!

Seven teams competed: The Charming Companions, Witty Wawens, Lit Chicks, From The Farr Side, Hope Over Experience, The Blanks and The Old Contemptibles. Play started at 7:30pm with the TV Times quiz. After every round teams swapped answer sheets for marking. Five quiz rounds rushed by before we had a break: TV Times; Where on Earth...? ; the Link round; Science and Nature, Music.

To make sure no one had time to be bored, sheets showing different pictures and asking different details about each one were given out just before round 1. Who or what did it show? Who created it? You had to squeeze your answers into the time between rounds 1 and 5. For the music round, there were different types of music played and again you had to guess different things about them: song titles, the names of performers or composers, and sometimes the music's background - such as film or opera, depending on the cue on the answer sheet.

In the break, there was a snack bar serving cake, pizza, sausage rolls, crisps and salads plus coffee, juice and tea, for a donation. More rounds followed: Food Glorious Food, Literature, Film and General Knowledge. While the scores were totalled, the raffle provided some wonderful prizes: keep-fit equipment, a slow-cooker, bottles of wine, chocolates, pots of flowers, spa toiletries as well as restaurant, beauty and merchandise vouchers. Merchants in Henley and Wootton Wawen were very generous in their support. The Library will thank them on its website.

The Charming Companions reviewed the evening: “Tonight is good fun, though some of the questions should be made easier. But there is a nice variety of snacks available, and thank you for an enjoyable evening!”

Congratulations to The Blanks, who won the Quiz prize of wine and chocolates. There was a tie for Best Team Name: From The Farr Side and The Lit Chicks took away a team bottle each. A big thank you to all of the helpers of The Henley Community Library, Moss for being an excellent host, Elaine for keeping the scoreboard and everyone who came to join in the quiz for a fun and successful night!

Sophie Cox reporting

Recent Property Sales in the Henley area

You can view all previous sales information by visiting OurProperty.co.uk.

Lowsonford Ladies welcomes new members

Raising money for local charities

The Lowsonford Women's Club was started in the late 1930s by Mrs Helen Darby, a lady who lived in the village. Meetings were held in her Garden Summer House as somewhere that the ladies of the village could meet, bring their children along to play in the garden and get to know one another over a cup of tea and chat.

This eventually this was moved into the Village Hall where her husband donated a large sum money to build on to the hall the Darby Room. As the ladies became older and the children grew up it changed slightly into what it has become today: somewhere for the ladies of the village and surrounds to meet once a fortnight on a Wednesday afternoon to pass the time of day, have a cup of tea and organise all sorts sales, coffee mornings and an annual Christmas Fayre. The money raised is given to local charities.

In the past 20+ years we have raised and given away well over £24,000 which we feel is quite an achievement. At present, we have only 10 full members and numerous helpers when we need them for an event.

Anyone wishing to join us would be very welcome - we each pay £8.00 a year to be a member and £1.00 each at each meeting.

New members will be very welcome: our next meeting is Wednesday June 12th 2.30pm in Lowsonford Village Hall and thereafter every alternate Wednesday. You do not have to live in Lowsonford to join us. Why not come along and see what you think.

Carole Knight reporting
www.rowington.org/Rowington/lowsonford_womens_club.html

Make Henley in Arden Greener
Our Award Winning Column
Save Money - Help Save the Planet

400ppm at Mauna Loa volcano in Hawaii

What are ppm and what has Mauna Loa got to do with Henley you ask? ppm is short for parts per million. 400 ppm is the same as 0.04% - a fairly small amount but it is important, as you will see if you follow the link at the end of this article.

The picture shows the measuring station on the slopes of Mauna Loa volcano in Hawaii where daily measurements are made of the amount of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) and other pollutants in the atmosphere. This site was chosen because it is remote from industrial centres of pollution, so results from here give a good indication of general atmospheric levels of CO2 and other gases. Daily measurements at Mauna Loa started in 1958. They revealed an annual cycle in atmospheric CO2 level with a maximum each May followed by a steady fall of about 6 ppm to a minimum in October. The fall is due to the annual growth of vegetation absorbing more CO2 than is being put into the atmosphere. The graph (red line) reveals that the annual absorption is less than the annual increase, so each year the peak in May is slightly higher than in the previous year. The 400ppm recorded last Thursday will therefore be followed by smaller values over the next few months until levels start to rise again in October. Next May, we can expect to see about 402ppm. The dark line is the trend after correcting out the annual cycles. Daily CO2 is now measured in Antarctica and several other places around the world. All show similar results. Notice that the rate of rise is accelerating!! (The curve is getting steeper.)

The last time that atmospheric Carbon Dioxide was above 400ppm occurred more than 3 million years ago. For all of human history and a long time before, CO2 has been between about 200 and 300 ppm and for the last 10,000 years up to about 1850, the level was fairly stable at about 260 to 280ppm. This created a stable climate, which allowed the development of agriculture. As a result, human populations grew and the first cities were created about 7000 years ago. The rapid rise from 280ppm since about 1850 is due to us humans burning coal, oil and gas so some of that 400 ppm came from gas and electricity used in your home in Henley, from your holiday flight and from your car exhaust. That’s the connection between 400 ppm at Mauna Loa and Henley. Click here for more information about why this is important and here for more information about atmospheric CO2.

John Stott - Climate Change Correspondent

John Garner's Business Column

Tired eyes?

More and more of us spend long hours in front of a computer screen and it can take a serious toll on our eyes over time. I certainly feel it and am often reluctant to stay at the computer into the evening however much work there is to do, even when I’m writing my article for Henley News.

But maybe help is at hand. A clever app by the name of “f.lux” can come to the rescue. Allegedly. This application (available for Windows, Mac and iPhone/iPad) works to soften the light that a computer screen emits by adjusting to the time the sun sets at your geographic location. Users can also change settings according to the type of light usually present in a room - daylight, tungsten, halogen, fluorescent, and others. In short, f.lux makes your computer screen compatible with the room you're in, all the time. When the sun sets, it matches the look of your indoor lights. In the morning, it makes ready for sunlight again. Tell the app where you live and what kind of lighting you have, then forget about it, f.lux is designed to take care of the rest automatically.

Oh – and it’s free.

So I’ve decided to road test it for my readers. It’s very easy to download and install, not techie at all. Once you’ve run the setup programme the only thing you have to do is tell it where you are so it knows when the sun will set. After that you can forget about it, it’s doing its work in the background.

To download it go here and you can read more about it. Click the blue Download button (or click on Mac if you’re posh) and when it asks, you click Save. Then double click the file you’ve downloaded and then click Run.

When the icon appears at the bottom of the screen (usually in the bottom right hand corner) left click on it and then click where it says “Change Settings”. You can then adjust for the lighting you have at home (if you want to bother), then click “Change” where it says “2. Set your location”. When the box appears click on “Locate” and you can then type your postcode where it says “Where are you?”; click GO and your location will appear on the map. Copy and paste the co-ordinates it gives you into the “Where am I?” box. If you have any difficulty with this just type in the co-ordinates for Henley (52.30N, 1.78W). Click OK.

That’s all. It will start automatically each time you start your computer.

The question is: does it really work? The testimonials on the website say it does. I’ll see how I get on with it and report back in the next edition of Henley News.

John Garner - Business Correspondent

Warnings from Trading Standards

Bag Scam
Residents are advised to check carefully before they employ traders to remove rubbish from their property. This warning comes after a Coventry resident hired a two ton bag to clear some rubbish from his home. The consumer had seen an advertisement on a small ads website which only carried a telephone number and no address. The trader dropped the bag off at the resident’s property and the resident paid the trader in full for the bag and for its removal and disposal after it had been filled. The resident filled the bag but the trader refused to return to collect the rubbish, becoming quite aggressive on the phone and has since disappeared!

Telephone Preference Service Scam
A consumer contacted Warwickshire Trading Standards after receiving an unexpected phone call from someone who claimed they could get unexpected phone calls stopped for £1.80! The consumer gave the caller his card details and the caller took almost £70 from his account. The consumer does not know the name of the caller. Trading Standards advise consumers not to provide their card details to anyone who calls them. It is free to join the Telephone Preference Service

Computer Virus Scam
A consumer reported to Warwickshire Trading Standards that he was using his computer when there was a ‘big flash’ and a notice appeared warning him that he had accessed illegal websites, his computer was now ‘locked’ and he must pay a fine of £100 in Ukash vouchers. The message included a photo of a policeman and reference to Cheshire Police. This is a well-known computer virus called ransomware. Computer users must not send any money and seek professional advice to remove the virus.

‘E-Book’ High Pressure Selling
Businesses in Warwickshire are warned to beware of high pressure selling phone calls from publishers offering advertising space in ‘e-books’, or electronic books. One Warwickshire trader reported spending 30min on the phone after an unexpected call who wanted them to part with £8000! Warwickshire Trading Standards advise Warwickshire traders not to agree to buying goods and services from unexpected phone callers.

Alarm Sale Warning
Kineton Consumers in the Kineton area reported receiving unexpected phone calls from an alarm sales company that claimed to be ‘working in the local area’. Warwickshire Trading Standards advise residents not to buy alarms from any unexpected doorstep callers or to accept a ‘free’ alarm in return for signing an agreement for a monitored alarm. Beware of businesses that use high pressure selling to sell overpriced and unnecessary alarms and ‘monitoring’ agreements. Some are known to have set up and gone out of business within a few years, leaving consumers with worthless contracts. Get security advice from your local Police Crime Prevention Officer.

More information is available on Trading Standards website

Simon Cripwell, Senior Information Officer, Trading Standards Service
Warwickshire County Council
email. simoncripwell@warwickshire.gov.uk