EAST Hampshire District Council has been praised for offering practical support to rural post offices threatened with closure. EHDC has pledged £70,000 to help keep village stores open. And, at an extraordinary meeting in Petersfield, councillors met representatives from local post offices and parish councils to discuss how this money could best be used. John Wood, who is the sub-post master at Passfield Post Office, said it was good news that they were getting support from the district council and that East Hampshire councillors are prepared to take some positive action and if necessary put their hands in their pockets. Passfield is one of six outlets in East Hampshire expected to fall victim to a cost cutting exercise by Post Office Ltd which will see the axing of 62 rural branches across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight and the replacement of nine others with an outreach solution. Those branches facing the axe include Wield, Passfield and Petersfield (Durford Road), with services at East Tisted, Froxfield and East Meon due to be scaled down, ultimately causing a loss of income which could also result in closure. According to Mr Wood, who has been at the forefront of a tireless and well supported campaign to keep the post office open, he is still expecting to hear the final decision on or before December 18. He told The Herald: "I have heard that the Post Office Ltd has extended the decision date to January 4, but we have not been officially informed of this. "If the decision is that Passfield will be closed, my wife Susan and I will be forced to close the shop, since the impact of loss of earnings is too great. "I am not sure what difference the offer from EHDC would make, since it will have to be divided up between six post offices and I don't know how it would be distributed." This festive period is one of the busiest for Passfield Post Office. Mr Wood, continued: "We have had between 12-13 sacks a day and I do not know how Liphook would cope with the additional work and I know that they do not know how to either". The money pledged by EHDC would include practical support for stores immediately threatened by closure and a long-term strategy of working together to keep them open. EHDC leader Ferris Cowper explained: "Our strong concern is the impact on the local community of these proposed closures. Local post offices and village stores are at the heart of rural life and we will do our best to keep them open." He added: "We plan to use the £70,000 to engage a professional retail management consultant to work with the six stores to identify quickly what their issues are and to help them plan for the change. "There is a sense of urgency about this because the Post Office's plans could take effect within the next couple of months." Speaking after the meeting, EHDC lead councillor for economic development Ken Moon said that having assessed the viability of the six stores, the aim would be to identify ways to generate additional income, key to which would be to attract footfall. Ideas had included the extension of council and tourism services into village stores, the provision of broadband internet access and a special district postal service, run by EHDC, which would link with post office services in the towns. Another suggestion was that local communities could take over stores as community initiatives, or that local councils could enter into a joint venture or even take over village stores. Spurred on by concerns over the withdrawal of rural bus services and the need to reduce the carbon footprint, and by the impact of PO closures on the rural economy, Mr Moon believes that the only way forward is to think outside the box. He told The Herald: "EHDC has been lobbying Post Office Ltd vigourously, but lobbying is unlikely to save those outlets under threat – it is unlikely Post Office Ltd will change its mind." And this, he said, left rural sub-post masters in a very difficult situation, with very little time to re- evaluate. "There will be one month's notice once the decision is made, after which they will see a large amount of income gone from their business – the challenge will be over how to fill the gap." While aware of the need to use tax payers' money "carefully and efficiently", Mr Moon confirmed EHDC's intention that any investment should bring real benefit to the communities involved. "We (EHDC) believe we are the first council to take the initiative in this way, but we are really concerned about the harm that this appalling closure programme might bring. "We are determined to do all we can to keep our village stores open. Every rural area needs its stores. "Village residents and small businesses depend on local post offices. We want to work with local stores to come up with tangible and long-term solutions."
