Burglaries in Coniston Avenue: information needed re wanted men

Thames Valley Police is appealing for information regarding the whereabouts of two men who are wanted in connection with burglaries in Oxford.

Lewis Felton, aged 27, and Kane Jones, aged 21, are wanted in connection with a number of burglaries that happened in Oxford on the same day last year.

The first burglary happened in Coniston Avenue, Marston, at about 2.10am on Tuesday 14 November.

During the burglary five offenders, all wearing hooded tops with the hoods up, forced their way into the property and stole a set of car keys to a Mazda 3 VRM SL54 KVZ.

Two of the offenders then drove the Mazda, which has tinted windows and gold alloy wheels, towards Headley Way.

The other three offenders walked away from the scene towards Ambleside Drive.

A purple coloured Adidas rucksack was also stolen. The rucksack contained a BMW employee pass and a 50ml bottle of DKNY gold perfume.

The second burglary happened in Valentia Road at about 2.30am.

During the burglary the offenders forced open a door to the property and stole a set of keys to a Land Rover with a 2014 number plate.

Subsequently, the Land Rover was stolen.

The third burglary occurred in Hill Top Road at about 2.45am.

The offenders forced their way into the property through a window and stole a set of keys to a BMW X5. The vehicle was later recovered in Prospect Path.

A set of house keys, watch and a Samsung phone were also taken.

Investigating officer, PC Sian Lewis of the Local Policing Area team in Oxfordshire, said: “I would appeal to anyone who has any information about the burglaries or the whereabouts of Lewis Felton and Kane Jones to contact police immediately.

“Felton has links to Berinsfield, Kidlington and Oxford and Jones has links to Kidlington and Oxford.

“It is believed that the offenders may have used a silver Vauxhall, possibly an Astra or Corsa, during the burglaries.

“If anyone has any information please call the 24-hour Thames Valley Police enquiry centre on 101 and quote reference 43170338429.

“If you do not want to speak directly to the police you can contact the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. No personal details are taken, information is not traced or recorded and you will not go to court.

“I would like to reassure residents that the force takes burglary extremely seriously. We realise the impact that such an intrusive crime has on its victims.

“This type of burglary is generally committed with the sole intention of recovering car keys so that the victim’s vehicles can then be stolen. As such the force advises motorists to place their car keys out of sight.”

Update on Lock’s Court/North Place issues

On Christmas Day, there was a fire in the bin store in Lock’s Court. The fire brigade was called out, they removed two bollards to gain access, disabled the electronic gate, and the lighting went out.

According to the fire crew, the bollards were laid on the grass, but they are no longer there and the City Council has reordered a set today.

We have received the following officer advice.

I have also requested for our estates team to attend to fix the gates and address the lighting (it has come back on this morning however I will still ask them to have a look to make sure that all is in working order).

Survey on whether more money should be available for policing

We have received this message from the Police and Crime Commissioner, Anthony Stansfeld:

On Tuesday 19th December the Home Secretary announced a substantial £450 million increase in police funding across England and Wales. However, this funding package assumes that all Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) will raise the police element of council tax by £1 a month (or £12 a year) for a band D property which, collectively, will raise £270 million of the £450 million increase. This will allow forces to continue to provide an effective service in their critical work to fight crime and protect the public.

At present around 60% of Thames Valley Police’s £393 million annual policing budget is funded by central government, with the policing element of your council tax making up the remainder. Since 2010/11 the police grant has been cut by around 38% in real terms which has resulted in Thames Valley Police (TVP) having to make £99 million of savings in order to balance the budget. These cuts have already led to a manpower reduction of over 1,000 full time equivalent posts, including more than 450 police officers.

Setting the budget for 2018/19 needs to be considered in the context of an already constrained financial position as well as the additional pressures policing faces as demand in some of the most complex and challenging areas continues to increase. This includes rising reports and cases of hidden crimes such as domestic abuse, child abuse, sexual offences, serious violence and exploitation have all increased the pressure on police resources.

Needless to say this is proving to be extremely challenging and without the increase of £12 per year in council tax, as recommended by the Home Secretary, we would have to make further significant reductions in police officers and staff which will affect the level and quality of policing service we are able to offer you.

In November 2017 TVP was judged by the Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) to be ‘outstanding’ in the efficiency with which it keeps people safe and reduces crime. This includes an ‘outstanding’ for its understanding of demand and its use of resources to manage demand, and its planning for future demand was judged to be ‘good’. Thames Valley Police was one of only two forces nationally to have been awarded an overall rating of outstanding.

Ideally I would not choose to consult over the busy Christmas and New Year period and particularly on such an important issue, however, the Chief Constable and I only received the provisional police grant settlement for 2018/19 from the Home Office on Tuesday 19th December. Unfortunately due to budget decisions needing to be finalised by the end of January I am only able to run the consultation until midday on Thursday 11th January. I apologise for the timing and length of the consultation period but I hope you will take the time to complete the survey which will help the Chief Constable and I to make an informed decision on the budget for 2018/19.

Today I have launched a short online survey to seek your views on this increase, which can be found on the below link and I would encourage you to complete it and share widely:
https://www.thamesvalley-pcc.gov.uk/get-involved/police-funding-survey-have-your-say/

Those residents who do not have access to the internet can write to the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner, Thames Valley Police Headquarters, Oxford Road, Kidlington, Oxon, OX5 2NX with your answers to the below questions.

Question 1
Do you think an extra £12 per year in council tax, for a Band D property, to help protect operational policing in Thames Valley would be money well spent?

Yes / No

Question 2
If you have answered No to question 1 will you please explain why and propose an alternative annual increase that you believe is justified and will enable the Force to do their job effectively?

Please note that all responses needs to be received by midday on Thursday 11th January 2018

City Council’s Chief Exec to speak at Ward Focus meeting

You have a top guest speaker coming to answer your questions at your next Ward Focus Meeting on 30th January – the chief executive of Oxford City Council. Here are the event details.

 

NEXT HEADINGTON WARD FOCUS MEETING

The next public meeting for residents who live in Headington Ward will be on

Tuesday 30th January 2018

Headington Baptist Church Hall, Old High Street, Old Headington OX3 9HW

from 6:00-7:30 pm

Guest speaker: Gordon Mitchell, Chief Executive at Oxford City Council 

Ward Focus meetings are run on a drop in and out basis and are free of charge. There is an open session where residents can raise issues of concern. There’s no need to book.

If you would like to contact your Lib Dem city councillors for advice on any issue please contact

Issues regarding missed bin collections

Residents have asked us why bins are sometimes missed and we have received the following information from the City Council.

Their instructions to crews are as follows:

  • If the road access is restricted the rounds should try again later in the day
  • If the container is not presented where is should be presented at curtilage, the crew should log the bin as not presented.
  • If the containers are accessible but parked cars prevent safe egress between the cars they should be logged as no access due to parked cars, whether that be from the resident or other parked vehicles. 
  • In all cases the crews are expected to undertake dynamic risk assessments during the round and all containers should be presented correctly and safe access to collect and return will be a factor to the collection crews.

Please note that in some tight roads such as Gardiner Street, inconsiderate parking in front of bins may result in neighbours not having their bins collected (see third bullet point above, highlighted) so please take care when parking on road at bin collection periods.

Tree works in Headington

We have asked the City Council about the length of time it takes for works to trees to be carried out. Some residents have queried why it is taking up to three years for a tree to be pollarded, for example.

Here is the reply we have received.

Unfortunately, we are unable to provide a monthly schedule of tree works. No matter how well we plan, enquiries come in everyday that we need to assess on a risk basis. This means that works are constantly being rescheduled as we have to deal with the highest priorities first. 

Unforeseen events can also have a large impact on job completion, such as storms/high winds or vandalism.

Therefore it is currently very difficult to be able to plan in works any more than a week or two at a time – even this timescale is not always guaranteed.

The time involved in re-issuing the schedule every time we had to make changes would divert staff from dealing with the enquiries or planning the works.

We are asking whether in progress messages can be sent to those who have reported tree defects so that residents know the request has not got lost in the system.