The Community Consultation ended on 26-April and this is what you said:
- The response was big – 109 forms were returned
- The Post Office Rating went down from 3.5 to 1.8 (1 = Bad, 5 = Good)
- You thought 2 hours a week wasn’t enough
- 76% of you thought we should run our own 3-mornings a week trial
- If the trial was successful, 84% either supported an increase in the precept to continue the service (22%) or had no objection to this approach in principle but would like to know how much the increase would be (62%)
If you wish to contact us on this issue, please email sandhamhall@gmail.com.
The next step
- We have asked the Post Office’s permission to run our own six-month trial.
Mon, Tue & Thu, 9am to noon. (target start date 3rd June) - This request has been copied to our MP
The story so far
On 14 Sep 2023 our Post Office was abruptly closed down with no community consultation. At the time, Post Office Limited (POL) stated that the use of the premises had been withdrawn by the Village Hall which was untrue. It also claimed low usage but has been unwilling to share their evidence of this with us. We all reacted strongly to this sudden closure; thanks to all of you who wrote to our MP and/or signed a petition. This was submitted on 16 Nov 2023.
On 7 Feb 2024 two members of the Parish Council and the chair of the Village Hall Committee met virtually with a representative of POL and got them to agree to receive a proposal for a six-month trial to test whether a “use it or lose it” campaign coupled with signage on the A29 to pull in passing trade could make a three morning a week service viable. You can download the full proposal here.
On 4 Apr 2024 this proposal was rejected by POL. However, they offered a 2-hour a week service (eg Thursdays from 9:30 to 11:30am).
On 14 Apr 2014 we launched a Community Consultation which ran until 26 Apr 2024.
On 27 Apr 2014 a summary of what you said was published here and in the pub and Village Hall.
On 29 Apr 2012 we sent the results of the community consultation to Post Office Limited (POL) and requested permission to run our own six month trial of a 3-morning a week service with a target start date of 3 June 2024.
As soon as we hear back from POL we will let you know.
Last updated: 4-May-2024
