MP’s anger as rural post offices face axe (From Ludlow Advertiser)

MP’s anger as rural post offices face axe

9:21am Monday 7th April 2008 in News

A body blow' to village life.

ANGER erupted across south Shropshire over plans to close up to 14 Post Offices, many of them in rural areas.

The list included braches in All Stretton, the Clun Valley and along the Welsh border. East Hamlet, in the north of Ludlow, is also slated for closure. The Post Office, which issued the list of threatened post offices on Tuesday morning said some will be replaced by "outreach services" which include a weekly mobile van.

There was an immediate reaction on both sides of the political divide.

Ludlow MP Philip Dunne was "appalled" that half the 28 closures planned for the whole of Shropshire would be in a constituency that goes as far north east as Bridgnorth. He said: "Our remote village communities seem to have been singled out for this further body blow to sustaining village life. Of the 14 post offices slated to be axed, nine are in village shops or garages, many of which will struggle to survive the loss of business which the post office brings."

Substitute outreach mobile van services will only be available a few hours a week to seven of the communities affected. Mr Dunne said these "will be no substitute in most of these villages where the post office doubles as the local shop."

He has spoken to each of the sub-postmasters affected and will be visiting each post office in the next few days. But he warned: "There are some very odd inclusions in this list and a few surprising omissions, such as one post office which has been closed for a year with little prospect of finding anyone to take it on. This may mean even more post offices will actually close in the constituency than has been announced today."

District councillor Heather Kidd, who will contest the constituency for the Lib-Dems, said: "Marton Post Office in my ward has been named for closure. It provides the community not only with a Post Office but also a shop. Neither can survive alone. If the Post Office goes so does the shop. If the Government expects communities like ours to stay viable then they either have to stop this ruinous programme or come up with serious compensation."

Recently Coun Kidd successfully proposed that South Shropshire Council should set up a £25,000 pot to match fund upgrades of shops in villages where they are the only outlet.

Among other branches in south Shropshire on the hit list are Acton Burnell, Aston on Clun, Knowbury, Lydbury North, Munslow, Stiperstones, Wentnor and Worthen .

Public consultation began as soon as the affected post offices were named on Tuesday. The deadline for representations is June 9. To help form its own response, Shropshire County Council has invited town and parish councils to a meeting at Shrewsbury Shirehall on May 21 at 7pm.

The Post Office aims to close 2,500 post offices across the country by the end of 2008, cutting the present network of 14,200 by 17.6%.

OPINION - THE people of south Shropshire are taking a battering. There are plans to merge village schools and to shut the Ludlow tax office. Now there is a long hit list of post offices branches, most of them in country areas.

Both Ludlow's Conservative MP Philip Dunne and his Lib-Dem opponent Heather Kidd are united in their opposition to the post office plan. Mr Dunne sees it as a body blow to local communities. The shops or garages that operate the post offices will not be permitted to sell stamps or offer any other competing services so their viability will be under threat.

Mrs Kidd says that, if Gordon Brown's government is serious about sustaining local communities, it should either call a halt or come up with useful compensation.

Much can still be done at local level. Public consultation is taking place over all three issues. Cynics often believe that such exercises are merely paying lip service to public opinion and do not affect a pre-determined result.

But don't forget that a massive outburst of public indignation caused Shropshire Council to drop its programme to shut 22 schools. So do make your voices heard on these latest threats to the quality of life in the county.