West Oxfordshire District Council has approved its budget and a council tax rise RESIDENTS of Witney, Eynsham and Chipping Norton will be asked to pay an extra five pounds on average in council tax for local services from April. The tax hike will mean that the average Band D household in West Oxfordshire will pay £109.38 Over the course of the year between April 2021 and March 2022, to help fund a £14m budget for services including bin collections, leisure centres, and social housing. When added on top of tax increases by Oxfordshire County Council and Thames Valley Police, both of which also claim money from council tax, the average home in West Oxfordshire will pay £1,913.77 over the course of the year.
THIS week 15 years ago, smoking was banned in all pubs and members-only clubs within 18 months after MPs inflicted a stunning defeat on Government attempts to allow exemptions. In a landmark Commons vote, MPs overwhelmingly threw out a proposal to exempt pubs not serving food by 453 votes to 125 - a majority of 328. Minutes later, they voted to include members-only clubs, including workingmen’s clubs and British Legion premises, within the ban by 384 votes to 184 - a majority of 200. The vote was immediately hailed as a major victory for public health in the North-East, which had among the worst rates of premature deaths from smoking in England.
A NEW business venture that wants to help musicians in Barrow is looking to showcase their skills this weekend with an exciting music event. Lock In, which was set up by Barrow-based DJs and musicians, wants to give back to their community by sharing their knowledge and skills within the music industry. To do this they have rented studio space Duke Street just this month, after raising money for Furness charities Mind-In-Furness and Barrow Foodbank through streamed DJ sets. Mal Lingard, one of the team that runs The Lock In, said: It s a community interest company born from live DJ sets and musicians doing sets from their home to raise money for firstly the foodbank and then Mind during lockdown.
The 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne) paved the way in night-vision flying nearly four decades ago, but as with any organization, versatility and growth is the metric by which relevance is judged. The concept of “owning the night” carried Army aviation through countless global conflicts and provided a significant advantage over enemies. Near-peer adversaries now possess comparable night-vision technology, narrowing the advantage provided by zero-illumination tactics.
With this in mind, the 160th is developing new advancements in technology, tactics, techniques and procedures that will once again establish dominance over America’s adversaries. The regiment’s innate desire to innovate has led it to introduce a cutting-edge rotary-wing training pipeline known as Special Operations Aviation-Advanced Tactics Training (SOA-ATT).
Green city councillor Craig Simmons said the Lib Dems message was ‘misguided and unhelpful’. He added: “We all need to take personal and collective responsibility for complying with Covid rules and that may involve having a gentle word with your neighbours, work colleagues and local businesses. And, if that is not effective and they continue to ignore the law and putting others at risk, then it is perfectly reasonable to report their behaviour.” Michelle Mead, the Conservative leader of West Oxfordshire District Council, and TOry group leaders Jane Murphy (SODC) and Simon Howell (Vale) also said enforcement was an important part of the rules.