| Topic: | Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Save our local Post Offices? Is Essex Council showing the way? | |
| Posted by: | Jonathan Callaway | |
| Date/Time: | 24/02/08 11:20:00 |
| Martin, a quick trawl of the web reveals the following, from TALKING RETAIL on 12 Feb 2008. It seems a number of other councils are looking at what Essex may or may not agree with the Royal mail who for their part are very keen to move ahead with their closures as quickly as possible. My "wait and see" comment reflects the fact that the plan is an outline only and we need to see exactly what emerges. But why shouldn't our council look at this idea too? It has the financial resources and Essex CC is clearly not being purely altruistic - they want to see if the underlying businesses are viable. Here is the article: "Essex Council throws lifeline to threatened post offices" "" Essex County Council could be about to step in with a £1.5m rescue plan for 32 post office branches threatened with closure. The council said today it had become the first local authority in Britain to formally enter negotiations with Post Office Ltd that will see a number of post offices previously earmarked for closure remain open. The post offices were due to shut under nationwide programme that will see 2,500 branches removed from the system. A two-month negotiation period has now been agreed between the council and Post Office Ltd, allowing time for each Essex branch to be subject to an assessment for support based on financial viability together with local need. County council leader Lord Hanningfield said: “There is a huge amount of work still to do and we will now be conducting our own assessment on the merits and financial viability of each post office together with the needs of the communities that they serve – because of this it is too early to mention specific branches at this stage. “Let me also stress that this is also not about replacing one public subsidy with another. Our intention is very clear; the money that we will be investing on behalf of the people of Essex will be used, over the course of the next three years, to help each branch to move, as far as possible, to become financial self-sufficient and cost neutral to the council.” Last month Hampshire County Council promised to pump £100,000 into helping stores hit by Post Office closures. "" |