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Save Cranford's Post Office

The popularity of the current BBC Dramatisation of Cranford reminds us of so many of the things needed for a vibrant village community – so many of which seem to be under attack in recent years. A village needs ordinary people living there – which becomes increasingly difficult with astronomic house prices and a shortage of affordable homes in most villages. The quintessential nature of a healthy English village is a mixture of all sorts of different people living next door to each other – the Manor House, Old Rectory, retired people, agricultural workers, the unemployed and poor, commuters, and yes a few millionaires and weekenders too. It needs a church and village hall, a school and a pub or two. And it needs a shop and post office.

It is hard enough to make a village shop pay its way these days. Too many of us – and I am as guilty as anyone – assuage our consciences by buying a newspaper or the odd item in the village shop, but then think nothing of spending £100 or more in the supermarket. That means that most village shops depend for their livelihood on income from the post office, which may only amount to a few thousand a year, but is often the difference between viability and closing. The Government have progressively reduced the services offered over the counter in Post Offices, and now – surprise, surprise – have discovered that many of them “are not profitable” and have therefore announced widespread closures across the whole of England. I have very real doubts about whether post offices should be “profitable.” Is there not room for a non profit making service such as the Post Office? Is “non-profitability” really a good enough excuse for ripping the heart out of our rural communities?

The list of Post Offices in North Wiltshire earmarked for closure is carried elsewhere in this week’s Gazette, and each and every one of them and the villages they serve should know that I and my colleagues will do everything we can to fight their closure. The Post Office have announced a “Consultation period” through until 10 January, although whether that is much more than a token gesture is open to some question. At all events, it’s the only chance we’ve got, so I urge everyone in the area to join with their local post office and me in campaigning to keep them open. Letters to the Post Office, petitions, protests. All this Government seems to listen to is people power, so let’s make sure that they hear the voice on North Wiltshire opposed to these cuts over the next few weeks.

So many aspects of our rural and village life have been attacked over recent years, and the widespread closures of our Post Offices could be the final straw. We must not let our villages turn into millionaire’s commuter villages, nor playgrounds for weekenders. We want them to remain the vibrant working villages they have been through the centuries. We may not be able to recreate Cranford – which of course was filmed in the village of Lacock whose Post office is one of those threatened – we may not want to recreate some aspects of the life of Cranford! But we do want to preserve the spirit of Cranford life. So let’s unite. Let’s campaign to save the Cranford Post Office, and post offices across the area. Let’s strive to preserve all that is so very good about our rural and village life.

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