Village Post Office Closure?
It’s good to report that recent concerns about potential closure of the local post office have gone away for the time being. A Village Resident wrote about the problem to MP Andrew Lansley and this is the gist of his reply. “I am writing to advise that further to my letter dated 7th June, I have now received a response from the Post Office Ltd to the enquiry I made on your behalf regarding any changes to Haslingfield Post Office. The Post Office have advised that they are not currently aware of any plans to change the way that Haslingfield Post Office is operated. They have offered their assurances that the local community would be notified if there were any plans to change this. Post Office Ltd have also informed me that changes through the national three year investment programme are being implemented on a voluntary basis and consequently, no subpostmaster would be forced to convert to a new operating model unless they wished to do so”. Many thanks to ‘Village Resident’
Karin Faruqi
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I have just become aware that there was concern that our Post Office might have to close. The loss of the P.O. to our village residents would be a tremendous blow. In addition to posting parcels and letters, a lot of us are using it as a bank. There must be quite a few people who are no longer able to drive and therefore would find it extremely difficult and certainly very inconvenient to have to go to other villages or to Cambridge to get their money out of their accounts. I do hope that we can hold on to this extremely valuable service. We should certainly be prepared to put up a good fight to keep it, should the need arise. I sometimes wonder at the decisions made by people who are in power. It seems that the last people they consider when they come up with their plans are the voters whom they are supposed to serve. Karin Faruqi
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NEVILLE JAMES COLE
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Dear Sirs,
I can but reiterate my previous comment vis-à-vis the village post office.
Without the currency exchange service offered by post offices, my recent UK visit would have been
more complicated. The high street banks made it clear that changing visitors’ currency was no longer
on offer. The plastic card is, admittedly, ever more used. Convenient. And open to security problems.
Cash for smaller transactions always sensible.
The availability of currency exchange in post offices such as the village’s has to be a plus, for local
people, travelling frequently, and the visitors drawn to Cambridge and around.
This in no way detracts from the services found in village post offices.
Yours sincerely,
Neville James Cole
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