A report by the Commission for Rural Communities entitled State of the Countryside 2007 reveals, among other things, that access to rural post offices (defined as being within one and a quarter miles) has declined from 90% to 87% over the last seven years. In some tiny villages only 45% of residents were within reasonable reach.
This is in large measure due to the closure, since Labour came to power, of 4,600 village post offices. Moreover, the trend is set to continue with a further 2,500 scheduled to go within the next year or so, according to Alistair Darling.
What a blow to rural people, especially the elderly who rely on the local post office for their weekly pension. The government tried to force such people to open bank accounts a few years ago into which their pensions could be electronically transferred. But if you've lived seventy or more years without one and do not understand about electronic banking you don't take kindly to such pressure. A nearby post office is therefore vital to your quality of life.
But the report also said that the number of rural dwellers with easy access to a supermarket had increased by 3.4% in seven years. OK, so the march of the multiple retailer continues and many of us might regret that. But there is little prospect of stopping it so why not turn it to advantage?
Why not insist, through the planning process, that every new supermarket and a lot of the established ones as well install a post office within their premises? The profits most supermarkets make mean they can well afford to provide such a service. Who knows, the extra trade they might do could transform the current national loss being made by post offices, said to be £4million/week, into a profit. That, and some excellent PR for retailers. They should be queueing up to take advantage of the opportunity.