February 2015 – Page 2 – Stourpaine Matters

Withdrawal of Durweston & Blandford School Bus Service

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS EVENT HAS NOW BEEN POSTPONED FOLLOWING THE DECISION BY DORSET COUNTY COUNCIL TO RE-VISIT THE DECISION AND FOR THE APPEALS COMMITTEE TO WALK THE ROUTES PROPOSED

WE WILL LET YOU KNOW THE OUTCOME IN DUE COURSE

WITHDRAWAL OF DURWESTON & BLANDFORD SCHOOL BUS

UPDATE – FEB 2015

QUOTE FROM ED DENHAM, SCHOOL PLACES SUFFICIENCY MANAGER

“The Children’s and Adult Services Appeal Panel currently view the route as being safe and thus if there is an issue on a particular day because of flooding or standing water on part of the route, the responsibility remains with the parent to get their child to school through alternative routes or using their own car or vehicle.”

PLEASE JOIN OUR WALK INTO SCHOOL ON SATURDAY 21^ST FEBRUARY AND WE WILL WALK OUR “ALTERNATIVE” WALK ALONG THE A350

Download the Poster

A message from the Dorset Police & Crime Commissioner

Dear Resident

This Thursday from 10am you can see democracy in action as I present my proposal to freeze the cost of the policing element of the council tax to the Police and Crime Panel. The meeting will be webcast and I would like to invite you to join us online for the meeting at http://webcasting.dorsetforyou.com/core/portal/home

My decision to freeze the precept has not been taken lightly. I have sought to balance the needs of our police service with the demands on residents across Dorset. The government have offered me £574,000 if I decide to freeze for this financial year. My preference, naturally, is that wherever possible, I would prefer the government to fund local policing rather than the people of Dorset having to bridge the funding gap in these difficult financial times.

A seven week public consultation has been running on the 2015/2016 precept proposals, which closed last week. Of the respondents, 29% have indicated that they support a freeze. 15% would support a 1% increase although this can be achieved by accepting the Freeze Grant at no cost to the council tax payer. The full results, which can be viewed on our website, will be presented to the Police and Crime Panel on Thursday.

I do hope you are able to join us online for this important event. If you’re a twitter user, we will also be posting updates from the Council chamber via our @PCCDorset twitter account and you can join in the conversation via the hashtag #dpcp2015

Kind regards

Martyn Underhill
Dorset Police & Crime Commissioner

Congratulations you have won the lottery………or have you? – a message from Dorset Police

Please see below information from Dorset Police –

A lottery scam takes place when criminals pretend that you have won a prize, often a lottery. The people most likely to fall victim to this tend to be over the age of 60 (although younger people do fall victim too) – but we know that it is often close family members of victims who spot the tell-tale signs of the fraud.

Criminals will normally get in touch by letter or email and will try to engage you into dialogue with them. Once they have convinced you that they are “genuine”, they will ask for a fee to be paid to release your winnings. This fee could be to pay taxes or duty, or for a solicitor, banker or judge to authorise the transaction. NO GENUINE LOTTERY WILL EVER ASK FOR ANY SORT OF FEE TO BE PAID.

Often this first fee will be small, but once they know you are willing to pay it they will ask for more and more money, with ever-changing excuses as to why they need it. Victims can end up losing tens of thousands of pounds over the course of months or even years.

Many of you reading will be surprised that this type of crime takes place. After all, why would anyone fall prey to scam like this when they never entered any such lottery in the first place? Why would they have to pay money when they are supposed to have won millions of pounds? The sad truth is that these criminals are incredibly persuasive and prey on people who are very trusting. Therefore, even if you know that you would not get defrauded like this, please spread this message widely to friends, family and to people within your community.

Prevention:

If you have not entered a lottery or a prize draw, you have not won it.
Delete any emails which detail you winning money or being in a position to make a fortune
Spread the message amongst people you come into contact with, especially older people in your family, and look out for any unusual behaviour, for instance someone paying money via money service bureaux, like Western Union or MoneyGram, or buying Ukash vouchers.

If you believe you have become the victim of a fraud or cyber crime, or have received a suspicious email, find out how to report it at www.actionfraud.police.uk