NW Evening Mail
Call for villagers to back post office fight
Published on 22/03/2008
A THREATENED village post office is asking residents to rally to its
aid.
Greenodd Sub Post Office owners Janet and Lloyd Willis have launched a
campaign to save their branch.
They plan to hold a public meeting on Wednesday evening at Greenodd
Village Hall to get villagers behind them.
The sub post office, which also operates as a shop and newsagents, is
set to be replaced with a van that will park in the village for 11
hours a week.
Mr and Mrs Willis fear that without the income from the post office,
they will be forced to close the shop.
Mrs Willis said: “Without the Post Office salary it will be extremely
difficult for Lloyd and I to continue with the shop and newspaper
delivery service. We will do everything we can to continue to provide
these services and maintain the quality of life in this community.
“This could be the beginning of the end of Greenodd village as we know
it, as the closures could also affect the bakery and the butcher.”
The Post Office announced on Tuesday that 35 branches are set to close
across Cumbria.
A public consultation into the closures began this week and is set to
finish on May 27. The Leven Valley Sub Post Office at Backbarrow is
also set to replaced with an outreach service, leaving a 13-mile
stretch between Ulverston and Lindale post offices with no fixed
branch.
However, Grizebeck Sub Post Office, which is only two miles away from
Moorland Post Office at Kirkby, is set to remain open.
Mrs Willis said: “I’ve had a look at the documents regarding post
office closures and one of the criteria is that the receiving post
office must be able to cope with the volume of custom.
“At Christmas I get customers coming out from Ulverston to use our
post office as it is so busy.”
Another problem for residents of Greenodd and the surrounding villages
is actually getting to Ulverston.
Raymond Atkinson, 62, who lives at Arrad Foot, said: “Three and a half
miles to a post office, £1.70 to park in the car park, it’s ridiculous.
“The post office is the heart of the village, closing a post office in
a rural area is ridiculous.
“If you can’t drive, it’s a mile walk to Greenodd for a bus, which is
almost non-existent.
“The shop could also be under threat if the post office goes. Then the
butchers might go, it will close the village.”
If you wish to save Greenodd Sub Post Office, the public meeting is
set to take place on Wednesday at 7.30pm in Greenodd Village Hall.
Mr and Mrs Willis are also asking villagers to write to Richard Lynds,
Network Development Manager, Post Office Ltd, Freepost Consultation
Team, explaining how the closure will affect them and their local
community.