Bishop welcomes county council move to halt Post Office closures

THE Bishop of Colchester has welcomed the move by Essex County Council to halt the closure
of 32 Post Offices across the county.  Rt Revd Christopher Morgan, had expressed his dismay at proposals to close Post Offices in Essex and called on the Post Office to recognise itself as a service to the community.

With 18 out of 32 closures falling within Colchester episcopal area, Bishop Christopher said: "In these
days of on-line banking/shopping and electronic communication, the need for places where people can actually meet and pick up small pieces of advice and information while seeing to their own
transactions is actually growing.

"Villages will become even more like dormitories and outlying suburban developments will feel
ever more isolated in the wake of cuts if they were to go ahead.

"Before Essex County Council made this welcome move, I had called on the Post Office to recognise itself as a service to the community just as much as it needs to be a profitable business.

"I am delighted that the Essex County Council has been able to enter serious negotiations with Post
Office Limited nationally about this dismaying state of affairs. I wish all parties well in their consultations and look forward to a mutually agreeable outcome in due course."

Now the county council has announced that it has become the first and, as The Month closed for
press, only local authority in Britain to formally enter into negotiations with Post Office Ltd that will see a number of post offices previously earmarked for closure remain open.

A two-month negotiation period has now been agreed between Essex County Council and Post Office Ltd, allowing time for each Essex branch to be subject to a criteria assessment for support based on financial viability together with local need.

The commitment could be worth up to £1.5million over the next three years. Leader of Essex County
Council, Lord Hanningfield said: "This is a unique and groundbreaking deal. This is exactly what local government should be doing - Identifying local needs and priorities and delivering on them for local communities."

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