Two months have passed since we last reported on the situation with our village post office and since then not a lot has changed.
The gentleman who has been running the post office had previously agreed to do so until the end of January. Thankfully he has said he will keep running it, but this is just an informal arrangement which cannot continue indefinitely.
John Leighton, Associate Director at Bluemantle who own the property, told me that last year four people dropped out of the deal and since December another two parties have decided not to go through with it.
John said "We are looking for somebody to continue to run the post office but having gone through the process with two further parties this year nothing has materialised which is very frustrating.
"There is no point in us shutting it down until we get someone to take over the property, whether that be as a Post Office, shop, or whatever but it is becoming more difficult."
The Royal Mail claim "It is business as usual" and that they want to maintain a post office in Alderley Edge but they will not do anything until the post office closes. Whilst the business continues to trade they won't acknowledge there is an issue and you only have to look at Prestbury, who lost their post office April/May last year, to see that once a post office closes down it is not that easy to bring it back.
John Leighton has put a considerable amount of time and effort in to finding someone to take over the post office, despite not receiving any rent from 45 London Road for the past 14 months, but they are "really struggling" to find someone to take over the running of this vital service.
This isn't that surprising given there are so many elements involved in seeking approval from Royal Mail and the shop needs refurbishing, but hopefully the marketing board which went up on Friday, advertising that the unit is available to let, will generate some interest.
Unfortunately though time must be running out for the village post office.
Having a post office doesn't only provide a valuable service but plays an important role in the high street by generating footfall for surrounding businesses.
If you know anyone who may be interested in taking over the post office put them in touch with John Leighton at Bluemantle. Alternatively, if you have any suggestions for how we can maintain a post office in Alderley Edge share your views via the comment box below.
Comments
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Perhaps it is something our local Co-op will consider. I believe there were some discussions between the Co-op in Prestbury and the Post Office about resurrecting Post Office services there.
Just a word of encouragement for the campaign to integrate the PO into the Co-op. We had almost exactly the same situation in our village with a non-viable PO come general shop, but the Somerfields re-branded as a Co-op last year and the re-furbished store now incorporates a PO at the back. So it can be done - although the timing is not so good for Alderley Edge as the store is new.