Co-op could save village post office

Last week I reported that time could be running out for the village post office because so far it has proved impossible to find a new tenant who will continue to run it.

Therefore I am delighted to confirm that our village post office could well be saved because The Co-operative have applied to take over the service.

A spokesperson for The Co-operative said: "We can confirm that, following discussions with Post Office Limited, we have this week officially submitted an application to operate a Post Office in Alderley Edge for the local community."

The spokesperson was unable to provide any information regarding what stage their application is at and how long this process is likely to take but if it all goes smoothly the service will move from its current location at 45 London Road in to the supermarket on The Parade.

John Leighton, Director at Bluemantle said "I would welcome the opportunity of working with an existing tenant to relocate the post office to ensure this vital community facility is maintained long term."

Marie Day, from the Royal Mail Press Office, wasn't able to confirm any specific details but said "As we stand at the minute the post office is open as normal and we are in talks with an interested party.

"As with any application to run a post office we would need to follow an agreed process which includes a period of public consultation."

Bluemantle are hoping that Simon Greenwood, who has been running the post office and keeping it going for the almost two years, will continue to do so until The Co-operative take over but this might not be possible.

At the end of January Simon received a bill for about £3000 for business rates, covering the period from December 2010 until the end of March this year, which he cannot afford to pay. Having received this bill he contacted the Council and invited somebody from Cheshire East to meet with him this week.

The council representative confirmed that he will have to pay full business rates, backdated to December - because they have some cards on the shelves which have been left over from the previous owner it is considered trading.

Simon told me "This is quite a lot of money which the post office salary will not cover so I will have to stop running the post office which will put myself and 3 more people out of a job.

"I didn't know I had to pay business rates. The guy said if I took everything off the shelves I could apply for a discount from that day but it couldn't be backdated.

"You would think they could make a concession for a public service."

A spokesperson for Cheshire East Council said: "We can confirm that an inspector from Cheshire East Council visited the premises on Wednesday, February 9th. This was a routine visit, carried out following any application for a temporary reduction in business rates under Section 44A of the Local Government Finance Act.

"The application can be made on condition that part of the premises is empty for a temporary period only. The inspector identified a number of items which were on sale in the premises and, as a result, the application could not be granted.

"An officer from Cheshire East Council is planning to write to the owner to discuss the options now available to him."

Simon decided to hand his notice in to Bluemantle this week but today he has agreed to hold fire on serving his notice until Bluemantle have a better understanding of timescales.

John Leighton, said "Bluemantle hope to be able to persuade the temporary post master to continue operating the counter whilst we get some further information on the status of the Co-op application."

Tags:

Bluemantle, Co-op, Post Office, The Co-operative