It has not come as a great surprise to me that Acton Post Office is among those earmarked for closure by the Government. Bob and Gill took up the challenge when the former Post Office was forced to close, and have been doing a great job during a very difficult period for them. Unfortunately however, for a number of reasons, their efforts, which were considerable, have not been sufficient to stave off what is effectively an assault on the rural post office system.
One problem is that Acton Post Office is simply too close to other outlets that can be reached by public transport from the village. Another is that having been open for a little less than a year, business had not built up sufficiently for financial viability to be proved. Of course you could argue (and I would) that there should be some concept of public service over and above financial considerations in the provision of rural postal services. Additionally, bearing in mind the need to save the world’s resources, walking to a local outlet must be better even than taking the bus. These are not arguments that weigh much in the minds of the Government however.
There is to be a period of so called public consultation. However, it was recently made clear to Councillors that it is to be the sort of ‘consultation’ that we are becoming increasingly used to (i.e. you say what you think and then we do what we like). There is to be a meeting at Babergh on Tuesday to which I will be going with a representative of Acton Parish Council, but I am not very hopeful of anything positive coming out of this for
If all goes accordingly to plan the Post Office is likely to close in December…just ahead of Christmas.
