SOUTH West Surrey MP Jeremy Hunt has stressed the need to have a vision for the future of village communities, as he put local people's questions about post office closures to the Postal Services Minister, Pat McFadden. During the meeting last week, Mr Hunt raised local people's concerns with the minister, including asking why the consultation was only going to last six weeks, how it could be justifiable to close down profitable post offices and why the government wanted to close post offices that are the focal point of many village communities. The minster replied that the consultation period was not longer because of the uncertainty for post offices during the 15-month network change process, which would be even longer if more time was spent on consultation. He said that some post offices are profitable as individual branches, but lose money for Post Office Ltd and that some post offices would be replaced with outreach or part-time services. Speaking after the meeting, Mr Hunt said: "Although the availability of many services online poses a big challenge to the business model of small post offices, I was disappointed at the apparent lack of any government strategy for the future of village communities. "Closing local post offices will take away the heart of many villages as well as many local services and links with village shops. "I have met the minister and made the point. But I did not detect any willingness to be flexible. We will have to put up a huge fight if we are going to stop closures going ahead." The MP has made saving local post offices one of his top priority campaigns and has now launched a new section on his website – http://www.jeremyhunt.org/">www.jeremyhunt.org/ postoffices – where local people can sign a petition against closures and make their views known through an online survey.
