SANDFORD LINK

Some 3 years ago B.T. were asked to remove the kiosk to the other end of the Post Office (Henley Road end) thereby providing more privacy to Post Office House. However, B.T. stated that any resiting of the kiosk must be to a position where there was a likelihood of greater use and hence income. The Parish Council's first choice was the corner of Church Road! Henley Road a site which B.T. has eventually agreed to after putting forward several of their own suggestions.

B.T. have now said that the matter is receiving urgent attention.

The reason for Christ's coming to earth on the first Christmas Day is given in the words 'God so loved the world that He gave his only-begotten Son, to the end that all that believe in Him should not perish but have everlasting life'. That was God's 'saving act' and by it He showed us the kind of God He is and His great love for men, women and children everywhere. It involved Christ in the voluntary sacrifice of His life on the Cross 'for us men and for our salvation', as the Creed puts it, and God vindicated, or justified, that sacrificial offering by raising Him from the dead on the first Easter Sunday.

It is these facts which the Church remembers, especially during the next two months in the seasons of Lent and Easter. The continuing existence of the Church today, nearly twenty centuries after it happened, is perhaps the strongest evidence for the truth of Christ's Resurrection because if He didn't rise again there would have been no Gospel no Good News - to give to the world, and the Church would never have come into existence, let alone lasted till the present day.

If there is one idea that needs to be exploded it is that Christianity is just a code of ethics, a system of conduct. It isn't. It is a way of life based on belief that in and through His Son Jesus Christ, God acted on our behalf nearly twenty centuries ago to 'put us back on the right lines' and show us the way to Himself. To quote some words from one of our oratorios, 'If with all your hearts ye truly seek Me, ye shall ever surely find Me; thus saith the Lord'.

The litter and general rubbish everywhere is an eyesore behind 10 acres site, the farm entrance off the slip road Church Road particularly near the sub-station (Fry's Barn) and the recreation field by the swings.

What are you going to do about it ? Certainly Sandford does have problems if it competes with some of the pretty Cotswold villages and Hamlets in North Oxfordshire - but there is still no allowable excuse for the state of untidiness/ litter in the village. If everyone collected a carrier bag of litter each time: they walked through the village, a significant impression could be made - why not do something instead of complaining Take example from the two youngsters mentioned on the front page.

So there is no public access to the river this point was hotly contested in a public inquiry about 15 years ago but the Village lost. Even the previous concession has now been withdrawn and if the bridge is unsafe, the gate should be locked to prevent anyone from becoming injured.

Better still that the "Company" replaces/repairs the bridge very quickly to allow the people of Sandford access to the river and towpath on the other side. The Parish Council need to take action quickly and effectively.