Rural Post Offices - Thurlow

 

I'm afraid that our local Post Office at Thurlow will probably die in a year or so.

Despite being a small business, who have their own postage meter, I use it to post parcels, most of which are for my books and selling on eBay. Interestingly, the new postal charges mean that I'm saving about a third on my postage, as I can send a lot of parcels cheaper. Especially, the book which is about 800g, so now goes 2nd.

It would not be a real problem if my Post Office closed, as I'd just use the postage meter more and give everything to the postman. That is the same for most people like me. If it closed it would only be a slight inconvenience.

But recently our Post Office stopped selling TV licences. This was either a crass decision which has inconvenienced a large number of pensioners or a deliberate decision to cut Post Office income, so that they are less economic and therefore not worth keeping open.

Similarly other services such as Vehicle Excise Duty will migrate to the Internet. We've used that service and it works very well and avoids the long queues at Newmarket. Incidentally, we can buy this at Wickhambrook Post Office, but that is closing as the site is too valuable for housing.

So whatever happens, I'm sure there will be very few rural Post Offices in a few years, so an alternative service must be provided.

I suspect the cheapest option would be to have a mobile Post Office for pensions, cash withdrawals, stamps and all the other things that are needed in rural areas for those without transport.