Post Offices: Hopes dashed and hopes again

Anyone following closely the Government's plans to close post offices will have found many twists and turns as one minute it looks like Uplands can be saved then the next minute hopes are dashed.

See below for details of lobby on Wednesday

Many will have read that a £75,000 bid to save Uplands post office from closure has been launched by Green-led Stroud Town Council. Let us not forget this is a profitable PO. The council pledged to spend £25,000 a year for the next three years to cover the running costs at Uplands Post Office, earmarked for closure. Councillors are challenging Post Office Ltd to discuss the subsidy plan. And if the subsidy scheme fails Stroud Town Council has said it will consider running its own 'alternative post office'.

Yet we hear that the PO must close anyway as it is too close to the one in Stroud - and is taking too much business from it that the main PO is not wholly viable. This is an outrage if anyone has followed the story - how can you close a profitable PO to close an unpopular and unprofitable one??! Indeed Friday I went in to the main office only to walk out as the queue was almost to the door and a woman at the end said I've already been here over 5 minutes - I really pity the staff having to work in such conditions where the public are constantly being challenged by long waits....

....but again yesterday I hear there might be a glimmer of hope for Uplands and other POs.

Certainly news from Essex - although not sure if it has been in the news yet as I heard it from a campaigner who spoke with their Essex County Council press officer - anyhow it looks like they have cobbled together a legal rescue package for 15 out of their 31 post office shops under threat. The PO have now agreed that this model can be used across the country. We need Gloucestershire County Council to now take this forward and demand an immediate response from Post Office limited.

John Marjoram this last week joined the LGAs conference in London about POs - it was a sell-out with hundreds of delegates from around the country - Simon Burman of PO ltd said 89% of sub-post masters believed working with councils was a way to grow their business. Leeds City Council for example used POs as a way to distribute school uniform vouchers.

Join the lobby

On Wednesday 21st May there will be a lobby at Glos CC at 9am outside Shire Hall, Westgate St, Gloucester. I unfortunately have a meeting at work at that time but urge anyone who can go to go...only one PO in the whole of Glos and Oxfordshire is to be reviewed at present - that's 26 POs in Glos to close. So far Tory-led Glos CC have committed no funding - campaigners believe that £10 to £15,000 per year would save each PO and note the GCC Chief Exec earns £154,000 per year - not really so relevant but they do consider reserve accounts could be used without increasing the Council Tax.

Anyhow perhaps if you can't make the lobby then email Barry Dare, leader of GCC with your views: leader@gloucestershire.gov.uk

Here is my comment sent to him: "I am delighted that GCC has agreed to consider a rescue plan for Glos post offices. I would welcome an update of this, particularly in the light of Essex County Council's success in planning to reopen 15 post offices. I hope very much that you will be able to commit the necessary funds into saving many of our post offices and communities. We want a postal service not a postal business. I hope you can take a lead where our Government has failed."

I've not looked at the funding closely yet but we need to be clear about what we are supporting and why. As I've noted before many village shops could also do with support to prevent them closing - they can also provide an essential local service. We are long overdue a serious look at how we can support communities.