Gary's views

UNDERWOOD

The phoney war is over, the gloves have come off: the Post Office have announced the post offices throughout Devon (including Plymouth) that are destined for the chop. I feel slightly like the man who was threatened to have both legs cut off, almost pathetically grateful that they only took one; for in south west Devon we have escaped relatively unscathed.

Only one village post office is to close, in Ermington, and sadly that has been on the cards for a while. The rest of the rural network in my constituency has survived – this time. One PO in Plympton has been closed for a while, and another was closed and only recently re-opened and there is (so far) a reluctant acceptance of this verdict.

But one decision must be challenged, namely the closure of Underwood post office. This is a thriving hub in a close-knit community. The suggestion that people, some of them elderly, some of them mums with double buggies, some of them without access to a car, can easily pop down to the Ridgeway along difficult terrain for their post office essentials is simply not on. The queues at the nearest alternative (Plymco on the Ridgeway) are already bad enough at peak times. The bus service that used to run along Underwood to the Ridgeway has now been discontinued. The couple who have run this store for over twenty years offer a warm personal service. For all of these reasons and more, we have decided to fight this decision.

There will be a public meeting, at St. Mary’s village hall on Friday 30^th May at 7.00pm to put our case to post office management. Please come along if you are affected by this closure or wish to support the excellent couple who run this store. If you would be particularly affected by this closure, I would love to hear from you.

The way we change post offices has changed over recent years and many use the Internet to get our car tax and so on. The national PO network is losing money and action is needed, but far greater attempts should be made first to re-introduce business into the system, before the axe is swung.  In some cases, the post office should be allowed to die.

But not in Underwood, not when it will be tricky for so many to access alternatives.

Let us show the people who made this decision that they are wrong.