Just days after the possibility was mooted, an Isle of Wight town council has decided not to take on a soon-to-be-closed Post Office.
Sandown Town Council (STC) was looking at the possibility of taking on the vital service after the future of the Post Office on Avenue Road was in doubt.
It was housed in the Central Convenience Store but the retail hub closed, leaving the Post Office only open until 10th March.
Councillor Debbie Andre asked whether STC would be able to take it on but it was deemed not viable.
Speaking at the STC meeting on Monday night, Councillor Andre said she had approached several High Street businesses but they were unable to take it on and proposed the town council produce a business case to see if it would be viable for them to do so.
A £10,000 allocation could have been set aside to investigate the option but the idea was rejected by the majority of councillors.
Councillor Frank Baldry said he had spoken to former postmasters who would now not touch a Post Office franchise “with a barge pole”.
Mayor, Councillor Paddy Lightfoot, said he had spoken to Hailsham Town Council — an authority that runs a Post Office — about the reality of taking over a franchise. He told councillors the East Sussex authority had already spent £32,000 but is now budgeting for tens of thousands of pounds in losses.
Councillor Alex Lightfoot said it was an invaluable service but it was not viable, saying that the Post Office was now modernising so asked if there were ways to help the community without the risk of being a postmaster.
A public meeting was agreed upon instead to explore ways the community can access Post Office services and ways STC can support them.
The franchise is being marketed by the Post Office, until May, with commission rates of between £31,050 and £34,500 a year.
Good decision. Just a target for theft, and filled with spongers.
Close it down and convert to flats to house more imported down and outs, that we can then fund and get abused by.
A vital service?
Clearly not if the council with the highest precept on the island won’t touch it.
With all skills and expertise that the councillors have they would make it pay just like they did with the floating bridge and what ever else they invest our money in.
And then i woke up saw a pig fly past and the nightmare disappeared
They couldn’t run a tap with out loosing all the water befor they got the kettle under it
Can you believe that STC have £10,000 readily available to throw at a business case investigation,remind me how much are they putting the precept up. These councillors needing separating from the checkbook.
A vital service lost. Sandown is so run down. What the hell is going on? But Sandown Town Council have the audacity to raise our Council Tax. Taking the p*ss, big time!
Of all the organisations one might selct to run a Post Office, STC probably not high on the list.
On the other hand, no-one with any business sense is going to go near the job given the state of Post Office senior management and track record. PO has shot itself terminally in the foot, to our loss.
Privatisation, eh? Doncha luvvit?
Many people would be too scared to take on Post Office services, in light of many thousands of former staff who were wrongly accused, convicted & sentenced for non existent crimes that were generated by a substandard IT service run by Horizon. Some committed suicide over being wrongly accused & subsequently shamed.
That will mean two IOW towns having no access to Post Office services: Newport & Sandown, which is appalling, given the access to essential service that it provides.
Yep. When you mention how many banks have closed, many people tell you you can access a lot of the same services at your local post office. Not on the island where that may well have closed down too!