Post office future – the latest

Mayor Cllr Justine Fulford continues her campaign to get this essential service reinstated and she succeeded in getting post office officials to a public meeting in Chesham on Monday 1 February. Justine says, “It was great that so many people were able to make it to the meeting, many for a second time, but especially good that our friends from the Post Office were there. Everything did make a bit more sense with answers from the experts and I was pleased to hand over to them the hastily gathered petition which nevertheless had approximately 1300 signatures on it. In turn, they were able to announce that they had managed to bring forward the re-opening date at 81 High Street to Monday 22 February. What the Post Office seemed particularly keen to emphasise was that they have no funding to secure premises and that they don't anticipate being able to make an exception in Chesham. It's a shame that the £1.7bn made available to put the network on a 'more stable footing' from 2007-08 was in the main used to compensate sub-postmasters who were closed down, and not actually invested in the remaining branches. Whilst we should all be pleased that we don't have to wait too much longer to get back an operating Post Office, we also have to be very aware that when interested parties investigate tendering for the franchise, they may not consider that 81 High Street fits their business plan. If the preferred applicant chooses a different address, there has to be a 14 week public consultation process before a move is approved - watch out for the notices.”