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Use it or lose it Post Office plea

Tuesday, 17 September 2019 12:25

By Daniel Clark, Local Democracy Reporting Service

Devon County Council will write to Government for help.

Devon County Council’s cabinet recommended to the full council that they write to the Government and to urge them to guarantee the future of post offices across Devon and to do more to support post offices in rural and coastal communities.

Subject to approval from full council at the start of October, the letter will call for proper funding of post offices and better support for the development of community hub models, which aim to combine post offices with other local services to better meet local needs.

But councillors speaking at last week’s meeting said the best way to support and save post offices in their communities was for people to use them.

Cllr Alan Connett, leader of the Liberal Democrat Group, said the local communities were part of the answer and people have to do more than just simply saying post offices are a nice thing to have.

He said: “In Kenton, when people were concerned about a potential closure, we told them to come and use the post office. It is the transactions that tell the post office that the community values it.

“We need to tell and get residents to use their post office and for them to be given them a reason to go there. If you avoid using the supermarket and use the post office instead, you will be surprised what you can find. What we must do is more than simply just say post offices are a good thing and we need to ask if there are things that can be done to put more business across the counter.”

Cllr Roger Croad, Devon County Council’s Cabinet Member for Communities said that it was important to recognise post offices often form the heart of our rural communities, and that further funding is required to adequately maintain services.

He added: “Not only will we call on the Government to increase commercial support, but we want to work alongside community groups across the county to better understand current needs. This will create valuable opportunities to share information and enable communities and support groups to better help themselves.

“We are keen to use all opportunities to join our partners in conversations with residents on how we can continue to develop strong and sustainable community assets across Devon.”

Cllr Rob Hannaford, leader of the Labour Group, had put forward the motion which was calling for the network to be properly funded, with a full range of services over the counter for those who are not online, and better support for the development of community hub models.

He said that while the recommendations were helpful, even in some of the more urban areas, like the Exwick and St Thomas area of Exeter he represents, the corner shop is reliant on the post office.

But he added: “There are extra bits that we could do. Britain’s 11,500 existing post offices are facing increasing financial pressure, especially given the rise in popularity of online services. With Government funding set to drop to just £50 million by 2020/21 there is a need for measures to be taken to ensure the future of the post office network.

“So many of them are interlinked in communities along with the village shop and the pub, but some of the rural communities feel under siege. They are losing their hospital, maybe their fire station, and now the shops as well.”

Cllr Alistair Dewhirst added: “This is not going far enough and we should write to post office to express our concern about what is happening to them. They close and they never reopen.”

The cabinet unanimously agreed to recommend to full council to Government to

  • give consideration to the opportunities for further commercial support for rural, coastal and other ‘community’ critical post office locations
  • to urge Government to give consideration tothe potential to better utilise and work with the post office network on wider service delivery
  • to identify gaps in physical banking facilities in market towns and for populations at least six miles from their nearest post office outlet
  • to support links to communities and organisations wanting to develop and sustain the Post Office network in Devon, particularly where gaps in physical banking facilities exist.

The full council will meet on October 3rd to consider the recommendation and to vote on the motion.

 

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