POST offices in West Devon are essential to their communities and not a luxury, the borough council has told post office management who are considering closing 2,500 branches across the country. Next February, a review of all Devon?s post offices will begin following an announcement earlier this year that 14,000 branches would need to close by late 2008 to save network losses of £4-million a week. The council fears that during the Devon review, some of the borough?s post offices will be earmarked for closure. Any announcement on closures is not expected until next April. In the meantime, the council is urging West Devon residents to make their views known about the impact of possible closures of post offices in the area. All letters and emails will be forwarded on to the post office review team. In a letter to Post Office managers, Cllr Alison Clish-Green, chair of a special task group of councillors responding to the post office network change programme, said that in many villages in West Devon, the post office was the only shop for miles around. As one of the most rural and sparsely populated areas in England, with a higher than average elderly population, limited public transport, a low waged economy and with a third of residents not having home computer facilities, she said the council would argue strongly against any closures that would disadvantage the rural population. She said: ?We accept that the sparsely populated nature of the district means that essential services are more costly to provide, but this often results in an increase in pockets of significant deprivation in an area that is superficially affluent. ?Many small rural settlements lack facilities such as schools, shops and post offices, resulting in significant issues of rural isolation that are of serious concern to this council.? Cllr Clish-Green said the council accepted that a review of the network was needed, but added: ?We hope to reflect a real and genuine local concern that such changes to the post office network, as is considered necessary, will not in any way seriously affect local residents for whom access to the local post office is essential and not a luxury.? The council?s post office task group has met with representatives from Postwatch, the Federation of Sub Postmasters and Post Office Ltd to discuss the issue. Only last month the Post Office announced the first wave of proposed closures which could see 58 branches in Kent, 45 in East Yorkshire and 77 in the East Midlands being axed. West Devon has actively raised the profile of its post offices over the years and only in February held a week-long Use Your Post Office campaign which sent out a message of support to its rural and town post offices, and encouraged people to use the many services on offer. Cllr Clish-Green said the council was grateful to all people who had already written in with their views on West Devon post offices in their area and she hoped that more people would do so. To have your say on the future of post offices, email [email protected]">[email protected] or write to Post Office Review Task Group, West Devon Borough Council, Kilworthy Park, Tavistock PL19 0BZ.
