IT has been a year packed full of news and a lot has happened across Basingstoke and Deane, the Gazette looks back at some of those iconic moments.
May
As we moved into the summer months excitement built across Basingstoke and Deane as the borough prepared to celebrate the Coronation of King Charles III.
Throughout the weekend of the Coronation there were street parties, picnics and screenings to mark the momentous occasion and we loved seeing the borough come together to celebrate.
The paper was filled with celebration photos and it is a day we will all remember for a very long time.
READ MORE: Basingstoke residents celebrate the King's Coronation in pictures
Later on in the month all our hearts were broken when a tiny baby donkey was stolen from her mother from a field near Basingstoke.
Moon, who was less than two-months-old at the time, was taken from a field at Miller’s Ark in Hook where she was with her mother on Tuesday, May 15.
The community was left heartbroken and countless appeals were shared across social media. Residents were all relieved when the donkey was found and reunited with the its mother by the end of the month.
May was also a busy and historic month for Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council as the 17-year reign of Conservatives being in power in borough ended after councillors joined forces to oust the borough council leader. A dramatic meeting of Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council on Thursday, May 18, saw leader Cllr Simon Minas-Bound removed from the position.
The shock decision was made after the election resulted in no part having a voting majority.
The leader of the Basingstoke and Deane Independent Group Cllr Paul Harvey, was appointed as the council’s new leader and the Liberal Democrat group leader Cllr Gavin James was announced as the deputy leader.
SEE ALSO: Miller's Ark cute video as baby donkey reunites with mother
June
At the start of June five men were jailed for a total of 117 years for being involved in the killing of a man in a revenge attack after he stole drugs from one of them.
Frazer Brabant was assaulted and found with serious head injuries in the back garden of a house in Gershwin Road on October 31, 2019. The 31-year-old father-of-two was taken to hospital and died on January 21, 2020.
Lee Wood, 32, of no fixed abode, was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 29 years, Forhad Miah, 32, from Chestnuts Close, Oakley, was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 28 years, James O'Connor, 24, from Fairfield, Whitchurch, was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 25 years for murder.
Neale's brother Ricky Lewis, 40, of Candover Court, Basingstoke, was sentenced to six years for conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm.
Neale, Wood and Miah were also sentenced to nine years for GBH and three years for violent disorder. But they can serve this concurrently with the murder sentence.
READ ALSO: Basingstoke's Frazer Brabant: Five men get lengthy sentence
The month also saw some positive news when Basingstoke residents came together in a show of community spirit to celebrate their outstanding achievements at the highly-anticipated A Place to be Proud of Awards 2023.
The prestigious event took place at The Haymarket on Thursday, June 8, as guests donned their finest attire for a night of celebration.
Organised by Destination Basingstoke and supported by the Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council as the headline sponsor, this year was particularly special because it marked the 20th anniversary milestone for the awards.
July
As summer progressed, the sudden closure of a café on the edge of Basingstoke was the talk of the town.
The Olive Tree, in Monk Sherborne, shocked customers on Saturday, July 8, after taking to social media to make the announcement that was soon followed by a flood of reactions from locals.
The family-run tearoom opened in May 2022 in the former The Mole pub, which was saved from being turned into a private home in 2020. At the time, almost 600 signed a petition to save the pub so it was a sad day for the town.
SEE MORE: The Olive Tree: Tearoom in Monk Sherborne to close
Later on in the month the community was left shaken again after a man was stabbed multiple times in a serious assault in Basingstoke. Police were called just after 1am on Tuesday, July 18, by the ambulance service following a report of a stabbing in Queen Mary Avenue. A man in his 20s suffered multiple stab wounds to his legs and was taken to hospital.
Declan Martin Westwell, 28, of no fixed abode, was later charged with inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent. He then appeared at Winchester Crown Court on Friday, August 23 but it was decided that the case would be discontinued.
The shock amongst residents continued into the end of the month when a developer decided to return with a third attempt to build on agricultural land in Dummer – despite its first two applications being rejected.
Newlands Developments revealed that it is in talks with Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council regarding a further plan to build on Oakdown Farm, as residents braced to put on another fight to save their much-loved countryside.
The full extent of the plans were revealed later on in the year.
August
August started off with more news from the police as residents in Basingstoke were left ‘disgusted’ and ‘upset’ after vandals targeted the bandstand in the town’s War Memorial Park, hacking away at its wooden struts and putting the structure’s future in doubt.
READ ALSO: Residents upset as bandstand in War Memorial Park vandalised
The monument, which was originally built in 1903 and relocated to the park in 1927, was taped off after the appalling act made it unsafe. It appeared that vandals targeted several support pillars of the cherished bandstand.
Next comes perhaps the most shocking and heartbreaking moment of the year when the body of Basingstoke dad Charles Knight, who had been missing for more than two years, was found in remote woodland.
On Wednesday, August 9 at 10am, police officers were called to reports that human remains had been found in woodland near Burghclere. It was the news Charlie’s family had been dreading, after two years of agony not knowing what had happened to him, despite extensive searches and enquiries.
At the end of the month attention turned back to Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council when the council were told it must improve how it deals with planning applications or it will lose the power to decide where building can take place
It was warned by the Government that its ability to make major planning decisions could be removed after it was rated as the fifth worst-performing authority in the UK for having decisions overturned on appeal.
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