A PUBLIC meeting to discuss the possible closure of up to nine post offices and five mobile post office services in West Devon is to be held at Bridestowe Village Hall on Monday June 9. The meeting, which starts at 7pm, is open to all West Devon residents who have concerns about the changes recently announced by the Post Office. West Devon Borough Council is organising the meeting and representatives from Post Office Ltd and the independent watchdog for postal services Postwatch have confirmed they will attend. Towns and villages affected by the proposed changes to their post ofice service must make their views known during the consultation period which ends on June 30. The proposals, if ratified, will see the total closure of two post offices in West Devon — Sampford Courtenay and Ford Street in Tavistock. A further seven — Bridestowe, Chillaton, Lewdown, Meeth, Milton Abbot, Northlew and Postbridge — also face closure. The Post Office is proposing to provide a reduced hours 'outreach' service in these areas although they admit that the details are not yet finalised. Mobile post office services at Buckland Monachorum, Peter Tavy and Milton Combe will close while the mobile service at Clearbrook and Lamerton will change to a special home service. This is as a result of the withdrawal of the Devon and Cornwall mobile post office operating from Tavistock, serving 19 communities. The changes could come into effect by August this year. The borough council has been involved in talks with the Post Office to limit any reductions in service. Last year a special task group of councillors was set up to respond fully to the Post Office consultation. A groundswell of support has poured in for Bridestowe Post Office, now under threat of closure. The Post Office is proposing that Bridestowe Post Office be a mobile service for ten hours a week and suggests customers can use Okehampton Post Office — almost seven miles away — or Mary Tavy or Lifton post offices. However, bus services to and from the village are infrequent. Currently, the post office in Bridestowe is open for 38 hours a week and doubles up as the village grocery store making deliveries to customers living in an area of around 40 square miles. Naomi Nardi, who jointly runs the Riverside Stores and Bridestowe Post Office with her husband Richard, said: 'People rely on us to make their everyday lives possible, but if the post office goes then we may not be able to keep the store going, although we would try. 'Lots of our customers tell us they feel abandoned by this whole process. We have many rural businesses in the area – including hotels, bed and breakfasts, pubs and farmers — that use us regularly. The irony is we're getting busier every year yet the Post Office wants to close us down.' Cllr Alison Clish-Green, chair of the borough's task group on Post Offices, called on communities affected by the proposals to make their voices heard at the public meeting. She said: 'This is an ideal opportunity to put our concerns to the Post Office and show them how our communities feel about losing or having their service cut back.' Cllr David Weeks, chairman of the borough's overview and scrutiny committee, added: 'I urge people to write to the Post Office to tell them why their post office is important to them. The timescale for this consultation is very short and people need to take action now.' Comments on the proposed changes should be sent to Tim Nickolls, network development manager, Post Office Ltd, FREEPOST CONSULTATION TEAM or email [email protected]">[email protected]
