Fight to save post office begins (From Bucks Free Press)

Fight to save post office begins

11:23pm Monday 23rd June 2008 in News By Frank Smith

RESIDENTS have vowed to prevent a "disaster" by fighting against proposed plans to close their post office.

The branch in McColl's newsagent, in Station Road, Loudwater, is one of 11 which have been identified for closure.

So this evening, residents, members of Chepping Wycombe Parish Council and Buckinghamshire County Council met to discuss how they will prevent it from happening.

Maurice Smith, chairman of the parish council, said: "It will be a disaster for Loudwater if the post office goes.

"It is essential that we do something because we would be letting the village down if we do not."

The group set up a committee to tackle the proposals and highlighted a number of areas to strengthen their argument.

One of the main points raised was, what the group described as "factual inaccuracies" such as distances to other post offices.

If the Loudwater branched closed, the nearest post office for residents would be either in The Green, Wooburn Green, or in Straight Bit, Flackwell Heath.

But concerns were raised about how users would climb Treadaway Hill to get to Flackwell Heath.

Cllr Smith said: "One thing that stands out is that if you look at the route to Flackwell Heath on a map, it looks flat but it is a hell of a hill to go up there, it is bad enough for buses let alone old people."

One resident also said that queues at the Flackwell Heath branch were long already and would only get worse.

Members of the committee also said it was not only people in Loudwater who would be affected by the branch closing.

They said when the post office in Wycombe Marsh closed, the Loudwater branch was identified as one of the branches people in the area could use.

The committee plans to meet this week to discuss its next step this week.

And their campaign received support from the Liberal Democrat party.

Steve Guy, of the party, attended the meeting and threw his weight behind the plans.

He said: "You cannot do too much. You can do too little and the number of post offices which have been saved is small, in Oxfordshire they have saved none.

"We have to do all the things you mentioned, the more reasons that you have the better."